Or I if you’re on the other side of the pond I think you call them toasties. (Yes, in America “grilled” usually means cooked over a fire, except for sandwiches. A “grilled” sandwich is cooked in a frying pan until the outside bread is golden brown and crunchy, and the cheese inside is melted. No, it doesn’t really make sense. I assume the name probably comes from the flat top grills usually found in diners).
Do you like to add anything to them, other than bread, cheese, and butter or whatever frying medium you use? Last weekend I tried Kraft Deli Deluxe, tomato, pickles, and a little smear of mustard and mayo. That was amazingly good. Will definitely make it again.
While on vacation a few months ago I went to this cheese shop in Bushmills, Northern Ireland, which makes artisanal grilled cheese sandwiches (come to think of it, they call them “grilled cheese” on the menu, so maybe the do call them that in the UK). I don’t remember exactly what was on the one I had, but it was some sort of smoked cheese, some other cheese, and honey. It was pretty good, though I’m not sure I cared for sweetness the honey added.
My Dad used to make them using the grilling/toasting part of the oven.
But yeah, I fry them in a non-stick pan (I love my cast iron pan, but never for cheese), with butter and sourdough bread. I use good cheddar, never 'pasteurized process cheese food" (this seems to indicate something you feed real cheese). Kraft Deli Deluxe only contains some real cheese.
I eat the GCS with dill pickles on the side. If I have tomatoes, I will sometimes grill the sandwich with tomatoes. Or i eat with a bowl of tomato basil soup.
The better the quality of the cheese, the better the sandwich- IF the cheese will melt.
A wonderful comfort food. I prefer mine plain, and with Swiss, instead of American cheese. A bowl of tomato soup on the side brings me back to childhood.
To the good cheese emphasis, I add good bread. Many a possibly wonderful grilled cheese was let down by lackluster bread. IMHO, like a lot of very simple dishes, it hangs on the weakest element.
A truly awesome grilled cheese would have good bread, good cheese and good butter. Everything else is up to the eater.
Having said that, a dark pumpernickel rye with a nice swiss and some fresh cooked thin sliced (only for this dish, don’t want it too thick) bacon, cooked in a non-stick skillet with some Kerrygold butter would be my favorite.
Always with the cast iron. Not just one, but two of them, with the one on top bearing down on the top of the sandwiches with its weight, to flatten the bread a bit. It’s better that way.
Pickles and/or tomatoes should accompany a grilled cheese sandwich in some form, whether on the sandwich itself (added before or after cooking), or on the side.
That sounds amazing. I might need to make some pimento cheese very soon.
I made a couple last week with some wonderful 8-year old cheddar. One just cheese inside, one with a slice of ham. And I agree about the squash it with a second cast iron pan.
When I was a kid, ca late 70s, we had a grilled cheese maker/ waffle maker. Basically a precursor of George Foreman’s grill, but with reversable trays. I think it got used once as a waffle maker, but it was such a PITA to clean. It did the same squashing thing. I had completely forgotten about that thing until this thread!
I like all types of grilled cheese, from comfort food type made with Wonder Bread or Japanese milk bread and Kraft Singles or Deli slices to crusty bread (must be sliced fairly thin) and Gruyère or whatnot. I grew up with sliced Polish rye bread (same or similar to Jewish rye) and that works excellently.
The one thing I will occasionally add is some type of fruit preserve, usually berry, could be fig or apple or chile jam. Adding much of anything else and it’s no longer just a grilled cheese. For example, sautéed mushrooms are awesome, but it’s a different sandwich. Pickles do work, of course. I do sometimes use Branston pickle, or a bit of HP Sauce/Daddy’s for a bit of tang and sweet.
I have switched from using butter to using mayonnaise (yes, really!) for browning the bread. it gives a more even brown and it’s easy to spread a very thin layer on both sides. You do not taste mayo. It goes without saying NOT to use Miracle Whip for this…
I think the cheese for grilled cheese is like the wine for cooking. It would be good, but it’s a waste to use great cheese. There’s very little difference in the final result.
I like a rye with grilled Swiss and ham. Or grilled Swiss and mushrooms. Or grilled cheddar and sliced tomato. Or just plain grilled cheddar.
I like to use a variety of cheeses. Gruyere is especially good. I like rye bread for a grilled cheese for a little more flavor and something more substantial than ordinary white bread.
When I was a rapidly growing hyperactive pre-teen I would come home from school for lunch so I could make 3 or four grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. Just plain old American cheese and white bread, but I was really hungry and the ingredients were usually there. Running home and back to school for lunch burned off a lot of the extra calories. The food at school was good too, it was unusual in that regard, but there were no choices or second helpings.
Ah, yes, I learned that hack from NPR’s The Splendid Table. Mayo is mostly oil anyway, and it has a higher smoke point than butter, so less likely to burn.
Yeah that’s a popular hack, but I prefer the buttery taste. I don’t bother spreading it on the bread, I melt the butter in the pan and cook it that way. I really don’t understand the backasswards method of buttering the bread before putting it in the pan.
If you want to get really fussy, take some really good cheddar that is so old it wouldn’t melt well, and about 25% as much of cheese that melts well (Jack or Fontina or something), grate them both, then whiz them in the blender until it’s a paste. Then follow the usual: spread the paste between two pieces of great bread, add whatever you want to add to it, and grill the outsides until they are perfect. The cheese will melt in no time, so you can grill on a hotter pan to get the bread grilled a little quicker.
I like mine with sharp cheddar: that bite is really important.
The other thing worth experimenting with is herbs and spices. Some delicious varieties
-Italian herbs and garlic powder
-Smoked paprika and cayenne and cumin
-Garam masala and chile powder
But really, any herbs and spices that sound good to you.
Pimiento cheese can be really good, but it’s definitely worth making it yourself, unless you’ve got a provider better than the cheap sludge in the picnic section of the hot dog aisle. Here’s my food-processor recipe:
-Whirl some garlic, smoked paprika, cumin, and cayenne in the processor.
-Add cubed sharp cheddar and whirl until it’s turned into cheese gravel.
-Add a chunk–2 oz or so–of cream cheese.
-Add a big spoonful of Duke’s mayo.
-Add a little jar of pimientos
It’s a real quick recipe, and if you used the right amount of spices will knock your socks off.
