Grilled cheese: Don’t get me started
It’s too late. I’ve started.
One would think after devoting an entire column to grilled cheese sandwiches some time ago, I wouldn’t have anything else to say about it. One would be wrong. Also, one would have to factor in the release of a new cookbook by Laura Werlin called “Grilled cheese, please.”
When this landed on my desk this week, I had to struggle to focus on the zillion items on my to-do list, none of which had anything to do with sitting, hunched, over this book and ruining its pages with drool. Also, I thought I might have to arm wrestle my colleague, book page editor Nona Nelson, for ownership of this book. I commend her for bringing it back to the Features department. She could easily have secreted it away and I would have been none the wiser.
Now it’s MINE ALL MINE.
I have a split grilled cheese personality. One part says it’s sacrilege to dress up a grilled cheese. For goodness sake, it contains three of the most amazing foods on earth – bread, butter and cheese. Why gild the lily? But the other part wants to look at it like a pizza, with the basic cheese version being both delicious on its own AND a foundation for gobs of amazing creations.
Werlin apparently is in the same camp as my second personality. She’s come up with 50 different recipes for grilled cheese sandwiches, switching up the breads and cheeses and adding everything from pickles to butternut squash or jalapeno relish.
The Wisconsonite features cranberry sauce, Dijon mustard, colby and blue cheese on rye. The Milk Truck Market has salsa verde and beefsteak tomato. Then there’s Brie’s Company featuring the namesake cheese, as well as three other varieties, caramelized onions and Granny Smith apples.
The Alpine has pickled shallots and watercress. And then there is the Havarti with Balsamic-Glazed Carrots, the Camembert and Comte with Mushrooms and the Sweet and Spicy Chicken and Gouda.
I think I need to lie down now. My head is spinning and my stomach is rumbling, and I’ve lost track of grilled cheese reality. I may need to ground myself this evening by frying up some grilled cheese sandwiches to go with tomato soup.
But I wouldn’t mind trying some of Werlin’s creations, either. Seems to me you could throw all kinds of leftovers on bread, blanket them with cheese and call it a sandwich.
Are you a grilled cheese purist or a grilled cheese Picasso?
February 10, 2011 - 7:14 AM
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I tend to be a grilled cheese minimalist. I go for a double layer of American cheese on buttered wheat bread. I want it grilled dark, too, not just barely. I don’t even like mayo on the bread.
That being said, I have had a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches with stuff like tomatoes and onions and various cheeses and sourdough or rye bread, etc.
They were all delicious, but they don’t take me back to the ‘grilled cheese and Campbell’s tomato soup for lunch’ memories.
Oh, yeah, the sandwich has to be cut corner to corner, not down the middle.
Both! At home I make them simply, but I LOVE Pop’s gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches (and of course Homestead Creamery ice cream)!
One of the best ways to make is is to add thin sliced ham, use cheddar cheese and add thin slices of apple. The apple and cheese really work well together.
Mayo on grilled cheese sandwiches: NO NO NOOOOO!!
I got this way of doing it from a friend. It uses the broiler, which makes it a little bit healthier but still just as yummy. Actually, our family thinks it tastes even better than making it in a pan.
You make it with thick-cut sourdough bread, 1 slice of sharp cheddar, 1 slice of mozzarella, and butter (I use 1-1/2 slices of cheese if the bread slice is wider or longer than normal).
Place the unbuttered bread slices under the broiler and toast to whatever darkness you prefer. Take them out and butter the untoasted sides of all slices. Top half of them with the cheddar and the other half with the mozzarella. Stick back under the broiler until the cheese is bubbly. Stick them together and you have heaven.
I am all for switching out the breads and cheeses for variety, but beyond that I am pretty much a purist.
Bread. Butter. Cheese.
Now, I do love to grill ham sandwiches with Muenster cheese and pickled banana peppers rings, but I don’t consider that a grilled cheese sandwich. It may be a cousin, but it’s not in the immediate family.
That’s a ham and cheese. Yes, if you look at some of the sammies in this book, there are things like the Monte Cristo, which you could also argue is not a grilled cheese.
But it is a cousin!
I can see going with sourdough bread, especially if you add something else to the mix. That’s still within the comfort zone.
I wonder what a pineapple slice would taste like on a grilled cheese?
If you do jalapenos, then a change of cheese is in order. Pepper jack, maybe?
Grilled cheese with bacon. YUMMY. Swiss grilled with rye bread. Swiss grilled with rye bread and salami. Grilled ham and cheese. Oh goodness, I’m starving!!
Ken’s recipe above sounds really tasty, but I think if you add more than a couple of items, you’re straying into ‘regular’ sandwich territory, and not staying within the grilled cheese confines.
I’d propose a maximum of two ingredients other than cheese, bread, butter. Like that gal on Food Network who does the five ingredient meals? You know, the one with the huge hazel eyes and big smile that is so mesmerizing?
Umm… I’m digressing… and yes, I know her name is Claire Robinson. Trust me, I know…
What were we talking about?
Maybe you could do this, as an alternative…
Sourdough bread buttered, thick cut goat cheese, and bread & butter pickles inside?
A little change from the sourdough, Swiss cheese, pineapple combo above…
Lindsey, mayo on anything is good (lol). Everyone needs to try peanut butter and mayo too.
I’m with Nona… I stick with bread, butter, and cheese.
Why mess with greatness?
