Grilled Cheese Sandwiches - 2 Ways

If you missed the title of this post, I'm sure the picture will be a dead giveaway. But knowing what you know about me, if I were forced to pick just one of my favorite comfort foods, which of these four do you think I'd pick without hesitation?

• Dutch Apple Pie
• Macaroni and Cheese
• Grilled Cheese Sandwich
• Chocolate Chip Cookies

It might help if you remember how much I love bread. And how much I love cheese. And how much I love toasted croutons. Or it might help if you remember I'd rather have a slice of bread with butter than a slice of dessert. So I'm sure it's no surprise that I'd grab the grilled cheese and run for high ground. But you probably already knew that just looking at the picture.

The real reason grilled cheese sandwiches rank as my favorite comfort food is more complex than just the simple combination of bread and cheese. The sandwich conjures up comforting memories from years ago: an impromptu lunch one late high school afternoon while reading Catch 22; lazy summer evenings with our cat Elmo (purrrrrrr purrrrrr purrrrr); watching new-to-me Star Trek TNG reruns with my boyfriend; pretending to resist the dramatic pleas of my boyfriend for a second grilled cheese.

Yet when it comes to comfort, not just any grilled cheese sandwich makes the cut. Who's surprised? If I'm picky about my chocolate chip cookies and picky about my buttermilk biscuits and picky about mayonnaise and about whipped cream, of course I will also be picky when it comes to grilled cheese. But I should clarify. It's not that there's only one perfect version - it's just that when I've got a craving got grilled cheese, I now know the exact combination that's guaranteed to squelch it. Simple, predictable, and utterly comforting.

There's a ridiculous variety of sandwiches that call themselves grilled cheese: with onions, with mushrooms, with bacon, with tomato, with arugula, with shredded meat, with fruit, with pesto, with 12 cheeses, with grill marks - and hundreds of other combinations and pairings. In fact, when I was in Cleveland, there was even a restaurant called Melt devoted to grilled cheese sandwiches of all varieties.

And there's nothing wrong with that and I'd be the first in line to try the cornucopia that is grilled cheese. But variety is not what I crave from comfort food and after 10 years of sampling and 9 months of active experimentation on grilled cheese, I have confirmed the shameful truth: I'm a simpleton and I crave a simple grilled cheese sandwich.

12 to 13 years ago when I first discovered the magic of melted cheese between crusty bread, I always used Velveeta (it's what my parents used and what I knew). And when it comes to creamy, gooey meltiness, nothing comes close to Velveeta thanks to its engineered processed origins. For the longest time, I couldn't endure the less-creamy, more-stringy nature of real cheese like cheddar and wound up using American cheese as a marginally less-processed substitute for Velveeta.

I finally conquered my resistance to real cheese - goodbye processed cheese products! - but I then faced a new challenge: Which cheese should I use and how much? How many cheeses? And should it be grated or sliced?

To complicate things further, I needed to find the right homemade bread. And wouldn't bacon be delicious? And maybe some tomato and arugula?

9 months later - with a slew of grilled abominations littered behind me - I knew which cheeses I didn't want: Fontina, Gruyere, mozzarella, provolone, Parmesan, goat cheese, Gorgonzola, and Monterrey Jack. Most of these cheeses were just too salty, some had a strange texture, and some just didn't hit the right flavor notes. On a whim, I tried combining sharp aged cheddar with Swiss. Turns out, my taste buds crave a 2:1 combination of melted sharp cheddar and Swiss.

Next came the bread. I discovered the exact variety of bread is far less important than the right amount of salt, cheese, and crispiness. But there was one clear favorite from all my experimentation and I doubt anyone will be surprised: homemade brioche makes the best grilled cheese. The rich eggy flavor of the brioche turns tangy when grilled with cheese, and the inherent butteryness of the bread results in phenomenal toasty goodness. So brioche became my go-to bread.

When I'm out of brioche, or just feel mildly more health-conscious, my next favorite choice is homemade multigrain bread. With good dijon mustard. The deeper flavors if multigrain bread can overwhelm the cheese without a little help from the dijon. Don't argue - I've tested too many sandwiches and I'm not in the mood. Just add the dijon and see if your multigrain grilled cheese doesn't taste cheesier.

So with the perfect mix of cheeses and bread, there was just one more hurdle - and it turned out to be the linchpin for the entire sandwich: Sliced or grated cheese?

It had to be shredded, right? If I was using real cheese, slices would never melt by the time the bread was toasted. That makes sense. Right? Here's a reading suggestion for my blog: when I ask a question that would seem to have an obvious answer, you can assume I'll argue otherwise.

What I found is that grated cheese has a funny way of disappearing into the bread rather than forming a delicious melted cheesy layer. And it always make a mess when flipping the sandwich. I also found sliced cheese will indeed melt by the time the bread is toasted - but it has to be close to room temperature before adding it to the sandwich. Sliced cheese will form that marvelously melted layer craved by all grilled cheese fanatics (or at least this one).

Real cheese, homemade brioche, sliced (not grated) cheese - it's the foundation of an amazing yet simple grilled cheese sandwich. Believe it or not, there are still more secrets to arriving at melted comfort. But you can read about those in the tips that follow this recipe.

I have one last thing I want to say about grilled cheese - it's sinful. And that's not a good thing. Remember how I said I would always choose grilled cheese as my favorite comfort food? That's a big problem for me. On the one hand, I'm psychologically addicted to all the wonderfully comforting memories evoked by this sandwich. On the other hand, this sandwich is packed with so many carbs and so much fat, there's NO WAY I can serve this to myself or my loved ones - and still claim I love them! On the other hand, my tongue craves more hot, salty, crispy, cheesy, buttery awesomeness. On the other hand, love says I must control my base cravings.

