Golden and delicious: the foolproof grilled cheese
Alyssa woke up from a nap and wandered into the living room. “Do you want to make me a grilled cheese and then write about it for your blog?”
When I rolled my eyes and asked “doesn’t everyone know how to make a good grilled cheese?” Alyssa pointed out that she’s never seen someone make a grilled cheese the way I do. I still don’t know if she was being sincere or was just buttering me up to get a grilled cheese. Either way it worked. I caved and made her one. Here’s how I did it.
Butter, bread, & cheese, the grilled cheese holy trinity
Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
2 slices of country bread (I used Acme Pain au Levain)
2 handfuls of grated cheese (I used half aged white cheddar and half Jarlsberg, a mild swis-style cheese)
Tools
Box grater
Frying pan
Lid for the frying pan
The goal for a grilled cheese is to get a golden crunchy exterior on your bread with gooey cheese on the inside. If all goes well, you'll also get some crispy cheese bits around the edges where cheese spilled onto the pan. To do this we want plenty of butter which will help the bread brown nicely, a low heat on the pan so the bread browns slowly giving the cheese time to melt inside, and a lid to create a steamy warm environment which will further ensure our cheese has melted before the bread gets too dark.
Why butter? I’ve seen the “mayonnaise trick” where you lather bread slices in mayonnaise to get a golden exterior. Honestly, I’m sure it works but I don’t understand why you’d do that instead of butter. I’m a butter advocate; what can I say?
Why country bread? You can use a plain white bread, you could use any sliced sourdough but the Pain au levain was what we had in the kitchen. I like the Pain au levain for flavor and also because, like a sourdough, it’s got a nice light crumb with big holes that may let some cheese seep out and get direct heat. Cheese getting direct heat means crispy bits, which means mega flavor.
Why two cheeses? Simply put, two cheeses double the complexity of your sandwich. One cheese means one flavor profile whereas two cheeses are going to make your grilled cheese taste more interesting. The classic grilled cheese cheese is American. I’m all for nostalgia but all American brings to the table is meltability. There’s no real flavor and flavor is what I’m after. The Jarlsberg is mild but melts really nicely and I’ll get a punch of flavor from the cheddar. Aged cheeses tend to have a harder time melting, but the nuttiness and tang is worth it. I’ve also taken some precautions in my technique to make sure the cheddar has time to melt properly.
In a dish with so few ingredients, it’s hard for anything to hide. So get the best quality ingredients you can. Spend a couple dollars more for better cheese and better bread and your sandwich will taste better in the end.
Technique
Start by slicing your bread and grating your cheese. This is precaution #1 against aged cheese non-meltability. Grating the cheese will help it melt more evenly and is more important if you’re using aged cheeses in your sandwich.
Next turn your pan on nice and low and throw in your butter. A low pan does two important things for you. 1) It gives our friendly cheeses plenty of time to melt because the total cooking time will be longer. Combine this with adding a lid and we can be confident the cheese will melt before the bread gets overdone. 2) It gives you, the cook, more time. A hot pan means things change fast and the time between perfect to burnt is maybe a few seconds. A low pan means the window of perfect golden crust is much wider.
When the butter is nearly all melted place your bread slices in the pan and move them around to soak up all the butter on one side. Then, pile your shredded cheese on one of the bread slices, not both. Shredded cheese looks like a lot more cheese than it is because there’s air in there. Add more cheese than you think you want. Take the slice of bread without cheese and flip it on top of the cheesy slice so the buttered side is facing up. I like to use a spatula to smush my bread slices together. This increases sandwich stability but also helps with even browning on your bottom bread slice by making sure the entire slice is in contact with the pan.
It may look like a lot of cheese but…okay it is a lot of cheese, sue me!
Now put on the lid and wait. This is not a quick grilled cheese, it takes patience. The lid will capture steam and create a warm oven-like environment that will help our cheese melt faster. Listen for the sounds of cheese on the pan and let your nose warn you about any cheese caramelizing. If it is, it means your cheese has melted and you can remove the lid and flip the sandwich.
This sandwich is ready to flip. The cheese has melted and some has oozed onto the pan and started to crips. That’s mega flavor!
Flip the sandwich and wait to develop a golden crust on your second side. This should be quicker than the first side. Once your second side is done, remove from the heat, slice and enjoy.