Chili Mayo & Jalapeno Cabot Grilled Cheese

A few weeks ago, I received an email from Cabot asking me if I would like to try their “Light” cheeses as they are in the process of rolling out new packaging. I thought about it for a split second and then replied saying, in slightly different words, “Hell Yes!” I chose Light Sharp Cheddar (to be used in a future grilled cheese) as well as Jalapeno Light Cheddar (used in this grilled cheese) and the cheeses were eventually shipped. The cheese arrived over a week ago and on my first free day, I made a grilled cheese. For some reason, my inspiration came from fish tacos and I held on to that idea while I went to Whole Foods to purchase the rest of the ingredients. (Spoiler: The end result looks nothing like fish tacos. It doesn’t even include fish! It does include delicious chili mayo, though.)

ingredients:

• Chili Mayo (all ingredients mixed together)
  • Mayonnaise
  • Fresh Chives
  • Fresh Jalapeno Pepper
  • Dried Cilantro
  • Dark Pure Chili Powder
  • Pure Chipotle Chili Powder
  • Lime Juice
  • Lemon Zest
• Fresh Mango
• Fresh Avocado
• Black Beans
• Jalapeno Light Cheddar
• Tortilla Shells

the cheese: cabot jalapeno light cheddar

Prior to talking about the flavor and taste of this particular cheddar cheese, I have to share a funny story. A day after receiving my cheese from Cabot, an email popped into my inbox notifying me that they were in such a rush to get me the cheese and have me try it, they sent me the old packaging. Remember, the main point of sending me cheese at all was to show off Cabot’s new packaging for their Light Cheese (formerly known as 50% Reduced Fat). Obviously, this is not a huge deal since the cheese inside the wrapper is the same and in the end the flavor/taste is all that matters, I just found it funny and felt like sharing. The above photo is the new packaging and is courtesy of Cabot.

With all that being said, Cabot’s Jalapeno Light Cheddar cheese was very yummy/delicious. The jalapeno flavor was clearly evident within the creaminess of the cheddar. I personally prefer a sharper cheddar, but with the jalapeno spread throughout this particular cheddar, the balance of flavor is fantastic with an added benefit of less fat. If you have yet to try Cabot’s Light cheese, I would definitely recommend it. The cheese provided a great springboard to create an amazing grilled cheese.

the ingredient: chili mayo

Chili Mayo (all ingredients mixed together)

• Mayonnaise
• Fresh Chives
• Fresh Jalapeno Pepper
• Dried Cilantro
• Dark Pure Chili Powder
• Pure Chipotle Chili Powder
• Lime Juice
• Lemon Zest

As I mentioned, my crazy inspiration for this grilled cheese was fish tacos and as I have come to learn through a quick Google search, fish tacos normally have some sort of sauce or cream within the tacos; something with some flavor. I decided to start my base with mayo and then I knew I wanted to include cilantro. Beyond that, I was out of ideas. Until I hit the newly updated bulk spice aisle at Whole Foods. I wasn’t sure that I had enough cilantro at home so I went to see if I could just buy a little bit. Oddly enough, they had no dried cilantro in bulk, but they did have dark pure chili powder and pure chipotle chili powder. I had never used either of these spices, let alone knew what they were, but once I smelled them, I knew I had to buy them. They simply smelled too amazing to pass up. Plus, I knew they would add a much desired kick to what quickly became chili mayo.

From there, I decided to add fresh chives and jalapeno from my garden as well as lime juice and lemon zest. I did not measure any of the ingredients and instead continually tasted the sauce as I added each item to the mix. I would recommend you do the same, just to make sure you have the desired amount of heat/kick for your chili mayo.

Also, as you spread the chili mayo inside the tortilla, make sure to leave some extra so you can spread a little bit on top of the tortillas once you fold them over. It adds some nice color to an otherwise bland white tortilla shell.

the other ingredients: avocado, mango, black beans

Avocado almost seemed like a given in this grilled cheese, especially since, at least to me, it seems like a mainstay in a lot of fish tacos. Mango on the other hand, not such an obvious choice. I saw it at Whole Foods and didn’t even flinch to include it in this unique chili mayo grilled cheese. The mango simply added another layer, a sweet texture.

I did not want to include fish, I wanted to go a different route. However, I was not satisfied with simply the chili mayo, avocado and mango. I felt like there needed to be something else, another protein like ingredient, to really send this grilled cheese over the edge. After some inner thought and consultation with the Sous Chef, black beans were decided on. Black beans was that main, last ingredient that I wanted, that the chili mayo grilled cheese needed.

the bread: tortilla shells

Not to harp on the fish taco thing, but obviously, fish tacos are not made with slices of bread. Therefore, I wanted to go a different route with this grilled cheese and I just happened to have some tortilla shells waiting to be used. Of course by using these shells, the sandwich turned into more of a quesadilla than a taco (or even a grilled cheese), but with how it tasted, I am not complaining.

the grilled cheese:

chili mayo & jalapeno cabot grilled cheese: A

I would first like to thank Cabot for sending me complimentary cheese. Without their generosity, I would have never created this amazingly awesome chili mayo grilled cheese. Thank you, Cabot.

For some reason, it took me over two hours to cook and photograph this grilled cheese but it was well worth the effort. Not to toot my own horn, but in my opinion, this is one of my most unique grilled cheese sandwiches yet. I used spices that I had never even heard of (dark pure chili powder and pure chipotle chili powder), jalapeno cheese with its own kick, while stuffing sweet (mango) and savory (black beans) ingredients in between tortilla shells with an amazing chili mayo to top it all off. The mayo had the perfect finish with the right amount of punch while all the other ingredients added great balance to the grilled cheese.

I was very worried that this grilled cheese would fall flat. I had some inspiration but in actuality, I had nothing. Thankfully in the end, this chili mayo grilled cheese turned out to be one of my best.