11/29/2010

Cotswold Cheese & Blue Grilled Cheese

I had not truly thought about creating a grilled cheese sandwich for tonight’s dinner until I was driving with the sous chef to see Billy Elliot. I was not prepared with any great ideas or recipes to choose from. Not until I arrived at Whole Foods after the play did I truly begin to think, “What should tonight’s grilled cheese consist of?” After that question, I spent approximately 30+ minutes walking through the bakery and cheese departments frustrated that I had no good ideas. Finally, I found the bread and then sometime after, I decided on the cheese, Cotswold cheese as well as blue cheese. Below is my creation.

ingredients:

Cotswold Cheese
Blue Cheese
Pane Bello

cheese #1: cotswold

Since we were getting a late start and hadn’t truly thought about this particular grilled cheese, I wanted to create a simple sandwich. However, that did not mean that the cheese needed to be boring or blah. Early on in the cheese search, I stumbled on this Cotswold cheese and was intrigued. As you can see in the ingredients above, this cheese contains both onions and chives, something different for a change. Even as I continued to look for other cheeses, the Cotswold cheese continued to stick in my head.

The base of Cotswold cheese is creamy and buttery. According to about.com (and me), “The onions and chives provide a distinctive, flavorful enhancement.” I feel that the flavors may have gotten a bit lost when melted, but when eaten plain, the taste buds are able to taste each ingredient of this unique cheese.

cheese #2: blue cheese

thoughts

When creating a grilled cheese from scratch, I normally begin with the cheese or additional ingredients. However, today, I decided to start with the bread. I was thinking of using a raisin bread or something along those lines but was not moved when I saw Whole Foods’ selection. I continued to look when I stumbled on the rolls.

There were rosemary and sourdough rolls but those did not move me as much as the pane bello (plus the worker’s recommendation didn’t hurt). The only issue was the thickness, but with my grilled cheese, I did slice a bit off the top so the sandwich was easier to eat and less doughy. The bread was delicious and one of my favorite parts of the grilled cheese. It was crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside; a perfect combination.

Since this grilled cheese was basic, but good, the preparation was very quick. The only unique thing I did and which I believe helped the sandwich, was melt sweet butter and spread it on the inside of the lid of the bread. Then, when cooking the grilled cheese, I left the two pieces open. I only closed the grilled cheese once it was time to eat.

the grilled cheese:

cotswold chese & blue grilled cheese: A-/B+

While eating the first half of this sandwich I realized that it needed more cheese simply because of the amount of dough. Thankfully, I still had the second half so I added more cheese, enhancing the sandwich’s flavor. The additional cheese definitely helped, but this sandwich ended up not being very memorable. I loved all the pieces but when put together it made a good sandwich, not a great sandwich. If you were up for trying something simple, I would recommend this sandwich, otherwise, there are many other sandwiches I would recommend first.