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How Do You Define a Grilled Cheese Sandwich?
I grew up in Connecticut, lived in Scotland for 2½ years, South Carolina for 16½ years, and finally in Arizona for 11½ years. I've had grilled cheese sandwiches with bacon, ham, tomato, sausage, sliced lamb, beef, and pork. I could easily see very thinly sliced cucumber, squash, or some other hardy vegetable.
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I eat ______ out of the tin/jar/bottle...
Peanut Butter; Olives; Pickles; Baked Beans; Chef Boyardee; Condensed Soup; Vegetables; Ice Cream; & Almost anything that doesn't require removal from the container for cooking. If it's cooked or sufficiently prepared in the container, I'll eat it right from said container.
How Do You Define a Grilled Cheese Sandwich?
I grew up in Connecticut, lived in Scotland for 2½ years, South Carolina for 16½ years, and finally in Arizona for 11½ years. I've had grilled cheese sandwiches with bacon, ham, tomato, sausage, sliced lamb, beef, and pork. I could easily see very thinly sliced cucumber, squash, or some other hardy vegetable.
How Do You Define a Grilled Cheese Sandwich?
I think good bread is important - not just white bread OR Wonder Bread (which to me isn't bread but something too soft) - 2 slices of cheese (either american cheese BUT NOT Cheddar - it gets greasy) - American, Monterey Jack, Pepper jack, Muenster, all good. With or without bacon fine with me! Also I've also been known to put pesto sauce and a slice of good heirloom tomato. One important point - all cheeses should be American in some way - made in the U.S.A. - nothing Italian. If you are putting Mozzarella, fontina, provolone or any of them, then it is a panini, not a Grilled Cheese. Even Havarti is good (I know that isn't American - that is my one exception).
It must be made in a cast iron pan with something on top to press it down a bit. I use either my tea kettle OR a heavy pot lid. If made in a panini grill or a George Foreman Grill, it is a panini, not a grilled cheese.
Also no weird combos like Sugar said - cheddar with maple or apple butter or grape jelly. Ick. Nothing sweet. It is a savory sandwich, not a sweet sandwich. If you are putting cheese and sweet together then it is an appetizer bruschetta or something like that. Not Grilled Cheese.
Just my very long 2 cents...
How Do You Define a Grilled Cheese Sandwich?
OOOOOH, I love the "Honey Pot" idea! I love anything that combines savoury & sweet. So with that I suggest...
Good bread is important, something like sourdough...
REAL cheese is a must, it makes a world of difference.
Mozzarella with mango chutney
Gouda with marmalade
Cream cheese with cherry jam
Havarti on raisin bread
Goat cheese with red pepper jelly
Old white cheddar with apricot jam
Old cheddar with Granny Smith
Cheddar with grape jelly
Cheddar with apple butter
Cheddar, dipped in maple syrup...
mbhebert SERIOUSLY... Wonder Bread & Velveeta? That' s not lunch, that's revolting.
I also recommend everyone try cooking a grilled cheese Benny & Joon style...
How Do You Define a Grilled Cheese Sandwich?
The proper name is a Grilled Cheese Sammich as defined by GCI (Grilled Cheese Invitational). GCI has also defined Grilled Cheese Sammich in three categories, Missionary, Kama Sutra, and Honey Pot.
The Missionary Position: Standard bread, standard cheese (or cheeses), standard butter and NO ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS.
The Kama Sutra: Any kind of bread, any kind of butter, and any kind of cheese PLUS additional ingredients (the interior ingredients must be at least 60% cheese).
The Honey Pot: Any kind of bread, any kind of butter, and any kind of cheese (the interior ingredients of the sammich must be at least 60% cheese), and with an overall flavor that is sweet and would best be served as dessert.
How Do You Define a Grilled Cheese Sandwich?
No Wonder Bread or Velveeta for me. A nice rye, extra sharp Canadian cheddar, butter. Toasty on the outside, weeping on the inside. Yum.
