The Big (Grilled) Cheese

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Pimento Cheese Grilled Cheese

This week we're going off book and featuring a non-GGC sandwich. Recently a friend of mine asked if I had ever tried a grilled cheese made with pimento cheese. I had not (and, shamefully, can't remember having ever actually tried pimento cheese), so I decided to give it a go. My initial research yielded me an interesting factoid: pimento cheese sandwiches are a signature item at the Masters Tournament. Don't believe me? Well, check out this link. What almost perfect timing! Sadly I didn't learn this in time to make the sandwich for the actual Masters Tournament, but I'm only about a week and a half late and can take this opportunity to test out a recipe for use next year.

I went ahead and used the original recipe from the above link (not the blogger's modified version). The ingredients seemed easy enough, but I did make one mis-step.

The recipe called for wheat bread, but I couldn't help but try it on my beloved Pepperidge Farm sourdough. Add to that some extra sharp Vermont cheddar, onion, mayonnaise and chili sauce and I was on the right track. Unfortunately, I couldn't find pimentos in the store. I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't even know what I was looking for, so I ended up mistakenly buying pre-made pimento spread. Well, the whole point of this recipe is to make my own pimento spread, so this would not do. I called my grocery shopping consultant (Mom) and asked for a description of pimentos and had no trouble finding them on my second trip to the store (oddly enough, they were in the Hispanic food section). For those of you who may also struggle as I did, here they are:

Anywho, I assumed that the recipe I found excluded some important "/" marks and that the recipe did not actually call for 14 cups of pimentos, so I started out with this big guy and finely chopped him until I had about 1/4 cup (making sure to drain the juice from him as much as possible as I worked).

Then I went ahead and grated half of my block of cheddar (approx. 4 ounces).

Next came all of the mix ins-- the diced pimentos, 2 T mayonnase and 1/2 t. hot sauce.

I mashed this together pretty thoroughly with a fork until I had the following:

It said salt to taste, but since I never salt my food I just left it as is.

Next it was time to assemble the sandwiches. I buttered one side of two slices of sourdough and piled on the pimento. I used almost all of the cheese on just two sandwiches (maybe because I love cheese so much), but that was fine, just note that you'd have to multiply the recipe for more people.

Next came a few thin slivers of sweet onion. I was a little nervous about putting raw onion on the sandwich, but decided to trust the recipe.

Unfortunately, my other ingredient mis-step was an inability to locate watercress. I took several turns about the produce section to no avail, so I decided to do without (I mean come on, who needs more veggies? :-P).

I believe the Masters variety is served as is, but it wouldn't be a grilled cheese if I didn't grill it! So into the pan they went and mere minutes later I was ready to devour the melty perfection.

Taste Review:

The first word that popped into my head when I tasted this sandwich was "feisty!" I'm not sure exactly why since that's not a standard sandwich descriptor, but something about the blend of flavors makes this quite a fun sandwich. The sandwich has a good texture to it-- that perfect blend of crunchy bread with just the right amount of creamy filling (although sometimes the filling gets a little runny and falls out of the sandwich).

The use of a roasted pepper reminds me of the Two Cheese Mediterranean, but it was improved here by the fact that the pepper had been finely diced rather than being served as one big slippery pepper (it was almost too much to handle in the other sandwich).

Even though I was worried about what the raw onion might do to the sandwich, it proved to be a great addition! It was the middle ground between the slightly sweet pimento and the sharp cheddar (I think the key being that this is a sweet onion).

The most shocking statement of the night came from Colin who said that he felt the level of spiciness was actually good and that he wouldn't add any condiments (or anything else) to the sandwich because it already contains everything he would add (read: Sriracha).

I can see why people like pimento cheese as a dip. I would happily scoop this onto a cracker, veggies, or any other appropriate dipper, so including it in a grilled cheese was certainly a great move!

