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Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Eat In. The perfect grilled cheese.

The perfect grilled cheese is a thing of beauty. Simple and delicious, yet not as easy to whip up as you might imagine. Fresh bread makes this lovely sandwich taste good, but the fresher the bread, the harder to get the cheese to melt without the bread burning.

Start with two slices of bread (whole wheat or sourdough are my favorites), a little bit of cold regular butter (salted or unsalted both ok), and three slices of pre-sliced Tillamook cheddar (medium or sharp).

Turn the stove to low-medium heat.

Stick a few small chunks of butter on the outside areas of the bread, and some more on the inside. Spread the cheese evenly (with overlap in the center), close up the sandwich, and place it in the hot pan. Change the setting to 'low'.

Leave one side grilling for a minute or two, checking the bottom for darkness. Flip it when it looks toasty-brown. Let the other side get to the same level. Press down on the sandwich lightly but firmly with a spatula as each side grills. Some cheese may come melting out the side, this is a good sign that it's almost ready. With a large spatula, I like to flip the sandwich back and forth a couple more times, to ensure fully melted cheese, and that it's hot on both sides.

Slice diagonally, and enjoy.

A grilled cheese goes so well with most drinks imaginable--from milk, to lemonade, to red wine, to apple martinis!

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

Photo credit: gothamist.com

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