Food Friday - Say Cheese!

from Kris B.

This week's post is less about the recipe and more about what the recipe's say about us.  I suspect that grilled cheese in some form or another is a favorite of all of us.  And if it is not a current favorite, I bet thinking about a grilled cheese sandwich conjures of some fond memories of another time.  Grilled cheese sandwiches have always been a favorite of mine.  When I was a child, my mom made them with good old store brand white bread, American cheese, and a healthy slathering of butter, and then tossed in the skillet and browned on both sides.   Simple, and oh so good!  I still like this "recipe" from my childhood, and though my current method and ingredients for making grilled cheese sandwiches has evolved a bit over the years, the effect is still the same...classic comfort food.

It probably doesn't surprise you that Tracey and I talk a lot about food.  However, what we say about it in our regular conversations with one another is rather humorous.  At least once a week one of us will say, "Well, I've got my Friday post recipe under control, but I have no idea what we are having for dinner tonight."  Or, "I got my recipe made and photos taken and now I'm too tired to cook."  Those comments are often followed by, "I guess I'll just make grilled cheese sandwiches.  And if I have any, I might even pop open a can of soup."  Yes, we both enjoy cooking, but like anything, sometimes you just need a break!  So this week we decided to share our favorite grilled cheese sandwiches.

Though I am a carbohydrate addict, when it comes to grilled cheese sandwiches, it is much less about the bread and all about the cheese for me. Smoked Gouda is my all-time favorite cheese.  Thus it, mixed with extra sharp cheddar, are the preferred stars of my sandwich.  And, for reasons that I cannot explain, I always grate the cheddar and slice the Gouda when I make my sandwiches.  I can't even remember when or why I started that.  I'm sure it has a dramatic effect on the satisfaction level of the sandwich, though.  LOL!

Generally, I prefer "brown" bread, but I still like my grilled cheese on white bread, another phenomenon that I cannot explain.  And not only do I like the white bread, I like it to be slathered, heavily slathered, with butter.  Yep.  This is why these sandwiches are comfort food.  All the things that I don't eat every day.  But, in case you think I am being totally unhealthy here, I do like my grilled cheese sandwiches with a couple slices of tomato.  There!  A vegetable, or, a fruit.  Ha.  The great tomato debate is one that has been going on for a long time.  In 1883, in the first of several cases on the matter presented before the U.S. Supreme Court, The tomato was ruled a vegetable.  Botanically speaking, of course, it is a fruit.  Whatever you want to call it, tomato is an excellent addition to my sandwich!  And, it makes it a tad bit healthy, doesn't it?

Though I do enjoy cooking very much, I am not a big kitchen gadget person.  My personal rule is to have nothing in my kitchen that only serves one purpose.  )We won't talk about the fact that I have three sets of measuring spoons.)  Though I am sometimes mildly impressed by the "one trick wonder" type gadgets, I don't have physical or mental space for them.  I can't function well with a lot of "stuff" around me and there is not room left in my cabinets or pantry.  At this point in my life, if I am going to add something new, something old is going to have to go.  That will be tough though, because all the old things that have made all the various purges thus far in my life are things that I find to be pretty darn useful!

The one thing that I made an exception for with regard to my one use rule is my waffle iron.  Only a waffle iron can make waffles; that's a given.  And a waffle iron can't do anything else, right?  Wrong.  At one point I thought I wanted a sandwich press...until I realized that I could press my sandwiches in the waffle iron...thus giving me "fancy" looking white bread.  LOL!  Seriously, the waffle iron makes a great sandwich press.  The key is to not actually press. :-)  If you push down on the sandwich like you would with a spatula when you make a grilled cheese sandwich in a skillet, you will push holes in the bread, creating a sandwich that can not be picked up because it is oozing cheese from all of its pores.   Just place your sandwich on the waffle iron and close it, adding no additional pressure. Using a wffle iron to cook things other than waffles is no an origional idea.  There are all kinds of recipes out there for creative ways that you can cook all kinds of things with your waffle iron.

