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March 1, 2008
More Grilled Cheesy Goodness
The other day I had to go grocery shopping, and I figured I might as well take the advice I was offered by Mr. Nighttime and see what sort of grilled cheese sandwich I could make with Wegmans rosemary and olive oil bread. I figured since I was using a previously untested bread I might as well experiment in the cheese department too, and asked the cheese lady to recommend something with a bite but no blueness--I hate blue cheese.
She suggested an imported Gouda that had been aged five years. I think Gouda is OK; it's not my favorite. Or at least that's how I felt before I tried this stuff. It was amazing, to die for, unbelievably delicious.... OK, none of these phrases capture how good this cheese really is. So let me try again.
I have this thing about spending money on food: I'll do it. You have to eat it, so why not enjoy it? Good food contributes to good health, so why be stingy about something so necessary to a healthy, pleasant life? However, even I have my limits, and paying eighteen bucks a pound for cheese--which is what this cheese cost--comes pretty close to being one of them. I mean, I feel extravagant when I pay twelve bucks a pound, which is what I paid for last week's Gruyere, and this cheese cost half again as much. But it was worth every penny, and I will even buy it again. That's how good it was: complex and tangy and sweet and slightly crunchy, which I learned is due to protein crystals that form in older cheeses.
It made a good sandwich, though I haven't decided whether I think melting the cheese improves or impairs its flavor. I took a picture, but it didn't look like anything special--it just looked like a grilled cheese sandwich--so I'm not posting it here.
However, I also took the hint dropped by A. and added some sweetness to my grilled cheese sandwich. I used the rosemary/olive oil bread and a nice but not too pricey Emmental, along with some raspberry jam. It looked like this:
As you can see there was a problem, in that the bread was too holey and the jam leaked out. The warm jam was REALLY yummy, but overwhelmed rather than complimented the mild cheese, and even the tang of the rosemary got lost in all that sugar. It wasn't a tragedy, but it sure as hell wasn't a success, either. Still, it was good enough that I'm going to have to keep working on this one.
Posted by holly at March 1, 2008 10:06 AM
Try a grilled cheese sandwich with sliced green apples. Yummy!
Or dip the whole thing in French toast batter and fry it up and you'd have a killer Monte Cristo!
Try some Wensleydale grilled with orange marmalade underneath on a lovely, dense wholegrain bread. *smack, smack*
Hi Jim--I eat cheese and apples pretty often, so adding the slices to a sandwich sounds so obvious and yummy I think I should have thought of it on my own. I have plenty of apples, so I can try that quite easily. I'm not so sure about the batter thing.... I'm not crazy about french toast. But at least the Monte Cristo thing proves that it's not wacky to include jam in this whole grilled cheese business, because they're often served with jam, right?
And hm-uk--this Wensleydale and marmalade thing--oh my god, that sounds heavenly, and I can't wait to try it. I was examining a package of Wensleydale before the cheese lady recommended the gouda, but I wouldn't have had any marmalade to go with it.
thanks to both of you for the suggestions--I'll report back on the results!
I had a sandwich at an Italian restaurant in Denver that had me trying to imitate it for a while: pear and brie, with some of that spring mix lettuce, and I think it was a very thin smear of apricot preserves to moisten the bread. Grilled, of course, and I think it was an Italian bread but I've done it with a sturdy whole-grain to good effect.
Also, at the Empress Hotel in Victoria, they serve a tea sandwich of cream cheese and grated carrots with a sprinkle of crystalized ginger, on raisin bread if my memory serves. Not grilled, and with the crusts cut off. With a liberal dose of tea.
Oh, yum.
My lord, Juti, all of that sounds amazing.
If I had known posting photos of my meals would prompt so many great suggestions for even yummier meals, I would have done this ages ago.
I can't wait to go shopping again and get grilling.