FINAL RESULTS:

Sandwich:	Pimento Cheese Grilled Cheese
Gooey-ness:	5
Aroma:	2
Appearance:	Very orange!
Taste:	A-

Gooey Scale	Aroma Scale
1 = still cold/hard	1 = can’t smell a thing
2 = slightly melted but still firm	2 = tender waft
3 = melted evenly	3 = makes your stomach growl
4 = melted and slightly runny (starting to get those cheese strings between your sandwich and your mouth when you take a bite)	4 = strong scent
5 = runny	5 = overpoweringly pungent
6 = sloppy mess!

Overall it's a sandwich that is truly worthy of The Masters!

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

National Grilled Cheese Month (and an Apology)

First off, I must start with an apology for the degree to which I have been slacking on posting as of late; an action that is particularly unforgivable given that this month is National Grilled Cheese Month! In tribute I'm bringing you this post-- a hodge podge of grilled cheese factoids, a refresher on grilled cheese making tips and pitfalls to avoid, and how to find delicious grilled cheeses in your own home town.

Did you know that Americans make, on average, 2.2 billion grilled cheeses at home each year? (Although I'm single-handedly working to push this number higher.) And while I recently crowned my favorite sandwiches and ingredients, I recently discovered that the most popular cheeses for grilled cheese are cheddar and American. I totally understand why. Cheddar is one of my favorites for making a wide variety of grilled cheeses whereas American is the ingredient in the beloved classic grilled cheese.

It's great to think about what the majority of Americans prefer, but let's talk about a few tips to ensure success when making your own grilled cheeses at home. I know I've touched on many of these throughout the past year, but it never hurts to have a handy all encompassing reference point.

* Use a non-stick pan. While my grandma may have relied on her cast iron skillet, the best way to ensure an evenly cooked, easy to flip sandwich is to cook it in a non-stick pan. End of story.

* Put the butter on the bread, not in the pan. You want the butter to end up on the bread anyway, right? Why not just take care of that up front?

* Don't be afraid to alter the cooking process. From smushing the sandwich together to make sure the ingredients are trapped inside to covering the sandwich to ensure the cheese melts, a variety of tactics can be employed once the sandwich is inside the pan to help assure it is cooked to perfection. While everyone may experiment and come up with their own tactics, I've found smushing and covering to be two of the most useful.

And the number one most useful tip that I tell everyone who asks me about how to make a good grilled cheese?

GRATE THE CHEESE!

It's as simple as that. Grated cheese allows for even coverage, more volume, and, most importantly, perfect melting. Slices of cheese that are too thick tend to not melt thoroughly and slices that are too thin tend to just hold their square shape and not really cover the sandwich up to the very edge.

This brings me to the most common pitfalls associated with grilled cheesing. Let me start this off with a story. Last week I was traveling for work and found myself in Atlanta on National Grilled Cheese Day (April 13). Since I couldn't celebrate by making one of my favorites I opted to order a grilled cheese for lunch. Unfortunately for me this Friday the 13th lived up to its unlucky reputation and the sandwich I got was quite the disappointment. The sliced cheese sat smack in the middle of the sandwich leaving a solid inch of crust around it and the thick tomato slices and overcooked bacon did little to make up for the lack of sufficient cheese.

Looks innocent enough, right? Don't be fooled!

I felt bad as I had persuaded some of my fellow diners to order grilled cheeses as well in honor of the day, but was dismayed to hear that they all thought the sandwich was good! This showed me that the average person doesn't necessarily know what to look for in a top notch grilled cheese. So in addition to adhering to the above principles when possible, here are some tips on avoiding grilled cheese disaster.

* When cooking at home, be patient. Better to cook the sandwich on a lower heat for longer than try to get the sandwich made quickly and burn the outside. If you don't cook low and slow you'll end up with burned bread and cheese that has not melted. This is something I struggle with both because of my gas stove and because I'm impatient, but it's advice to be heeded whenever possible.

* More cheese doesn't ALWAYS mean it's better (just most of the time, hehe). But for real, be mindful of the balance of ingredients-- are you using something strong like garlic? Then maybe keep that under control so as to not drown everything else out (a lesson learned from the Green Goddess). Conversely, are you going for the gooiest sandwich possible? Then don't be afraid to pile on the cheese (even if it oozes out into the pan-- crispy cheese bits are duh-lic-ious). Basically, find the recipe that works for you and run with it.