So here are the down and dirty details of my favorite grilled cheese sandwich:

INGREDIENTS
My desired amounted of grated sharp cheddar cheese
My desired amount of sliced smoked Gouda
2 slices of "good" white bread
A couple slices of fresh tomato
Some melted butter
A sweet pickle...don't forget the pickle!

Preheat your waffle iron.

Brush one side of each slice of bread with melted butter.  Layer the un-buttered side of one slice with the smoked Gouda, then the tomato, and top with the grated cheddar cheese.  Top with the second slice of bread.  Place the sandwich on the waffle iron.  Resist the urge to make it a sandwich press!  Do not press down.  Cook until the bread reaches your desired level of brown. 

Here are a couple of my variations on this theme.  Add fresh spinach leaves and or bacon in the layer with the tomato.  This way, the cheese holds everything in place.  Another nice touch is to add a little bit of seasoning to the melted butter that you brush on the bread.  I usually use Italian seasoning,  Of course any herbs or spices that are personal favorites will certainly work just fine!

 Serve with a pickle and enjoy!




by Tracey G

When Kris mentioned doing grilled cheeses to my suggestion that I needed something simple and fast this week - I thought it was a great idea! Something a little different than our usual formula, this was more method and ingredients than full blown recipe kind of thing. A fun one to see how alike or different we are in what are our favorites! And from reading her post, I think we are once again, very much alike. We may have chosen different ingredients for this one, but I could have just as easily chosen what she used for hers! ;-)

To be  honest, I love a grilled cheese with just about any kind of cheese - but with a 6 1/2 year old around 99.9% of the time for the making of grilled cheeses, for speediness-sake vs. a debate/argument, I usually use the good old fashioned Kraft American singles and regular bread we always have around. And those are fine with me too - always a favorite and a classic. And with mine, I need a dill pickle - well, make that pickle slices that I put ON my sandwich, meaning between the bread slices with the melty cheese. Best way ever - well, to me anyway, lol. My child doesn't like pickles (some days I truly wonder if he wasn't switched at birth with another child born that day, his pickiness and not liking pickles is just wrong and so the opposite of myself! LOL), so not the "best way ever" to him, lol.

But, when I have the opportunity to have it my way - I jump at it! A local restaurant used to have my favorite lunch meal - they made a grilled cheese with 5 different cheeses and a lovely tomato bisque to go along with it. I don't get quite as extravagant with the cheese, as in using 5 different ones, but I will splurge on one or two good ones for my sandwich. Since this was all about favorites, I went with my favorite - and Harry's favorite too! - way to make my homemade-right-out-of-the-can tomato soup. I do use milk, but will replace a quarter of it with heavy cream if I happen to have some around. It's so much of Harry's favorite, that, every time I make tomato soup, he asks for it my "special creamy way", lol. 

These are my favorite ingredients. Too keep it simple, I stuck with one cheese, one of my favorite cheddar cheeses - and it melts so nicely too, lol. But as I said, I love a grilled cheese with just about any kind of cheese, I love a combo of sharp and mild cheddar as well. White cheddar is my favorite, so that's what I went with. I also like to use garlic in my butter for grilling. As for bread, my favorite bread is a rustic loaf, I do love a good Italian loaf, or Ciabatta. I do try to choose slices without large holes, they tend to let the cheese melt right through, lol.

My method is your typical grilling of the grilled cheese method, lol. I do, however, melt my butter when I am using a rustic bread, and brush it on prior to grilling - it also helps the garlic flavor blend through the butter. I brush one side of each of the slices of bread, place one buttered-side down on a preheated griddle or fry pan, top with cheese and then top with the other slice of bread, with the buttered side up. For my pickle-infused version, I start grilling mine so that the cheese just starts to melt, then I take the top slice of bread off and add my pickle slices, lol, and replace the top slice. Once the one side is nicely  browned, it's time to flip and brown the other side. That about sums it up, lol. Serve them up with your favorite soup - be it tomato or whatever! :-D