The ingredients didn't deviate much from those of a no-frills grilled cheese: sourdough, cheddar, butter; but this recipe also called for 2 medium cloves of garlic and 1/4 cup very finely grated Parmesan.
These were all easy items to come by (so easy, in fact, that despite accidentally leaving my grocery list at home this week I was still able to recall exactly what I needed).
Step one was bringing about 3 cups of water to a boil in a small saucepan. While the water was heating up I took care of peeling my garlic cloves and once the water was boiling, in went the garlic. I must say I'd never thought about boiling garlic as a means of cooking it, but it sounded like a good way to mute a little of the punch that raw garlic tends to pack.
As that boiled I took care of grating ~8 ounces of the cheddar cheese I had selected (in this case, Wegman's brand 12 month cheddar). I did a little taste testing as I grated (surprise, surprise) and found that this wasn't quite as sharp as the cheddars I usually go for. Oh well, Pooh Corner taught me long ago that it's always good to try a little something new!
Once the garlic had boiled for 5 minutes I fished the cloves out of the water and squeezed them through my (newly acquired and already greatly appreciated) garlic press. The ease with which the garlic was pressed was proof of the usefulness of the boiling step.
You may recall my excitement over the "cheese butter" creation I first tried as part of the Spicy Double Jack. Well, little did I imagine that cheese butter can get even better! That's right, this time I was making GARLIC cheese butter! Ohhh babyyy.
So to the pressed garlic I added 2 Tbsp butter and 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese. After mixing that together I had a hard time controlling my urge to eat the butter directly from the bowl. "Gross, you wanted to eat butter?!" you say? Well, look at this photo and tell me you wouldn't want to do the same:
OK, fair point, the garlic cheese butter appeal is lessened by the lack of the live and in person garlic aroma, but you still can't deny it looks delicious!
And with that the prep work was done. The garlic cheese butter gets spread evenly over 8 slices of bread, cheddar cheese is spread evenly over four of those slices (that are then topped with the other four) and we're in business!
As this sandwich was made on the Big (Grilled) Cheese's officially endorsed favorite bread of all time (Pepperidge Farm Sourdough), the sandwiches all grilled up perfectly brown in no time at all :-) The only minor hiccup was the fact that having cheese in the butter makes the sandwich stick to the pan ever so slightly, so I had to be sure to gradually scootch the spatula under the sandwich to loosen it before flipping.
Taste Review:
Now, I know Keats has taught us all that "A thing of beauty is a joy forever," but I don't think he was taking into account perfectly cooked grilled cheeses when making this assertion. These sandwiches are definitely things of beauty, but they will not be a joy forever as I couldn't wait to start snacking!
As having garlic in the name would suggest, the aroma was intense and DELICIOUS! I love the smell of sauteed garlic and when the sauteing is being done as part of a grilled cheese making process well, sign me up! But, the garlic would not allow itself to be contained to just producing a delicious aroma-- it also took over the flavor of the first few bites of the sandwich. I LOVED the fact that the garlic flavor was so obvious-- it sort of reminded me of cheesy garlic bread, but Colin was lukewarm on its strong presence.
At first I was surprised that GGC chose cheddar for this sandwich since I was picturing it more like an Italian sandwich (maybe with some Fontina or something), but the cheddar is actually a perfect choice because it's able to stand up to the strong garlic flavor so that both are powerful, but equally so (like Kirk and Picard... can you tell sous chef came up with that analogy?) You may recall my mentioning that this particular cheddar was less sharp than the cheddars I usually choose and, luckily, it actually proved to be the perfect fit to balance out the garlic! As you continued to eat, the garlic started to take more of a back seat (that or you just got used to the flavor being there) and you started to taste more of the other elements (the Parmesan and cheddar). The only note I have related to the Parmesan is that it makes the crust chewier than I thought it should be. Perhaps if I cooked it longer it would get a little crispier? But then I wouldn't retain the perfect golden brown char that the Pepperidge Farm Sourdough is renowned for.
Original American Grilled Cheese in that it was simple but tasty.
FINAL RESULTS:
Sandwich: | Garlic-Crusted Sourdough with Cheddar |
Gooey-ness: | 4 |
Aroma: | 4 |
Appearance: | Looks creamy and classic! |
Taste: | A- |
I was torn between an A and an A-, but ultimately decided that while good, this sandwich didn't get me quite as excited as some of our A recipients have (i.e. Havarti and Dilled Cucumbers on Rye or the Italian Ham and Cheese).
Next week I'll try to cook up a little pre-Thanksgiving treat... even if GGC doesn't have a Thanksgiving-esque recipe, I'm sure I can improvise something ;-)
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