Now that Christmas is over, it’s time to focus a little more on what this site is about–cooking that everyone can do and won’t break the bank. With all the rich food we’ve had over the last several days, we had a pretty simple lunch the other day that consisted of simply grilled cheese and hot soup. What better to warm you up on a cold day?
Grilled cheese is an ultimate frugal food, second only to Ramen in its frugality and simplicity. Still, most people don’t know how to make a satisfactory grilled cheese sandwich.
Here are your basic ingredients:
- Butter or vegetable oil spread (i.e. Shedd’s Spread Country Crock)
- White bread
- Melty cheese (American is good; for more gourmet, you could also use thinly sliced gouda, butterkaese, or similar high-moisture cheese).
Once you have the basic ingredients, it’s more about technique than recipe. A common mistake is the overheat the pan. I’ve said before, most people turn the heat up way too high. For most things you’ll cook on the stove, you’ll really only want medium heat or less. the same is true of grilled cheese–use medium-low to medium heat.
Let the pan get hot. Meanwhile, butter one side of each of slice of bread. Once the bread has been buttered, place one slice butter side down in the pan. Top that slice with one and a half slices of American cheese (or the equivalent in other cheese). Top that with the other slice of bread, butter side up.
Cook on each side for about 2-3 minutes, until the side is golden brown. Try to turn the sandwich only once during cooking. When you’re done, you’ll have a perfectly cooked grilled cheese sandwich!
Enjoy!
- A way to trim the fat - don’t butter the bread. Instead, use a brush to paint vegetable oil on one side of each piece of bread. Less salt and fat this way, and the bread gets more evenly coated with oil than trying to use a butterknife. I suppose you could also paint on melted butter or margarine.
- I heartily agree with you about the heat…I usually use medium-low heat so that the cheese has ample opportunity to melt, while the bread stays golden brown and delicious. Plus, the bread surface was evenly saturated with oil, so there is less of a chance for burned spots.
- I also usually let the grilled cheese rest for a few minutes before I slice it… melty cheese is great, but is sometimes a little hot for the ol’ soft palate. I slice with my offset bread knife, but a pizza cutter also works nicely.
- I use these techniques for hot grilled sandwiches of other types, like reubens and paninis. Except I use a grill pan for paninis.
- Sometimes I forgo the cheese altogether and just do grilled bread. I take a loaf of Cuban bread, sliced on a bias, and paint both sides with butter. Season both sides with sazon (garlic powder, salt and MSG, with or without oregano), and grill both sides in a pan. Yum!
Grilled cheese is a favorite of mine! I make it on the Foreman grill these days.
All this time I thought I made good ones - but now know why I burned them!!
@ Scott, thanks for the tip about the butter/oil–I’ll have to try that out to see what I think. Of course, part of the experience for me is the tasty melted butter (but, I guess you’re using cheese, so no need to add insult to injury).
@ Cathy, I like my Foreman, too, but I find myself using it more for meat that I want quickly cooked than for sandwiches. I’m not a big fan of soggy bread, and I feel like a Foreman wouldn’t let the steam escape (hence, a soggy sandwich).
@Dennis, thanks for stopping by–did you burn them because of high heat, or because you let them cook too long? I really think many home cooks think hotter is better… Not necessarily the case–take eggs, for instance. If you want fluffy, moist (not necessarily runny) eggs, you need to use low to medium-low heat. Otherwise, you cook all the water out of them and they end up dry and rubbery!
Hal - I love grilled cheese and you have my mouth watering with this yummy description.