I'm a cooking school grad and hubby can't cook a thing. One day, years ago before we married, I was making grilled cheese for lunch and he walked in and said "so that's how you do it!" I've a photo from his mom of him making toast at age 4. Nearly 33 years later he hasn't progressed to a grilled cheese sandwich.
I remember the Campbells Tomato Soup as well, but it would go so much better with a mid-summer pappa al pomodoro.
How Do You Define a Grilled Cheese Sandwich?
CHEESE, BREAD, MAYO INSIDE AND BUTTER OUTSIDE TO BROWN THE BREAD !
How Do You Define a Grilled Cheese Sandwich?
Growing up in a military household that traveled to a new location every 3-4 years, the best old staple regardless of where we were was grilled cheese sandwiches and Campbells tomato soup. More often than not it was Wonder bread, (builds strong bodies 12 ways), Kraft American (before they were individually wrapped) and Campbells soup made with milk (MMMMM Good). The sandwich was made with butter and squished til toasty in a skillet; cast iron or othewise, which ever one was handiest and a big pot of soup; at least 2-3 cans of it. When we were is Spain we discovered the wonderful spanish cheeses and being daring made sandwiches with them but you know. nothing compares to the good old classic While I may deviate from the comfort path of white bread and american cheese, I do occassionaly grab a loaf of artisian bread, some fontina and gruyere, butter it and toast it all up then sit back and wax poetically in the decadence of it all, smiling the entire time with the memory of it all. (But between you and me, my daughter still prefers white bread and american, you know how kids are.)
How Do You Define a Grilled Cheese Sandwich?
In South Africa, where I live, a grilled cheese sandwich contains a minimum of bread, butter and cheese, and is done on a barbecue grid. (Usually onions, tomato and salt and black pepper are added when cooked this way. Whether it still remains a grilled cheese sandwich I'm not sure.) A similar sandwich done under an oven grill would be a toasted cheese, onion and tomato (and whatever else is added) sandwich. Done in a sandwich maker, it becomes a snackwich. The cheese used is usually Cheddar or a similar cheese, NEVER, EVER processed cheese!
How Do You Define a Grilled Cheese Sandwich?
I found options #2 and #3 amusing, because after all, cheese IS a protein..........
How Do You Define a Grilled Cheese Sandwich?
I happen to like a grilled cheese sandwich with a very good bread from a real bakery and the shredded cheese of your choice. You don't need any butter, etc., if you use a foil-covered, old-style griddle like we used to have from my ex's dad's drugstore lunch counter. It weighed about 50 pounds and was about 12x12 square and the bottom part was about 8" tall. I don't think they make these any more, but it made the BEST flat grilled cheese sandwiches. The hinged top alone must have weighed 8 pounds!
I also love a VARIATION on the grilled cheese, but I call it a "grilled cheese with bacon and tomato sandwich," not a "grilled cheese sandwich" so that people know that it is different. I also use butter on all versions today as, alas, the ex made off with the griddle! Oh, well, as the song says, "...some fine things have been laid upon your table..." and I guess I wasn't very smart back then!
How Do You Define a Grilled Cheese Sandwich?
Just to echo: the focus of the sandwich should be the melty cheese goodness. Other ingredients are totally acceptable, as long as the enhance the main.
How Do You Define a Grilled Cheese Sandwich?
I may be alone here... but grilled cheese sandwich is in the method for me. You can put whatever you want as long as it's got bread & cheese... but it has to be made in a pan. Panini press? Then it's a panini, that's a pretty simple conclusion. One of those strange (to me) contraptions that also slices the bread diagonally and seals it? Pressed sandwich or um, what do you call it... I don't know.
I realize my grilled cheese isn't made on a grill, but that's how I grew up making it - in a pan, super toasty delicious awesome - and that's how I see it. You can put tomatoes, ham, bacon, prosciutto... whatever you want in it! Just make it in the pan. :)
How Do You Define a Grilled Cheese Sandwich?