And, most importantly: don't order the "gourmet grilled cheese" at a non-grilled cheese restaurant unless there is actually something special about it. Nine times out of ten I have found that these alleged "ultimate grilled cheeses" are just some variation of cheese, tomato, and bacon. A delightful combination but, as related above, one that is often poorly handled. That's not to say never order a grilled cheese at a restaurant, just be wise in doing so. For instance, look to see if they've gotten innovative with their ingredients. This probably means they've put some thought into it and thus it's potentially worth your time.

The addition of avocado and extra gooey cheese took this otherwise standard grilled cheese to a higher level.

But what to do when you really want a great restaurant-made grilled cheese? Well, lucky for us all, grilled cheese fever is rapidly spreading. Before I travel I make a point of researching potential grilled cheese deliciousness and so far have always found a restaurant that offers a famous grilled cheese (see: Field Reports). Food and Wine even compiled this useful list of some of their favorite sandwiches from across the country. And while the majority of the sandwiches are located in major metropolitan areas, there are enough small town spots to make me optimistic that there's a quality grilled cheese lurking virtually anywhere! (Five Guys even gets a shoutout for theirs, and we know those are easy to find.) And even after searching high and low you still can't find a good grilled cheese near you, perhaps it's time to try your hands as a grilled cheese restaurateur? I'll be happy to pay you a visit! Until then I'll continue to try and find my way to the Grilled Cheese Invitational.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

The Best of the Best

Last week's post covered the highs and lows of my grilled cheesing so far. But one thing it didn't cover were the highest highs of all! So this week, Colin and I both chose our own favorite sandwich and mutually agreed upon an additional best overall sandwich that we'd like to re-highlight today. I know you can probably guess at who made the cut based on the leader board, but it's more fun to take a full blown trip down memory lane :-)

Since I was making three different types of sandwiches that called for A LOT of ingredients. I'm sure loyal readers can start to guess where we might be headed based on some of the ingredients pictured above.

Yummy-- assorted sandwiches looking good enough to eat!

First up is Colin's favorite:

The Pilgrim

This Thanksgiving themed sandwich has proved that it's a winner year round! The extra gooey Gouda cheese gives the sandwich an absolutely perfect texture to the point that the sandwich virtually melts in your mouth. I never would have thought to combine mustard and cranberry sauce, but it's a surprisingly good combination. The turkey is just the right meat-- anything else would be too heavy. It's just subtle enough to allow the other flavors to shine too making it a perfectly balanced treat! It's a little spicy, a little sweet, and a lot delicious.

Next up, Janet's favorite:

(Disclaimer: I made these sandwiches after coming home from the gym but before showering, so real life me was not suitable to be photographed. I used a photo of myself as a substitute.)

What do you mean? Of course that's me! *Sigh* OK, you caught me.

This sandwich officially endorsed by Morgan Freeman.

OK, that's not true either.

Apple, Ham and Cheddar on Sourdough

Sorry for the sub-par photography all around, but I had already eaten half of my sandwich by the time I remembered to take a picture-- yes, it's that delicious :-) What I love about this sandwich is the way the freshness of the apple enhances things. That sweet crunch in the middle (along with the sweet ham) is a great way to cut the sharpness of the cheddar. Since I LOVE cheddar cheese, this is a great choice for me because (as usual), the cheese in no short supply. This is also the sandwich that brought me back to eating/enjoying ham, and that in and of itself is an accomplishment.

