Technique to make a superior grilled cheese:
– melt the butter in the pan and place the bread in, don’t butter the bread first.
– assemble the sandwich in the pan, not beforehand.
– use grated cheese, not sliced; it will melt better and more evenly.
– cover the pan to trap heat and ensure consistent cheese melting.
This will result in a well-melted grilled cheese, with bread evenly golden brown on both sides. These are the basic techniques for mastering a grilled cheese, and they are what allow us to attempt advanced techniques, such as seen here, inserting a fried egg in the middle.
Ingredients:
salted butter
1 egg
2 slices bread (tastes differ. I prefer whole grain, others prefer a soft white)
2 slices bread (tastes differ. I prefer whole grain, others prefer a soft white)
Cabot cheese, grated (medium cheddar or sharper; mixing a pepper jack in is recommended)
Tabasco sauce
Directions
1. Bring a cast iron pan to heat over medium flame, melt butter.
2. Fry the egg over easy. If you are worried about controlling the white, use an egg form. (it needs to fit in the sandwich.) Remove and set aside.
3. Bring the pan to heat again; melt butter.
4. Place one slice of bread in the melted butter, cover with grated Cabot cheese. Place fried egg atop cheese. Apply liberal dashes of hot sauce. Cover with more grated cheese. Place second piece of bread on top.
5. Fry at medium heat with pan uncovered for less than a minute; then lower heat and cover pan. Fry covered on low heat for 2-3 minutes, until top layer of cheese has just begun to melt.
6. Remove sandwich from pan. Heat pan up to medium. Melt butter in pan.
7. Replace sandwich to pan on its opposite side. Cook uncovered for 1 minute. Reduce heat to low, cover briefly to bring all of the sandwich up to serving temperature.
8. Plate sandwich. Cut in half immediately before serving.