The best grilled cheese sandwich
When you're down and out and in times of trouble, economic or romantic, there's no better pick up than an old fashioned grilled cheese sandwich, a testament to the power of simplicity and taste.
There's almost no point in devoting a webpage to making grilled cheese sandwiches, as they're pretty foolproof. What's to mess up? What's the big deal?
Well, I suppose that, as foodies dedicate more attention to the simple grilled cheese, they're bound to change things up a little.
For example, a little video on a gourmet grilled cheese sandwich:
The net is littered with recipes, changeups and twists on the old favourite. For example:
Three Cheese on Artisan Jalapeno Loaf. Taking things too far? If you melt three cheeses together, is it really that much better? Does your bread have to be artisanal? Can't it just be good bread?
This Squidoo page has a load of reader tips and additions, like adding mayo, or using pepperjack cheese. For me, too much flavour! Really!
And while I love proscuitto and mozzerella, using them for a grilled cheese is a little disappointing, I think. Proscuitto is best in cold dishes and sandwiches, in my opinion.
Straight up, there's a lot of noise on the Net, so here's my version, simple and true.
- Take two pieces of cheap, white bread. Wonder Bread is the best, the kind that bunches up into a doughy ball when you squeeze it. Stuff the endpiece in your mouth right away to test the blanched, un-nutritious whiteness of it.
- Slice 1/4 inch thick slices of good Cheddar, aged and sharp. The stinkier, the better, and it's pretty awesome to get the stuff that's dyed cartoon orange. It just looks that much more appealing.
- Make the sandwich, ensuring that the edges are covered with some cheese. I HATE biting into a sandwich, only to get nuthin' but crust.
- Butter the outside of the sandwiches.
- Heat a thick skillet up on medium heat until it gets a little sizzlin'.
- Fry both sides of the sandwich, using the spatula to smoosh it down a little, ensuring the gooey cheese spreads all over the bread.
- When both sides are nice and crispy, remove. Cut one diagonal slice across the sandwich, then place both halves on a plate, separating them a little, giving the cheese the opportunity to ooze out like some orange alien slime. Trust me, that tastes great.
*this image is from What We're Eating
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Food Leaf
My favourite cheese for toasted sandwiches is an aged cheddar I get from the Central Market in Adelaide. The cheese comes from Murray Bridge.
It's bitey sharp and super nice. It's tastiest if you use it in cheese toasties in the oven and a bit oozes over the edge of the bread and cooks on the baking paper, crispy brown and yummy.
I usually accidently on purpose spill a little of the cheese on the baking paper and eat the crispy bits as soon as I get it out of the oven, before anyone else sees them.
Cook's privilege!
Grilled cheese is one of my favorite comfort foods and it's been ages since I've had one. I have a nice asiago in the fridge and some bread I need to use. The photo that you included in the post is superb - made me want a grilled cheese sandwich ASAP!