And now, at long last, the moment we've all been waiting for! Colin and I had no question on which sandwich is the best. Every time someone asks me about my blog and what the best sandwich I've made is, this is the first one I mention. So without further ado, the official Janet and Colin favorite sandwich:

The California Grill

Where to begin? There are so many great things about this one. First off, let me say that the type of salsa used is CRUCIAL. Since the jack cheese and the avocado have pretty set in stone tastes, the way the salsa tastes is the way the sandwich will taste. Second, make sure you DRAIN the salsa! It should be sort of bruschetta like when you put it on the sandwich otherwise the sandwich will be too soggy (a problem I ran into for the first time with this batch). But moving on, jack cheese is one of my other favorite cheeses for its simple flavor that is also a bit sharp. Combine that with a nice spice from some salsa and the cooling avocado and you've got pure, unadulterated deliciousness. The avocado makes the sandwich so creamy while the jack cheese keeps it gooey. It's heaven on a plate.

So there you have it! The best of the best of our grilled cheeses so far. I'm sure there are many more tasty treats to be had, but in the mean time I encourage everyone to try all of these.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

The Year in Review

Guess what the 21st marked? The official 1 year anniversary of the Big Grilled Cheese! To celebrate I decided to take a stroll down memory lane to re-cap some of the highs and lows of the last year. So, without further ado, here we go!

Ingredient Hall of Fame:

Favorite Bread: Pepperidge Farm Sourdough. I've never used this on a sandwich and not liked it.

Favorite Cheeses: Even after trying a broad range of cheeses, my favorites are still some of the most basic-- Cheddar (preferably 2 year old Wegmans cheddar), Havarti and Jack.

Favorite New Discovery: Flavored Butter. This is a revolutionary cooking technique that I am sure I'll be employing for a number of dishes in years to come. Why it never occurred to me to mix herbs/seasoning/spices/whatever with butter is beyond me, but I'm eternally grateful that I've been shown the light.

Glorious!

Best and Worst:

Best Field Report:
The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen.

With its limited hours, this elusive spot had evaded me during my first few San Francisco trips; but it was worth waiting for. It's no surprise that I would like the results of a sandwich featuring my three favorite cheeses (The Mousetrap), but add to that the best mac and cheese grilled cheese I've had and I'm in heaven. Perfectly toasted bread? Check. Casual sidewalk dining in the San Francisco sun? Check. Happy Janet? CHECK!

Disappointing.

Worst Field Report:
Icon Bar and Grill.
The fact that this wasn't a restaurant discovered during my standard grilled cheese recon done before I travel to a city should have tipped me off to the fact that it would be sub par. The grilled cheese here was living proof that sandwiches aren't necessarily made better just by having a lot of different cheeses on them. Bitter goat cheese and arugula created a bland sandwich that was hardly worth my time (especially since I could've spent the same meal re-visiting Beecher's for one of their delicious signature sammies).

Best Original Creation:
Colin's Jalapeno Popper.

The key to success here was drawing on some favorite flavors and elements-- namely guacamole, jack cheese, and spicy foods. This showed how great specialty breads can be when used with complimentary flavors. Even though Colin and I disagreed as to whether this was better with or without meat, we both liked some variation of this sandwich enough to want to make it again...and again...and again.

Worst Original Creation:
Inside-Out Grilled Cheese.

What's even going on here?!

While I haven't given up on this concept, I am happy to forget about this attempt at the inside out premise. Interestingly enough this is one of the only other grilled cheeses to make use of a specialty flavored bread and while that element was delicious, the rest of the sandwich was all over the place. It wouldn't stay put together as a sandwich and the final result was so salty I could barely tell what was what. I am determined to make this work one day, but probably with completely different ingredients and construction.

Underrated:
Cheesy Gashouse Grilled Cheese.

I made this one so early on in the game that it's easy to forget about it, but it's an out of the ordinary but simple and delicious sandwich that can likely be made with ingredients you already have. Plus, you get the bonus of mini grilled cheeses courtesy of the center of each sandwich!

Aww, how precious :-)

Strangest Use of a Grilled Cheese:
Grilled Cheese Martini.

The name says it all.

The Worst Grilled Cheese:
Portobello and Provolone.

Beefy, smelly, runny, crazy looking. All in all an unforgettable sandwich in the worst way.

