Ozuké style Kimchi Grilled Cheese

Visiting Santa Fe recently I was introduced to these sandwiches and could not wait to get back and reverse engineer it so that I could make it with Ozuke kimchi. It is both hearty and satisfying and yet feels good on the belly because of the kimchi.

For two people

4 slices of good sourdough bread
a lot of unsalted organic butter
4 oz of cheese – I used a combination of swiss and gruyere but goat cheddar would work really well, too
4 oz Ozuke kimchi

Preheat a cast iron pan over medium heat and melt some butter in it. The secret to great grilled cheese is butter so be generous. Then butter one side of all four slices of bread. Put them in the skillet butter side up and let them get warmed up. When you flip them put cheese on two slices of bread and let the cheese melt. Turn the heat down so that the bread does not over cook. When the cheese is melty divide the kimchi onto the two cheesy breads and then put the cooked sides of the other bread on top so that when you flip the buttered side goes in the skillet. Keep cooking till the kimchi warms up and everything is gooey.

Serve with an Ozuke pickle on the side.