I’m a purist, though I do add mayo. Basically, I fire up our griddle and put a few pats of butter on it, mayo up one side of the bread and keep the mayo side up, put the bread on the griddle and then put a slice of cheese on each slice of bread on the mayo side. I get the buttered side just lightly browned and the cheese starting to melt, then I assemble the sandwich and squish down, flipping once. Once completely browned the cheese is nice and melty and then I cut it diagonally on a plate with the spatula. It’s ready to eat then.
But food allergies have forced a few alterations. We now use Earth Balance soy free, dairy free, gluten free spread in place of the butter. We use Udi’s dairy free, gluten free bread (white or whole grain), which actually makes some amazing grilled cheeses and other grilled sandwiches like hot pastrami or turkey. We then use the egg-free Nayonaise and Veggie Slices for the cheese. Still makes a very good grilled cheese though.
Prior to food allergies taking precedent, we’d use regular salted butter, 2 slices of sourdough bread (we loved the bread from Cracker Barrel for this and also for eggs in a basket), Duke’s mayo, and thick slices of sharp cheddar. That was the absolute best! Crispy, buttery, melty, cheesy…couldn’t ask for a better quick food.
Great “grilled cheese with a twist” at Mill Mtn Coffee. It’s a grilled cheese with bacon and avocado. Yummy! Have to throw in that grilled peanut butter with banana is also a great comfort food.
Slightly off topic…the fake mayo and fake cheese…once you have gone a long while without the real thing and a while with the fake stuff, is not all that bad. Still working on liking Tofutti cream cheese though. Just by itself it’s not tasty at all, though the consistency and texture is right. But mixed with some french onion flavoring or other seasonings, it makes a great cracker spread (we use Glutinos GF crackers).
My wife loves her grilled cheese with tomato soup, I despise tomato soup. I just eat my grilled cheese by itself, sometimes with some baked Ruffles and a Coke.
OJ, I hate tomato soup too. I get razzed about that almost as much as when people find out I hate sweet tea.
Lindsey should have a grilled cheese party, and we can all sample the varieties mentioned here.
But without soup, there’s nothing to dip the crusts in.
Normally I’m a purist although I have been known to put mustard and bacon on one to give it a little extra zing.
Lindsey, you are so great to bring up a topic like this! Grilled cheese, that is. As Rachael Ray would say – YUM-O!!!
You made me laugh quite loudly with that one! You also made me more than a little concerned & reflective, too. Should I even stray into that arena? Or should I focus on the cheese, dammit! Ask yourself that one, because that is what matters – the cheese!
We’re talking cheese here, girlfriend…
Yes, focusing on cheese, does anybody remember the late 1980s “Cheese, glorious cheese!” commercials? That jingle goes through my demented mind all the time. What I wonder is why did they ever need to advertise cheese? It sells itself!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAkKk8HW6-0
Magpie, you sound like a kindred food spirit…I also cannot stand sweet tea. I feel like I’m drinking sugar water, and if I want that I’ll have a Coke! But being born and raised in the south, I get called a Yankee for that one a lot. I love my grits though. And not instant grits either, they are an abomination. Real grits are an art form.
I love Campbell’s tomato soup. Hate their chicken noodle, but love the tomato and it goes perfectly with a grilled cheese sandwich.
No bread in the house, so I’m off to MM C & T for a grilled cheese sandwich.
OJ, at least Coke has a “bite” to it, and it’s not as sweet as Pepsi. I can’t stand Pepsi.
I do like a lot of the spices and other ways you prepare food, so I’d definitely say we have similar tastes.
Debbie, I pick the (is it really) chicken pieces out of the Campbell’s soup whenever I have to eat it.
When my daughter was in elementary school she had a young friend that used to say, “cheese is your friend”. Every time we make grilled cheese sandwiches, we repeat that phrase!
Our favorite, cheddar cheese with Duke’s mayo and tomato slices on white bread!
Magpie, I despise Pepsi for the sweetness of it. Now, for whatever reason, Pepsi in Virginia Beach seemed a lot different than it does here. I think the source water makes a huge difference. But now I’m an exclusive Coke drinker. And we use the heck out of our spice cabinet. Not a day goes by when there’s not at least a couple pulled out. Like right now, we’re making a 2-alarm chili…the Texas way, no beans…just stew meat, tomato sauce and paste, and a boatload of spices like ground chili peppers, paprika, red pepper, garlic, onion, cumin, salt, and then a bit of ground masa to thicken it up.
The best grilled cheese ever is sourdough bread,mozerella cheese,tomato,and spinach. Yum!!
Grilled cheese w/bacon for me! Yummmy!
My favorite recipe for grilled cheese is incredibly simple. Walk down to Pop’s, ponder the soup of the day and then choose which of their many grilled cheese options fits what comes in the bowl…
I’d never heard of mayo on grilled cheese before. When I need Grilled Cheese Variety, I like to switch out American for different cheeses…I love Muenster,especially with some tomato slices sandwiched between the two slices of cheese before grilling.
I’ve always thought grilled cheese and tomato soup is the ultimate comfort food meal. Mojo has great soup and grilled cheese sammies.
To me, the bacon sounds like a no-brainer to try. Tricia’s fav also sounds pretty good.
Who knows, with enough of these ideas, I might be occasioned to stray from the fundamentals!
I’m not above adding small amounts of “other stuff” to grilled cheese – maybe a slice or two of a deli meat, maybe a fresh herb, or a little fruit/veg. Bacon is definitely ok (VERY ok). However, the one rule is to try to NOT mess up a good thing by over-doing it- the bread, cheese, and butter should still be the star.