Home of the Grilled Cheese Sandwich
My “Grilled Cheese” Google Alerts have been piling up in my inbox and open tabs in my browser. I was saving the great grilled cheese sandwiches from around the web yet I had no time to post them. That time has come now, and it…
It is the time of year when pumpkin, and apples, are found in everything from coffee drinks to ice cream. Grilled cheese sandwiches are not immune to this fall craze and so I begin this Grilled Cheese Roundup with a couple of delicious recipes for…
Another, somewhat longer, installation of the Grilled Cheese Roundup. Hope you enjoy, especially because somehow Thomas Jefferson and cheese are mentioned in the same sentence!
(courtesy Parmesan.com)
A case could be made that one of the American founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson, helped popularize Italy’s Parmesan cheese in America.
It seems likely that Thomas Jefferson, an educated man who enjoyed living well, had tasted Parmesan cheese in American homes even before becoming the U.S. ambassador to France. He took up this post in 1786, long before Parmesan began to be called Parmigiano Reggiano® cheese.
Who would have thought that Thomas Jefferson was a fan of Parmesan cheese and wanted to bring it to the States? I surely didn’t! Smartly, though, he realized that trying to produce true Parmesan cheese in the United States was futile as part of the allure of the cheese was the fact that it was produced in Italy itself. Regardless, his love for Parmesan cheese, definitely helped begin the intrigue of such an awesome cheese.
(courtesy How Sweet It Is)
Fall is in the air and the leaves are changing color. That means it is time for a fall grilled cheese. Caramel apple‘s tend to show up in grocery stores and farmers markets at this time of year so why not try it as a grilled cheese? This amazing sandwich uses REAL caramel sauce and honeycrisp apples to make a unique and wonderful fall grilled cheese.
(courtesy Smells Like Home)
With me keeping Kosher and not eating bacon, I normally wouldn’t post this sandwich. However, it looks good and fig is a unique ingredient that seems to be popping up as of late. Plus, just because I don’t eat bacon, doesn’t mean the rest of the world doesn’t eat it also. Brie and fig jam (and bacon) seems like a great combination that should be tried by all the bacon lovers out there (which I know there are a ton).
(courtesy The Naptime Chef)
I love caramelized onions. I really, really love caramelized onions. The flavor is simply amazing. So when I saw The Naptime Chef made a grilled cheese consisting of caramelized onions (and swiss cheese), I had to post it for everyone to see.
(courtesy CHOW)
When someone posts a gallery of 10 original grilled cheese sandwich creations, how can I not post it? The above, “Cheezy Peas,” features mild cheddar and cooked peas. Looks and sounds pretty good to me! Other creations include “The Swiss Fun Guy,” featuring gruyère cheese, sautéed mushrooms, shallots, and fresh thyme; “Cruciferous Cheese Sandwich,” featuring gruyère cheese and thinly sliced roasted cauliflower; “Garlic Fries Melt,” featuring white cheddar cheese, thinly sliced roasted potatoes, and whole roasted garlic cloves. Definitely take a look through yourself and see which one is your favorite!
