|
|
|
|
If only there was an easier way |
April is official Grilled Cheese Month, dubbed so by grilled cheese scientists and the president of Wisconsin. The rainy-day staple is perfect for recession dining � comforting, economical and infinitely variable according to whim and what's hanging out in the fridge.
I used to flip grilled cheese on Phish tour on occasion. I'll give you a chance to groan, right now. Now that that's out of your system, I will say that hippie entrepreneurship made me a grilled cheese expert. Below, tips on making every grilled cheese a legendary one.
- Temper, temper. Whack a stick of butter in half and let it sit on the kitchen counter for a few hours before cooking. Cheese can temper for just half an hour.
- Butter the bread, not the pan. This is crucial. The tempered butter should be thickly spread on the outside of the bread, all the way to the edge, to ensure a crisp and toasted exterior.
- Apply flavors. You can use any old cheese you want if you add flavoring elements to your sandwich. Once your butter is tempered, mix in dried herbs and spices like garlic powder, dried parsley or basil, cayenne or paprika. Keep in mind cayenne and paprika are the main ingredients in blackening spice and will burn quite dark, so go easy.
- Keep it low and slow. A perfect grilled cheese requires an evenly heated pan over a low flame. Since you have buttered your bread, you have plenty of time to toast after melting the cheese thoroughly.
- Think outside the box. Aged cheddar and bacon is nice; or avocado and a squeeze of lime with queso fresco. Caramelized leeks go well with a spicy Gorgonzola dolce, or gruyere with caramelized onions and a pinch of brown sugar and sea salt. Add a layer of thin-sliced apples and mustard for a twist, or melt together mozzarella, basil and sun-dried tomatoes for an Italian version. Go wild.
arrgh...first the bunny hop over passover, now an entry on grilled cheese....these food blogs are torture this week!
- barstool scientist
- Booze
- Brew Revue
- Chef Salad
- Closings
- Coffee
- Contests
- Dealage
- Dirty Dishes
- Don't Front
- Eat This Immediately
- Field Trip
- Food and Art
- Food and Holidays
- Food and Movies
- Food and Music
- Food and Politics
- Food and Sports
- Food and Web
- Food Blogs
- Food Books
- Food Events
- Food News
- Food TV
- Gifted
- Happy Hour Hopper
- How-To
- In Print
- Interview
- Meal Ticket
- Menu Time
- Not So Quickfire
- Notes from the Weekend
- On Wheels
- Openings
- Patio Drinking
- Philly Beer Week 2010
- Photos
- Private Chef POV
- Product Placement
- Recipes
- Snack Time
- Stiff Drank
- SUPPER
- Tea
- Testing
- Ticket Stubs
- Top Chef
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
- Video
- Weekly Candy
- Weird Regional Foods
- We're Here to Help
- Where'd We Eat?
- Drew Lazor's Ill-Advised Rant Factory
- Pregame
- Ill-Advised Ranting
- The Week Without Meat
- Philly Beer Week 2009
- Real Big
- Where'd I Eat Last Night?
- Top Chef Masters
- The Good Word
- Next Iron Chef
- Arterial Terrorism
- Food and Radio
- May
- April
- March
- February
- January
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
