Grilled cheese grows up
When I was a child, there were two kinds of sandwiches: peanut butter and jelly and grilled cheese. On white bread (of course). Mom served the PB&J with a glass of milk. The grilled cheese arrived at the table with a bowl of Campbell's Tomato Soup. Heaven.
A PB&J sandwich — even one on artisan bread with organic peanut butter and homemade preserves — is still a PB&J. But a grilled-cheese sandwich is different. Brie and Swiss on a croissant; Gruyere and Gorgonzola with hazelnut butter; Feta and Gouda on sourdough — here we're talking serious adult fare. These are just a few of the combinations of Laura Werlin's newest book, “Grilled Cheese, Please” (2011 Andrews McMeel).
If, as Werlin avers, “grilled cheese, the movement, has arrived,” then Werlin is its obvious leader. A champion of American cheeses, she has written extensively on the artisan and farmhouse cheeses of the United States. But she is savvy enough, as a cookbook author, not to call for hard-to-find cheeses in her recipes; she offers substitutes when she does. But if you seek out artisan cheese and breads, you'll be rewarded with a superior sandwich.
Werlin has a few tips for making grilled cheese:
• Grate; don't slice. This ensures that the cheese melts. (The exception is soft cheeses like Brie, which don't grate well.) Note that a 4-ounce chunk of cheese equals 1½ cups grated.
• Use thinly sliced bread. Too thick bread overwhelms the sandwich, fails to crisp properly, and prevents the cheese from completely melting. Werlin's ideal slice is 4 to 5 inches wide, 3 to 3½ inches tall and ½-inch thick.
• Spread the bread, not the pan. If you put butter or oil in the pan, the sandwich will soak it up randomly, leaving dry patches. Instead, spread evenly over the bread.
• Use nonstick pans if possible, a sandwich maker or a grill. Seasoned cast-iron pans will also work.
• Cover the pan to ensure proper melting.
• Flatten the sandwich slightly during cooking (if not using a sandwich maker) to crisp the bread properly and melt the cheese.
• Low, slow cooking is the way to go.
• Let it cool for 5 minutes. The flavors will come together, and you won't burn your mouth.
• Marialisa Calta is the author of “Barbarians at the Plate: Taming and Feeding the American Family” (2005 Perigee). More at marialisacalta.com.