Recently, my family has enjoyed experimenting and creating new fancy grilled cheese recipes. However, by “my family”, I really mean ” me”. I have enjoyed trying new recipes, my husband has enjoyed eating them, and my kids have enjoyed refusing to try anything new and sticking to their tried and true, Kraft cheese on white bread. Let’s not get caught up in the details.

When we lived in Virginia, our favorite lunch spot featured a sandwich with fig jam and it was one of the best deli experiences of my life. It was the kind of sandwich that you write about in your blog seven years after you move out of state.

I have been wanting to try a recipe with fig jam for a while, but couldn’t quite come up with the perfect combination. Everything I brainstormed felt too sweet or too weird. However, this fall, completely by accident, it all came together.

I had a plan to try brie (because YUM!), the magical fig jam, and turkey. However, when I went to our local market, I accidentally ordered a blackened turkey. I mean, I guess it wasn’t exactly an accident. I ordered it on purpose, I just didn’t really know what ” blackened” meant. It was spicier than I had imagined and completely wrong for my sandwich.

I am not too proud to tell you that I cried over this mistake. I was so upset. Spicy meat with sweet fig jam? Gross.

However, my husband, who, I should note is willing to eat almost anything, suggested that I make the sandwiches any way. I may have rolled my eyes. I may have huffed and puffed and continued my pity party and I assembled our sandwiches. However, I also may or may not have cried tears of pure joy over the complete awesomeness of this sandwich.

I am telling you, this sandwich, which I almost didn’t bother making because I got the wrong kind of turkey turned out to be the best grilled cheese sandwich I have ever made.

How To Make This Life-Changing Sandwich

It feels silly to teach you how to make a sandwich. I certainly don’t want to make it more complicated than it needs to be but I do have a few tips and trick to share.

Equipment: I prefer to use a griddle instead of a frying pan. I have tried it on a pan and my hand always hits the side and I can’t seem to get the spatula to hit the sandwich at the right angle.

Cold Butter: It would be a lie if I said that I prefer to use cold butter. However, I almost always forget to take the butter out of the refridgerator ahead of time and I don’t trust myself not to melt it in the microwave. I typically take cold butter out of the fridge, rub the end on the warm griddle ( as if coloring with a large buttery crayon), and plop the bread in the puddle of melted butter.

Order Matters: Jam, Turkey, Brie. The jam helps the turkey stick to one slice of toast and the melted cheese helps in stick to the other side. If the dry turkey is against the bread, it may fall apart when you flip.

Cheating is Okay: Sometimes my bread gets brown before my cheese melts and sometimes I am just too hungry to wait. I have occasionally moved the process along by popping the sandwich in the microwave to melt the cheese. As long as you do not overheat it, no one will know the difference.

I have posted the official recipe below. Try it and let me know what you think!