Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Someone please tell me where the time has gone.  Here we are at the end of April, already!  This freaks me out a little bit as I also realized this week, I'll hit the double digits until Baby Boy is estimated to make his entrance.  Whoa!  Good thing we already bought his infant carseat, crib (needs to be built still), and painted his nursery this past weekend.  If he decides to make an early entrance (please don't!!) at least we're somewhat prepared.  Still a million and a half things to do, though.

Anyway, with April being National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Month, I wanted to share one more grilled cheese recipe after already having shared my unorthodox Grilled Cheese Donut.

This one is still not traditional but at least all in the savory camp.  If you're a buffalo chicken lover, this recipe is for you.  The sauce is surprisingly sweet and has just enough spice to call it "buffalo".  I had some leftover day old bread from Jimmy John's so my sandwiches were tinyyy and took me longer than I'd like to butter and put the (yummy!) white sauce.  Still, the finger sandwich size made them extra fun to eat and would be good for tiny children hands :).  If you follow the recipe as written, you'll get 2 regular-sized sandwiches.

One Year Ago: Southwestern Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Three Years Ago: Summer Corn and Vegetable Soup

Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Ingredients

For the White Sauce

• 2 tablespoons non-fat Greek yogurt
• pinch of sugar
• pinch of garlic powder

For the Buffalo Sauce

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup Frank’s hot sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

For the Sandwiches

• 3/4 cup cooked and shredded chicken (from about 1 small chicken breast)
• 2 tablespoons minced red onion
• 2 tablespoons minced celery
• 4 1/2-inch thick slices Italian bread
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 4 slices cheddar cheese

Directions

1. To make the white sauce: In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt, sugar, garlic powder and a pinch each of salt and pepper.  This can be made ahead if desired and refrigerated.  
2. To make the buffalo sauce: Melt the butter in a small saucepan set over medium-low heat. Add the hot sauce, brown sugar and vinegar and stir until combined. Add the shredded chicken, red onion, and celery and toss to coat. If the chicken was cold, keep the pan over low heat and let it warm through a bit.
3. Lightly butter one side of two slices of the bread. Flip the slices over and lay them butter side down on your work surface. Spread half of the white sauce the remaining non-buttered side of the bread. Top each slice with a slice of cheese and half of the chicken mixture and then place the remaining cheese slices over the chicken. Lightly butter one side of the two remaining slices of bread, then flip them over and use the other half of the white sauce to coat the unbuttered side. Top each sandwich with a slice of this bread to finish it (buttered side facing out).
4. Heat a heavy-bottomed skillet or grill pan over medium heat. Place the sandwiches butter side down in the pan and cook until the bread is golden brown and toasted. Flip the sandwiches using a spatula and continue to cook on the other side until the bread is golden brown. Use the spatula to compress the sandwich as it cooks on the second side. Remove the sandwiches from the pan and let them rest for a minute or two, then slice in half (if desired) and serve.

Source: Barely modified from Tracey's Culinary Adventures