To celebrate National Grilled Cheese Day, a classic from the lunchbox. Reinvented.
By the time lunch time came around the cheese was no longer melted, the bread no longer toasted, but its comforting essence remained. My friend Jaime had never seen it before, after all what parent in their right mind would make a hot sandwich at 6am for for their child to be eaten at noon? My dad had packed me a grilled cheese sandwich (that’s what he called it, anyway) -American cheese in between two pieces of toasted buttered white bread, nuked a few seconds to melt the cheese and placed in a plastic sandwich bag. This was culinary risk taking at it’s grandest. Fodder certainly worthy of the Dukes of Hazard lunch box that contained it. Jaime looked in awe as I stripped the plastic away from the sandwich, placed it in my mouth and bit down. Bread browned yet soft, chewy and a little moist from the condensation of the bag. The softened, yet no longer melted, butter oozing out of the ends of the bread. The cheese coagulated back into a shell of it’s former shingled self. Even in it’s sub-prime form it was a fabulous greasy mess. Jaime agreed after I gave him half out of pity for his bologna. This is comfort food. Period. I remember it was raining and cold outside in the lunch area.
Didn’t matter.
Jaime and I weren’t in class. That’s what mattered. That, and what the “Dukes” were going to jump on TV tonight. He asked his mom to pack him one the next day. She told him he was crazy but did it anyway. He loved it. Said it was the best thing he ever had. My tastes have matured since the 2nd grade and I’ve upgraded the recipe but still…you’re not in class. Enjoy.
A far cry from the chewy, greasy sandwich mentioned above, this sandwich is best accompanied along side this creamy tomato bisque. Find the best ingredients and stick to the procedure. While you could just simply slap everything in the bread and stick in a toaster oven, the key to this sandwich is in the gooey-ness made by the dressing against the contrast of the crispy cheese and grilled bread. In this case, the CHEESE truly is grilled. Similarly, when preparing the bisque, make sure to add the ingredients in the correct order and don’t skip straining the soup. You will be rewarded with a rich, layered flavor that has a uniquely silky texture.
GRILLED FOUR CHEESE SANDWICH
- 2 slices sourdough bread
- 1 slice Swiss cheese
- 1 slice American cheese
- 1 slice Monterrey Jack cheese
- 1 slice sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 tablespoon Russian Dressing (recipe below)
- 2 tablespoons softened butter
Preheat an electric griddle to 350 degrees. (A non stick pan on medium high heat can be used if you don’t have an electric griddle).
Spread softened butter on one side of each slice of bread and place butter side down on the griddle. Spread Russian Dressing on one slice face up on the griddle. Place slice of American cheese and one slice of Swiss Cheese over the dressing on the sourdough; slightly over lapping and making sure all the bread is covered. Place Monterrey Jack and Cheddar cheese on the other slice. Let the bread toast and the cheese melt (about 3 minutes). Once the cheese is melted place the dressing laced slice of bread on top of the other to form a sandwich and allow cheeses to meld together (about 30-45 seconds).
Using a spatula, remove the sandwich from the griddle and place on a cutting board. Slice the sandwich diagonally and place the sandwich back on the griddle cut side down to crisp the oozing cheese and seal the sandwich. Serve along side tomato bisque.
Russian Dressing
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 3/4 mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 cup sweet pickle relish
- 1 tablespoon finely minced onion
- 1 tablespoon honey
Place all ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine.
TOMATO BISQUE
- 4 tablespoons good olive oil
- 2 strips thick cut bacon
- 1 yellow onion roughly chopped
- 2 large carrots roughly chopped
- 2 celery stalks roughly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves
- 5 cups homemade or canned low sodium chicken broth
- 1 28oz can whole peeled Pomodoro tomatoes crushed by hand and in their juice
- 1 1/4 cup long grain rice
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- small bunch fresh basil (including stems)
- 3/4 tablespoon red chili flake
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- Kosher salt or sea salt
Heat olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until it crisps slightly and most of the fat renders. Once you have a good amount of fat in the pot add the carrots, celery, onion and garlic cloves. Season with salt and sprinkle red chili flake. Cook the veggies until the veggies have softened a little and onions are beginning to turn translucent. Remove bacon and discard.
Pour broth into the vegetable mixture, add canned tomatoes and rice. Bring to boil, turn down heat and simmer for about 20 mins or until vegetables are very soft and rice is cooked. Remove from heat.
Using an immersion blender puree the soup until very fine. Using a strainer, strain the soup into another pot and return to stove on low heat. Add basil (stems and all), tomato paste and heavy cream and puree one more time with the immersion blender. Make sure all ingredients are chopped and incorporated well. Serve warm.