So I've had to make a compromise on this sin - I share. The below recipe makes two large sandwiches, but I limit myself to just one sandwich and split it with my boyfriend. And I serve it with plenty of raw vegetables and often a big greens salad. Then I cram down the sandwich as fast as I can so I can forget about the sin and get back to the love.

I attempt to keep all of my recipes more healthful by eliminating transfats, artificial dyes and flavorings, preservatives, and pre-prepared shortcuts. However, this recipe still contains a LOT of fat (butter, cheese and brioche) and is NOT a health-conscious food. Out of respect and love for your own body (and for those you cook for), please exercise restraint when consuming grilled cheese sandwiches!

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches - 2 Ways

Print Recipe

By JavelinWarrior

Prep Time: 10 min  Cook Time: 12 min  Yield: 2 large sandwiches

Ingredients

Brioche Bread Version

• 4 slices homemade brioche bread (or equivalent)
• 4 slices aged sharp yellow cheddar cheese, 1/4 inch thick, at room temperature
• 6 slices swiss cheese, 1/8 inch thick, at room temperature
• 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 4 pinches kosher salt
• 4 pinches cracked black pepper

Multigrain Bread Version

• 4 slices homemade multigrain bread (or equivalent)
• 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3 teaspoons dijon mustard, divided (recommend Gray Poupon)
• 4 slices aged sharp yellow cheddar cheese, 1/4 inch thick, at room temperature
• 6 slices swiss cheese, 1/8 inch thick, at room temperature
• 2 pinches kosher salt
• 4 pinches cracked black pepper

Technique

1. Carefully slice cheese and let rest at room temperature for at least 10 minutes before adding to sandwiches
   
   
   
    
2. Grease a cast iron skillet with 1 Tablespoon butter, then heat skillet over medium heat until butter has melted and browned, about 8 minutes
   
   
   
    
3. While the pan heats, slice bread and spread each slice with 1 Tablespoon of butter and sprinkle with kosher salt and cracked black pepper (use less salt if using multigrain bread as dijon mustard is salty)
   
   
   
   
    
4. Once skillet is hot and the butter is browned, reduce heat to low to medium-low and place one slice of bread, butter-side down, in the pan (if using multigrain bread, spread dijon over the unbuttered side of the slice); top the bread with 2 slices of cheddar and 3 slices of Swiss cheese, then cover with a second slice of bread, butter-side facing up
   
   
   
   
    
5. For sandwiches made with brioche (or similar white bread), allow sandwich to toast for 2 minutes on one side, then carefully turn sandwich over, press down with a spatula once to seal slices together, then toast other side for 3 minutes; turn the sandwich over again, toast for another 2 minutes, then turn over one final time and toast another 2 minutes
   
   
   
    
6. For sandwiches made with brioche (or similar white bread), allow sandwich to toast for 4 minutes on one side, then carefully turn sandwich over, press down with a spatula once to seal slices together, then toast other side for 4 minutes; turn the sandwich over again, toast for another 1 minute, then turn over one final time and toast another 1 minute
   
   
   
    
7. Allow sandwich to rest for 3 minutes before slicing and serving; repeat steps 4 through 6 for the second sandwich
   
   
   
   
   

Tips

• For years, I made grilled cheese in regular steel and non-stick pans. The results were good but nothing spectacular. Then I bought a cast iron pan (thanks for prompting me, Dan) and the difference in the toasted bread was amazing. The bread toasts much more evenly and at much lower temperatures without becoming soggy or absorbing too much of the butter. Since real sliced cheese takes a little while to melt, lower heat is critical and thus the cast iron pan helps immensely
  
  
   
• Buttering the cast iron pan before heating allows you to really develop a wonderful browned butter flavor for the sandwiches - and helps to ensure the sandwiches don't stick to the pan
   
• Even though you're buttering the grill pan, you still need to butter the bread generously if you want delightfully crispy toast. Make sure to use room temperature butter or you'll never get it to spread without crumbling the bread
   
• The cracked black pepper really doesn't add much heat - it's included for flavor. Surprisingly, I find black pepper enhances the flavor of both the cheese and the browned butter but loses most of its heat during the grilling
   
• Why aged sharp yellow cheddar? Why Swiss? I want to taste and see my cheese. Aged sharp cheddar packs a ton of flavor and isn't quite as dry and crumbly as extra sharp cheddar. And the yellow color keeps it from disappearing against the bread. Swiss adds a tangy bite without adding much salt - and it doesn't become as stringy as saltier alternates like provolone and mozzarella
  
  
  
  
• Don't cut your bread any thicker than 3/4-inch or the cheese will be overwhelmed by the bread. And don't cut the bread much thinner than 3/4-inch or it you'll arrive at hard toast without that wonderful soft center
  
  
   
• I tried pairing first goat cheese, then mascarpone and finally cream cheese with cheddar to see if I could approximate the creaminess of Velveeta. Not my best idea. In the end, I abandoned all three cheeses
   
• Flipping the sandwiches multiple times while grilling helps to ensure the bread toasts beautifully without burning. It also helps the cheese to melt more slowly without turning to a stringy mess. Depending in your stove's heating element, the precise times will vary - despite my recipe's precise interval
  
  
• A little salt will be your hero. Too much salt and you'll feel like you're eating toasted sea water. So salt conservatively and don't use any salt if you're using salted butter