Grilling: Middle Eastern Grilled Cheese
I was in dire need of a snack before waiting an hour for my butternut squash to grill properly. Luckily I had seen some amazing photos of a Middle Eastern Grilled Cheese on Tony Tahhan's blog recently, which forced me to make sure I had all the ingredients to make it on hand.
The recipe calls for Armenian string cheese to be placed in a pita, then sprinkled with dried mint and drizzled with olive before being grilled. Like almost all grilled cheese, it was quick and delicious, but the simple swapping of ingredients brought a whole new life to this tried-and-true standard, getting me to thinking about what else can be done with the seemingly mundane.
About the author: Joshua Bousel blogs about grilling on his blog, The Meatwave, and appears weekly here on Serious Eats during grilling season.
Middle Eastern Grilled Cheese
Adapted from Tony Tahhan
Ingredients
Pita bread, with pockets
Armenian string cheese, sliced
Dried mint
Extra virgin olive oil
Procedure
1. Light one chimney full of charcoal. When all the charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and spread coals out evenly. (This can also be cooked on a stove top or panini press.)
2. Cut open the pita and place slices of the string cheese inside. Sprinkle the dried mint over the cheese and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.
3. Grill the pita until golden brown and the cheese has melted.
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16 Comments:
I LOVE Armenian string cheese. It totally surpasses the American kind in stringiness and taste.
spros at 7:23PM on 11/14/08
When I was a kid we ate this all the time. String cheese was not well know but known.
JerzeeTomato at 8:06PM on 11/14/08
This look soooo yummy!
dtok22 at 8:17PM on 11/14/08
Looks luscious. I've not heard of Armenian string cheese before. Is it difficult to find outside of NYC (or Armenia)?
baboo at 10:04PM on 11/14/08
Is there a good substitute for the dried mint in this? It sounds delicious but I'm not a huge fan of mint...
erin79 at 10:31PM on 11/14/08
That would be delicious with the addition of some small cubes of haloumi and some chopped peppers as well.
NotAmerican at 2:33AM on 11/15/08
That does look delicious.
@erin79, what about dried basil?
carolrsfMISSESTEXAS at 2:41AM on 11/15/08
Sounds delicious, but Armenia is not the Middle East. I live in the Middle East. Armenia is in the caucus region of western Asia.
unbeliever at 9:40AM on 11/15/08
so many breads, so many cheeses and so many herbs and condiments to play around with.
There ought to be a 1001 grilled cheese recipes cook book.
My vote is for fresh mozz, good olive oil, fresh basil and ciabbiata. Brush outside of bread with good olive oil, some mozz (and maybe roasted red pepper - see it's changing already) and weigh it down with a tin foil brick...turn on other side and do the same.
May have to have this for breakfast
Nonny at 9:47AM on 11/15/08
@baboo: I've seen Armenian string cheese in most of my local groceries, but that's in Astoria, NY, and they tend to carry more international foods than a normal store. They should have it at Whole Foods, but if you can't find it, just substitute another braided string cheese, there's a lot of varieties out there.
@erin79: When I was eating this, I actually kinda wished I had used Za'atar instead of mint. Za'atar is usually a mixture of thyme, sesame seeds, and sumac and I think would work exceptional well in this sandwich.
Joshua Bousel at 10:25AM on 11/15/08
@josh!: Thanks. No Whole Foods up here in the Berkshires, but there are some top-drawer specialty shops, and a terrific cheese monger.
baboo at 5:49PM on 11/15/08
That sounds great I have had something like that before.If you want more recipes or if you want to take a look at the collection of tips I have for grilling you can visit http://www.cookingandgrillinoutdoors.com
outdoor griller at 7:42PM on 11/15/08
LOVE Armenian string cheese! This sandwich sounds fantastic.
ddvierra68 at 12:25PM on 11/19/08
What if you don't have a grill??
adbw83 at 11:47AM on 11/20/08
@adbw83: You can make this in a pan, panini press, or any other way you would normally cook a grilled cheese. This went on my grill primarily because it was already heated to cook something else, otherwise it probably would have been cooked in a pan.
Joshua Bousel at 12:14PM on 11/20/08
OMG how did I miss this? I love, love, love grilled cheese and I'm always looking for ways to spice it up but I've never even heard of Armenian string cheese. I'll have to find it.
sassylady at 8:14PM on 11/25/08