I was just looking through my Google Alerts for grilled cheese and found three interesting/intriguing recipes for amazing grilled cheese sandwiches. Since I know I won’t be able to a grilled cheese featuring Cabot Cheesethat was sent to me complimentary, I thought I would do…
Steve Jobs 1955-2011 (courtesy apple.com) “The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come. For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it’s been…
As I previously mentioned, the family traveled to West Side Market, where we purchased multigrain bread and I made an awesome Smoked Cheddar Grilled Cheese. However, I didn’t tell you the complete story. I didn’t tell you about our cheese purchase: Le Merlemont from The Cheese Shop. That is the featured ingredient in this grilled cheese, and a cheese that I had never tried previously. It was on sale and the cheesemonger suggested it so we went for it. Why not try a new cheese, Le Merlemont, right? Why not use baked apples in a grilled cheese? That is what this blog is all about… Continue reading Le Merlemont Grilled Cheese
Who would have guessed Martha Stewart would know how to cook an awesome grilled cheese sandwich let alone multiple yummy grilled cheese sandwiches? Definitely not me. Thanks to padgett hoke, I stumbled on Ms. Stewart’s recipes (and awesome photos), both vegetarian and carnivorous. With me…
Somehow, this past week, I got on the subject of potatoes/potato pancakes and immediately my mind went to grilled cheese sandwiches. Potato pancakes in a sandwich? Good. Potato pancakes as the bread of a grilled cheese sandwich? Perfect. (Thanks sous chef.) Instead of making our…
With the Passover holiday continuing, tonight, I replaced “normal bread” with our lovely friend matzoh. Even with having to eat it for 8 days straight every year, it is starting to grow on me. It seems that most Jews dread this holiday simply because of the lack of food options, but it hasn’t bothered me in awhile. Plus tonight’s grilled cheese added a nice challenge that I was willing to face head on, especially when charoset is included.
Starting this week, before writing about the actual grilled cheese, I am going to discuss the cheese of the night. While eating the past 10 sandwiches (yes, 10 sandwiches), I felt like I was learning more about the bread than the cheese. With the help of ILoveCheese.co.uk, (yes, that is a real web site), I will educate both you and me about the featured cheese.
One of the world’s greatest cheeses and the most famous from France, Brie is a soft-ripened cow’s milk cheese named after the historic French region where it originated. The elegant cheese is characterized by a smooth, edible, white downy rind, and a creamy rich, buttery interior. Very soft and savory, Brie practically oozes at the peak of ripeness, displaying earthy mushroom overtones and a slight hint of ammonia…learn more
Prior to creating and eating tonight’s grilled cheese, I took a moment to sample the Brie cheese and write down my thoughts, which are pretty inline with the above description. The kind that was purchased yesterday, because of the holiday (Easter), was very smooth and creamy and had a distinct taste, maybe a nuttiness flavor. Either way, it was delish. It would have been great simply with some crackers as a dessert or even just a snack. I would have been okay with it! Anyway, onto the grilled cheese…
As I created tonight’s grilled cheese, I obviously tried to stick with the Passover theme.
The spread/filling of the grilled cheese is a play on charoset, which my mom’s recipe includes for apples, walnuts, cinnamon and red wine mixed together. She makes it chunky but it appears that it can be more of a paste. In my creation, we used a white wine, but only as a liquid, and blended the charoset mixture until it was very fine. I placed this charoset spread on top of the matzoh and Brie cheese. Then I added some larger chunks of walnuts, put the top piece of matzoh on and placed it in the oven. It was as simple as that.
On the surface, I was excited. The Brie cheese was fantastic and so was the charoset mixture. However, something got lost in translation as the grilled cheese was put together and cooked. I did create it twice and in the second version, I added more cheese and cooked it a little while longer but I was still somewhat “eh” to it.
On the other hand, my father thought it was great and ate the whole grilled cheese. In my first version, when I could taste the brie, the sandwich was out of this world, however, I didn’t taste the walnuts too much. Plus, I believe the charoset mixture needed something but I can’t put my finger on exactly what was missing. Then there is the matzoh, which is just a cracker that has no leavening agent in it.
Unfortunately, this grilled cheese and matzoh in general, is not very photogenic so I apologize for the lack of sandwich creation photos.
If my dad were writing this review, there would definitely be a different slant, a more positive vibe. However he is not, and therefore there is a little hesitation in my “voice.” It was a great try and if there were a few more tweaks, I believe this Passover grilled cheese could have been great. There was just something missing in the charoset and the Brie was not as powerful as I had hoped.
Before I update everyone on tonight’s Sunday Dinner, I must play catch-up one more time and write about the yummy grilled cheese I cooked on January 18, 2009. So far, it was probably the best sandwich I have created for Sunday Dinners. ingredients: Brie Cheese…