White bread,butter,cheddar cheese and a smear of red pepper jelly or a few drops of worcestershire sauce..the only way to go...
How Do You Define a Grilled Cheese Sandwich?
I say it all depends on the ratio of cheese and other fillings. To be a grilled cheese there has to be more cheese than any other filling
How Do You Define a Grilled Cheese Sandwich?
just to be a pain I made grilled cheese last night on homemade tortillas with oxaca and manchago cheese with a little bacon and thin sliced tomato. they wernt quesadillas they were grilled cheese! the cheese was the star of the show, everything else is just a "flavor enhancer" dont like it? IMHO there is no right way or wrong way, just the way you like it. as for me I like both kind of grilled cheese the same way, as long as no one gets hurt, anything goes ;-)
How Do You Define a Grilled Cheese Sandwich?
Lp101- I really wanted to say that about the American cheese, but I was afraid it would lead to bloodshed. You're right, American cheese is not cheese.
And as far as I know, I only had grilled cheese sandwiches made with it (or Wonder bread for that matter) when I ate lunch at a friend's house as a kid.
How Do You Define a Grilled Cheese Sandwich?
I used to think that grilled cheese had to just be the cheese and bread, but then I went to grilled cheese night at Campanile in L.A. Totally changed my views on grilled cheese -- especially the cheddar with dijon mustard and marinated grilled onions. It was like grilled cheese on a totally different level.
I eat ______ out of the tin/jar/bottle...
ShawnaAdora had it right...and I guess we're the only ones....
MIRACLE WHIP right from the jar! I eat it sprinkled with black pepper. If I feel fancy, I spread it on crackers!
Cold Chef Boyardee ravioli's from the can ( a childhood vice)
Peanut butter
Eagle Brand milk
Garlic stuffed olives captured with a fork
How Do You Define a Grilled Cheese Sandwich?
I think the one in the photo on top is the best definition of grilled cheese. Pain aux Lait Bread, Fontina and gruyere. Mmmmm.
I eat ______ out of the tin/jar/bottle...
@Traveller - you MUST have been upset. I can't imagine eating a jar of grainy mustard by itself! No, capers would be my choice, I love em.
BTW, congratulations on getting that dissertation over and to an old broad like myself, a "B" sounds pretty damned good.
How Do You Define a Grilled Cheese Sandwich?
i always grew up with cheddar cheese, some english mustard, and a slice of tomato between two slices of toast then griddled/pressed...
but i dont understand how people can say a slice of pickle doesnt impinge on the purity of the grilled cheese but a slice of tomato does. it seems like a terrible double standard...
i think id go w/ sauces (ie mustard) being acceptable as long as theyre not overpowering but otherwise, just cheese and bread (maybe buttered bread to get it to toast nicely)- but DEFINITELY not those american single slices!!!
How Do You Define a Grilled Cheese Sandwich?
As long as cheese is the defining feature of the sandwich, and it's warm, anything goes. To me, that means there's a ton of leeway--the defining feature for me is that gooey cheese texture, and there has to be a lot of other junk in the sandwich before I get distracted from that and it starts seeming like a "cheese and..." sandwich. It only bothers me when it goes as far as the kind of recipes Kraft distributes; they'll list three ways to "add some variety" to a grilled cheese sandwich, and they each add a big pile of meat and vegetables; the accompanying pictures look like club sandwiches.
How Do You Define a Grilled Cheese Sandwich?
Wonder Bread (no substitutes)
Velveeta (no substitutes)
Butter (no substitutes)
Flat griddle (no panini grills, please!)
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Peanut Butter; Olives; Pickles; Baked Beans; Chef Boyardee; Condensed Soup; Vegetables; Ice Cream; & Almost anything that doesn't require removal from the container for cooking. If it's cooked or sufficiently prepared in the container, I'll eat it right from said container.