A month or so ago, my cousin Russell came up to visit us. One of the things we decided to do while he was here: to perfect the ultimate grilled cheese sandwich (GCS). We gathered several different kinds of bread, three kinds of butter, and dozens of different cheeses. Then we invited an impartial panel of taste-testers to come over for dinner, and we spent the next couple of hours in the kitchen grilling up dozens of combinations.
Through trial and error, this is the recipe we concocted.
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Trav & Russell's Ultimate GCS
French bread
Unsalted butter, softened
Muenster cheese, sliced
Smoked cheddar cheese, sliced
Spicy brown mustard (optional)
Bacon bits (optional)
Cut the french bread into 3/4" thick slices, cutting along the diagonal at a 45-degree angle. Cut away the crusts on two sides, leaving the top and bottom crusts from the loaf.
Apply a thin layer of butter to one side of a slice of bread, and place it buttered-side down on the hot griddle or skillet. Immediately place a slice of muenster cheese and a slice of smoked cheddar cheese on the slice of bread. Sprinkle about a teaspoon of bacon bits over the cheese, and then squeeze a thin ribbon of the spicy mustard over everything.
Butter one side of another slice of french bread. When the cheese begins to melt around the edges, place the second slice of bread atop the sandwich (butter-side out) and flip the sandwich over. Cook until well-toasted and evenly-browned, flipping as needed.
Serve immediately with a cup of hot tomato soup.
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Anthony and I have proclaimed the GCS to be the official geek food. When we lived together at Cottonwood Terrace, and again at Gold Claim, it became a popular ritual for us to meet in the kitchen at midnight for some grilled cheesy goodness. Then we would discuss Dungeons and Dragons at length while we cooked and consumed the artery-clogging snacks.
If we weren't up for D&D, we would make up a batch of sandwiches and then retire to our respective computers, where we would play a LAN game of Age of Kings or Age of Mythology (and lately, Diablo2).
And guess what I'm eating right now? You know it.
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