So I just found this video on CNN.com about how to cook a grilled cheese correctly. Usually I just skip their fluff-piece videos, but this one caught my eye and I had to watch it. Why? Because I love me a good grilled cheese.
The person puts forth three main rules to a proper grilled cheese sandwich. I was glad to see I was already obeying two of them. They are:
1. Grate the cheese before putting it on the bread. The reason for this, naturally, is to speed the melting process. Cooking a good grilled cheese is really the art of a race between trying to get the cheese melted before the bread burns. This brings us to #2.
2. Always butter the bread. This one I do religiously. Buttered bread will burn slower than non-buttered bread. Additionally, putting the butter in the pan doesn't work quite right. The butter won't be soaked up evenly, and you'll end up with some spots of your bread burned, and some not.
3. Use a non-stick pan. Again, I follow this one too. You want to be able to nab that melted cheese and keep it with the sandwich, and to do that, you need a non-stick, no question.
She also suggests adding a pickle, onions, or an egg with the sandwich to give a nice counter to the taste. I always serve my grilled cheese with a pickle, so I got that covered.
But I tend to add one more thing to my grilled cheese meal. After the sandwich is done (which must be cut diagonally, and in quarters), I fry up a couple of slices of cheese too, one at a time. Let it start melting, then fold it in on itself until you have a bunch of melted cheese with a crispy cheese outside. Mmm... tastes sublime!
I'm not sure I'll try to grate my cheese. I use thin-sliced cheese from the deli counter, which means it melts pretty well already. No need to break it up, I don't think. Though I could cut it into small pieces and go that route. Maybe I'll try that next time...