The Best Grilled Cheese:

... still to be revealed! Stay tuned for a full recap of Colin and my respective favorites as well as our mutually agreed upon best sandwich of all! (so far)

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Green Goddess Grilled Cheese

Just in time for St. Patrick's Day I bring you a holiday grilled cheese that's sure to leave a lasting impression (for better or worse). You know I like to play into holidays when possible, but I don't like many of the traditional foods associated with St. Patty's Day (i.e. corned beef and cabbage), so a green grilled cheese seemed the order of the day. Luckily, my friends are always on the lookout for me and my friend Whitney (who you may remember from the Crawfish Bread Grilled Cheese) sent me a recipe that fit the bill: the Green Goddess Grilled Cheese (original recipe posted here). My only knowledge of green goddess dressing stems from my infrequent, but much beloved, trips to The Melting Pot where they serve up green goddess as one of the condiments with your entree. I've always loved the green goddess there (requesting additional ramekins basically every time I go), so was excited to try it as the star of a tasty sandwich.

Not surprisingly, the ingredients are very herb heavy. Something has to give it that green color, right?

1 clove garlic, 1 anchovy (skipped this-- no thank you on the anchovies for me), 1 tsp. lime zest, 3 Tbsp chopped parsley, 2 Tbsp chopped tarragon, 2 Tbsp cilantro (skipped this-- tastes like soap), 1 Tbsp chopped basil, 1 Tbsp chopped shallot (is that the same as scallions? I hope so because that's what I got), 1/4 tsp Dijon mustard, 2 ounces cream cheese, 1 cup shredded mozzarella, 1 cup shredded cheddar, sourdough and olive oil.

Phew! The ingredient list was long, but all of the items were very easy to find. I was already feeling good about this one because it has two of my favorite sandwich components-- sourdough and cheddar!

Step one was mincing the garlic. For this I employed my mini food processor :-)

We know I like to go overboard with the garlic, so I actually used more like 2 cloves. Oh well! Next came all the green components-- lime zest, parsley, tarragon (which smelled like spearmint to me), basil and shallot. Since I was omitting the cilantro I did a little extra basil in an effort to maintain the right amount of herbs. The mustard and cream cheese also went in and got blended up until it formed a nice green paste.

I then grated up 8 ounces of cheddar and 8 ounces of mozzarella and combined them in a mixing bowl. A quick note on grated cheese-- it takes up more space by volume than not grated cheese (shocking, I know). So in this situation with a recipe calling for 2 cups of cheese, I probably should have grated less than 16 total ounces to attain 2 measuring cups full of cheese. BUT, I like cheese and to me 8 ounces means 1 cup, so that's what I went with. To the bowl of cheese I added the green paste and mixed thoroughly.

Tasting this mixture I was overpowered by how pungent it was! I think I forget that raw garlic is much stronger than cooked garlic, so I may have made a faux pas in adding more than the recipe called for. The herbs weren't helping the situation either. It was quite the flavor explosion. With that in mind I decided to make 3 sandwiches as I had a feeling Colin would not a big fan of this one.

I brushed the bread slices with olive oil on one side and loaded the other with the cheese/green goddess mixture. Closing the sandwiches with the second slice of bread left me ready to grill. Since the filling was so dense I made sure to use my method of covering the sandwich with an additional (overturned) frying pan to trap in the heat. I wanted to make sure that the cheese got gooey while it was cooking as I could tell this was destined to be runny!

Taste Review:

The first words that jumped to my mind upon taking a bite were creamy and STRONG! The super pungent taste of the filling was only slightly dissipated during the cooking process, so it was still VERY strong, but at least a bit more piquant now. The filling actually made the sourdough taste sweet by comparison, a feat that I didn't think possible. In general, though, I felt like there were too many strong flavors all competing for top billing. I think the extra basil and garlic weren't wise moves on my part as they both just slapped you in the face with flavor-- but then again, if I had lessened those quantities who's to say that another flavor wouldn't have taken over? Overall I think this is best kept as a dressing since you're better able to moderate the amount you're eating. Taken as an entree this is too strong for my taste!