Ultimate Grilled Cheese
I've been fighting off an urge for a grilled cheese sandwich for a couple of months. I don't know why I was fighting it off, but I was. So this past weekend I gave in. But not easily.
James Beard has a recipe for sour cream bread that is the absolute best grilled cheese bread on earth. (Susanne, I think I gave you the wrong recipe when you asked for it.) The bread is tender but also has an open crumb. So as the sandwich cooks and the cheese melts the bread absorbs the cheese.
This brings a new element to a grilled cheese sandwich because it isn't two pieces of bread containing melted cheese, instead it is a single thick slice of bread suffused with cheese.
Sour-Cream Bread
1 package active dry yeast
3 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 cup warm water (100F to 115F)
2 cups sour cream, at room temperature
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
4 1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
Combine the yeast, sugar, and water, and allow to proof for 5 minutes.
Put the sour cream, salt, and soda in a mixing bowl. Add the yeast mixture and combine.
Add 4 cups of the flour, cup by cup, to make a very wet, sticky dough, beating hard with a wooden spoon after each addition. Scrape out onto a lightly floured board.
Using a baker's scraper or a spackling knife, lift the flour and the dough, and fold the dough over. Turn it clockwise slightly and repeat the lifting and folding process until the dough is less sticky and can be worked with your hands. Add only enough flour to prevent sticking. (This entire kneading should take about 10 minutes, possibly longer if you are inexperienced). Shape the dough into a ball, place in a buttered bowl, and turn to coat it with the butter. Cover with plastic and let sit in a warm spot to double in bulk.
Punch the dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured board and knead for a minute, then divide into two equal pieces. Butter two 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf tins. Shape the dough into loaves and fit into the tins. Cover loosely and let rise again until doubled. Bake in a preheated 375° oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the loaves sound hollow when tapped on top and bottom. Cool thoroughly before slicing.
Grilled Cheese Sandwich
(Please forgive me if this recipe seems obvious, but sometimes we don't devote the attention and care to a basic recipe that it deserves. After all, in this case I baked two loaves of bread just for this sandwich. It is seriously good.)
2 slices sour cream bread -- sliced a scant 3/8" thick
3 tbsp salted butter -- at room temperature sharp cheddar cheese -- sliced a scant 1/8th" thick
Butter both slices of bread on one side. Place one slice, buttered side down, in a cast iron skillet. Arrange cheese on top. Top with the other slice. Turn heat on to medium low -- _don't preheat_!
The heat is critical. The goal is that the side of the sandwich in contact with the skillet should turn a perfect golden brown just as the cheese begins to liquefy. You will see the butter on the top slice of bread beginning to melt into the bread. This phase can take ten - 12 minutes.
Now flip the sandwich and continue cooking until the other side is golden brown. This will be fairly quick -- three to four minutes.
This sandwich is _seriously_ good. Add a couple of slices of tomato on the side and a glass of cold milk and you have a meal the gods would envy. The sandwich is a combination of simple ingredients (bread, butter, and cheese), complex flavor(tangy, sharp, yeasty, and salty), and, perhaps above everything else, elegant texture (crisp, creamy, and chewy).
Kevin
James Beard has a recipe for sour cream bread that is the absolute best grilled cheese bread on earth. (Susanne, I think I gave you the wrong recipe when you asked for it.) The bread is tender but also has an open crumb. So as the sandwich cooks and the cheese melts the bread absorbs the cheese.
This brings a new element to a grilled cheese sandwich because it isn't two pieces of bread containing melted cheese, instead it is a single thick slice of bread suffused with cheese.
Sour-Cream Bread
1 package active dry yeast
3 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 cup warm water (100F to 115F)
2 cups sour cream, at room temperature
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
4 1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
Combine the yeast, sugar, and water, and allow to proof for 5 minutes.
Put the sour cream, salt, and soda in a mixing bowl. Add the yeast mixture and combine.
Add 4 cups of the flour, cup by cup, to make a very wet, sticky dough, beating hard with a wooden spoon after each addition. Scrape out onto a lightly floured board.
Using a baker's scraper or a spackling knife, lift the flour and the dough, and fold the dough over. Turn it clockwise slightly and repeat the lifting and folding process until the dough is less sticky and can be worked with your hands. Add only enough flour to prevent sticking. (This entire kneading should take about 10 minutes, possibly longer if you are inexperienced). Shape the dough into a ball, place in a buttered bowl, and turn to coat it with the butter. Cover with plastic and let sit in a warm spot to double in bulk.
Punch the dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured board and knead for a minute, then divide into two equal pieces. Butter two 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf tins. Shape the dough into loaves and fit into the tins. Cover loosely and let rise again until doubled. Bake in a preheated 375° oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the loaves sound hollow when tapped on top and bottom. Cool thoroughly before slicing.
Grilled Cheese Sandwich
(Please forgive me if this recipe seems obvious, but sometimes we don't devote the attention and care to a basic recipe that it deserves. After all, in this case I baked two loaves of bread just for this sandwich. It is seriously good.)
2 slices sour cream bread -- sliced a scant 3/8" thick
3 tbsp salted butter -- at room temperature sharp cheddar cheese -- sliced a scant 1/8th" thick
Butter both slices of bread on one side. Place one slice, buttered side down, in a cast iron skillet. Arrange cheese on top. Top with the other slice. Turn heat on to medium low -- _don't preheat_!
The heat is critical. The goal is that the side of the sandwich in contact with the skillet should turn a perfect golden brown just as the cheese begins to liquefy. You will see the butter on the top slice of bread beginning to melt into the bread. This phase can take ten - 12 minutes.
Now flip the sandwich and continue cooking until the other side is golden brown. This will be fairly quick -- three to four minutes.
This sandwich is _seriously_ good. Add a couple of slices of tomato on the side and a glass of cold milk and you have a meal the gods would envy. The sandwich is a combination of simple ingredients (bread, butter, and cheese), complex flavor(tangy, sharp, yeasty, and salty), and, perhaps above everything else, elegant texture (crisp, creamy, and chewy).
Kevin
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