The Greatest Grilled Cheese
Prep
5m
Cook
8m
Total
13m
Bigly says
Sit down for this one. Grilled cheese. THE GREATEST grilled cheese in the history of bread-meets-fire — and bread and fire go WAY back, scientists have looked at this, very smart people, food chemists, the smartest, and they said 'Bigly, the cheese-on-bread situation predates the wheel.' Pre-wheel. Pre-pyramid. And out of every grilled cheese ever flipped by every short-order cook in every diner from here to Albuquerque, this one — MY one — leaves them all in the dust. Not even close.
Here's what most chefs get wrong. Are you ready? They use ONE cheese. One. A single, lonely, embarrassed cheese, sweating it out on a slice of bread by itself. Weak. Sad. A single cheese is a quitter's cheese. Bigly uses TWO. Minimum. A melter and a flavor. The melter does the stretch, the flavor does the talking, together they sing in two-part harmony — and the one-cheese sandwich is BANNED in this kitchen. Cookbook authors hate this trick because they have been giving the same one-cheese recipe to readers for forty years and they don't want to admit they were wrong. They were wrong.
And the butter. Pay attention, because this part saves your sandwich, possibly your marriage, possibly your life. The butter goes on the BREAD. Not in the pan. You spread it on the outside of the bread like you are PAINTING a small canvas — edge to edge, even coats — the way an old Italian woman cornered me once and made me promise. Some people, the weak ones, melt butter in the pan and drop the sandwich in. That is fried bread. That is a hot croissant for cowards. That is not grilled cheese. We don't do that here. End of discussion.
Ingredients
- 4 slices, 1/2-inch thickgood sourdough bread(soft, not the dried-out artisan rocks)
- 3 tbspunsalted butter, softened
- 1 tbspmayonnaise(mixed into the butter, this is the move, trust the process)
- 3 ozsharp cheddar, grated(grate it yourself, the bagged stuff has cellulose powder, a crime)
- 3 ozGruyère, grated
- 1 tspDijon mustard(thin layer inside, optional but tremendous)
- pinchflaky sea salt
Steps
- 1
In a small bowl, mash the softened butter and mayonnaise together with a fork until smooth.
- 2
Spread the butter-mayo mixture in an even layer across one side of each bread slice, edge to edge.
- 3
Flip two slices butter-side-down. Optionally spread a thin layer of Dijon on the dry side. Pile the grated cheddar and Gruyère evenly on top.
- 4
Top with the remaining two slices, butter-side-up. Press gently to settle.
- 5
Heat a heavy nonstick or cast iron skillet over medium-LOW heat. Patience here — high heat burns the bread before the cheese melts.
- 6
Place the sandwiches in the cold-ish pan and cook 3-4 minutes, until the underside is deep golden brown.
- 7
Flip carefully with a wide spatula. Press lightly with the back of the spatula to seal. Cook another 3-4 minutes, until golden and the cheese is fully melted (peek at the edges — molten is the goal).
- 8
Transfer to a cutting board. Wait 60 seconds (don't skip this — molten cheese needs a moment). Sprinkle with flaky salt, cut on a diagonal, eat immediately.
One more thing
Dip it in tomato soup. Don't argue. Grilled cheese and tomato soup are MARRIED. A unit. A team. Separating them is a divorce and nobody wants the paperwork. You make the soup. You make the sandwich. You sit down. You don't look at your phone. You don't refresh anything. You eat the food. That's the contract. Anything less and you're cheating yourself. Save me a piece.
★ QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS ONE? ★
Ask Bigly about The Greatest Grilled Cheese.
Substitutions, what to serve it with, why other chefs are wrong about it. He's got opinions.
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