Goat Cheese, Brie, and Caramelized Onion Sandwich with Apples

I haven’t done much international travel in my 29 years, but I have managed to visit France a couple of times. So when I found out that our editorial assignment this week was food from places we’ve traveled, my immediate thought was to make a Croque Monsieur – the classic French ham & cheese sandwich that I ate multiple times during both of my trips to Paris. However, I realized that I’ve already shared my recipe with you here on The Back Burner!

Therefore, I decided to stick with a fantastic lunch I enjoyed during a domestic trip to the west coast last summer. My husband and I flew out to California a few days prior to his business conference for a mini vacation before he had to attend meetings. Some online searching for a great sandwich joint led us to try out Mendocino Farms, and we loved our lunch so much we went back the very next day to try some other offerings.

My selection the second time around was the Drunk’n Goat in Paris: Herbes de Provence marinated Drake Family Farm’s goat cheese, cranberry chutney, French brie, caramelized onions, green apple, Scarborough Farm’s greens on cranberry walnut bread.

The inspiration:

That sandwich might have been the very best I had ever had. How can you go wrong with both goat cheese and brie in one sandwich?! There was no way I wasn’t remaking it at home.

I started with a doughty fruit-and-nut bread, and layered on tangy goat cheese, creamy brie, sweet caramelized onions, crisp apple slices, and fresh greens.

The combination of flavors and textures in this sandwich is simply divine! It puts plain ol’ sandwiches to shame, and will forever change how you approach lunch.