A nice easy standby is grilled cheese. But try it with a new twist. My husband shared his version of grilled cheese with me and I’ve been a fan since. I grew up with the standard: white bread, butter on the outside with a slice of American cheese in the middle.
When I was a poor, single parent I decided to try the cheap brand of American cheese. I have no idea what brand it was—definitely not Kraft. The cheese wouldn’t even melt. I vowed right then that no matter how poor I was, I would buy Kraft American Cheese. I’m sure there are other brands that melt, but I just stuck with Kraft.
Another time, when my little sister and I moved in with our stepmother after our dad remarried, our stepsister Cheri offered to make us a grilled cheese one day for lunch. Ruth and I were excited and said yes!
Cheri’s version of grilled cheese started out the same with the white bread and American cheese, but she sprinkled it with sugar. What? Then she spread some mayonnaise on one side of the bread, some mustard on the other side of the bread. Then grilled it. When she served us, Ruth and I looked at each other like, oh boy can’t wait to bite into this. Not.
Cheri proceeded to dip her toasted cheese in ketchup. You could tell she just loved it.
“Don’t you want to dip it ketchup?”
Ruth and I wanted to gag and we shook our heads no.
I took a bite and the condiments oozed out of the sandwich on all four sides. I couldn’t tell if I was eating a grilled mustard sandwich, a grilled mayonnaise sandwich or a grilled sugary cheese. The combination of it all was too much for my little sister. She waited until Cheri left and trashed her sandwich. I however will eat just about anything and managed to get it down but thought better to say yes when she offered to make a grilled cheese again.
With that experiment I was a little leery when my husband told me his grilled cheese was with Cinnamon Raisin bread and cheddar cheese. It sounded disgusting, but he assured me it was really good. I like cinnamon raisin bread and I like cheddar cheese, but the combination didn’t seem like a good fit. But it was delicious. That’s how I make grilled cheese now, unless of course little kids are in the picture, then it’s back to regular white bread and American cheese.
Ingredients:
Cinnamon Raisin Bread (I use Pepperidge Farm)
Cheddar cheese (Hautley’s, Kraft or a decent brand – that melts ☺)
Rating & Type: EE /V
I absolutely LOVE grilled cheese on raisin bread!! I've also dunked my grilled cheese in soda and chocolate milk if tomato soup wasn't available. Other times, I've used chili (canned or homemade, as long as it was wet). There's just something about that cold wetness on that hot melted cheese and/or that salty cheese combined with the sweetness of the raisins or the soda or the chocolate milk. I'm 56 and I'll still eat it that way once in a while. But, I'm with you on the mustard and ketchup, although when I was hard up for money and had no margarine in the house, I did use mayonnaise on the outside to grill the sandwich. It works pretty good, but doesn't taste as good as butter or margarine does.
ReplyDeleteSJerZGirl how in the world can you dunk your grilled cheese in soda or chocolate milk. Yuck! That just does not compute in my food head :-), but we all have different tastes now don't we?
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