Updated Dreams

Everyone has dreams as a child that become more sophisticated with age. Dreams of becoming a cowboy have a way of morphing to becoming a writer or a teacher, a firefighter or an architect. What charms us as a child often is a little boring in adulthood. 

And so it was with Cheese Dreams. When I was a little kid, I liked nothing more than a lunch of mild cheddar cheese slices melted on toast and topped with bacon left over from breakfast. My mother called these Cheese Dreams. I'm not sure where she found the "recipe," perhaps in some mid-forties edition of The Joy of Cooking. That was her go-to cookbook - maybe it's in there.

This is still a winner, mind you. There is nothing wrong with good mild cheddar, but recently I didn't have that in the fridge when I was dying for Cheese Dreams. All had was some manchego that was starting to mold. 

I'm not afraid of a little mold - I just slice off the moldy parts and enjoy the rest.  And this was a lovely surprise, much deeper, earthier and more complex than simple cheddar. The sharp nuttiness of the cheese was a perfect foil for the smoky bacon. The dark bits on the bacon were crisp while the rest was chewy - even the textures were more interesting than I had remembered.

If you have some childhood favorites, I can recommend updating their basic rightness with ingredients that appeal to an adult palate. You might surprise yourself with a whole new tradition.