CHEESY COMFORT
Fair adds old-fashioned to contests
Special to the Journal Sentinel hen it comes to classic comfort food, the grilled cheese tops many a list. It’s hard to resist ooey, gooey, melted cheesiness sandwiched between slices of bread and served warm.
Perhaps it’s the simplicity: cheese and bread are accessible to almost any kitchen. It’s quick and easy. It requires simple ingredients, a pan and heating element. Even novice cooks can master the grilled cheese.
For many, it’s a memory of mom or the first thing they learned to cook. It’s easy to make in the most basic form, yet it works well with all sorts of flavors.
While the ever-popular combination of tomato soup with a basic grilled cheese will never go out of style, let Grilled Cheese Day on April 12 inspire you to reconsider this classic staple.
Step outside the comfort zone of white bread with American cheese. Try new cheeses or use several kinds together. Use different bread. Try it with mayonnaise. Add toppings. Think sweet vs. savory, and add it to the breakfast or dessert menu.
Think pestos and meats, macaroni and cheese, even fruits.
Grilled cheese became a household staple when affordable sliced bread and inexpensive cheese became available in the U.S. in the 1920s. Few then would have predicted its enduring popularity — or the contests it has inspired.
WWho’s got the best grilled cheese?
On April 23 Dodgeville will host the fifth annual Wisconsin Grilled Cheese Championship with multiple categories open to competitors in both amateur and professional divisions.
Beth Crave is a regular competitor. A winner in last year’s professional division, the Madison Area Technical College culinary graduate said she makes grilled cheese for her family nearly once a week and plans to compete again this year.
“I missed one year, when my son was born,” she said. “But this is my fourth year competing, and I’ve won or placed first and second in previous years.
“Last year was the best year so far,” said Crave, who is customer service manager for Crave Brothers Cheese in Waterloo. Her winning entry was inspired by a family recipe for sloppy joes.
“Don’t be afraid to go outside your comfort zone,” she advised. “If you make a casserole or another dish friends and family love, think about how you can transform that into a grilled cheese sandwich.”
Still, this is a grilled cheese sandwich. Even with additional ingredients, it should showcase the cheese.
“You want to be able to taste the other flavors, but you should be able to tell this is a cheddar, a blue or Swiss,” reminded Crave. “You want a cheese that has good meltability. I like to use harder-style cheeses, grate them and add them in with cheddars, Swiss and Goudas.”
Soft cheeses work well, but they are best when paired with a firmer cheese. Crave loves using mascarpone to make a dessert grilled cheese, but she pairs it with Evalon, a goat’s milk cheese. Combining cheeses can work very well in a grilled sandwich.
Earlier this year, Sam Leaf learned the popularity of grilled cheese creativity when he hosted a grilled cheese competition at his bar, The Backyard, 2155 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. “We didn’t do any promotion other than Facebook,” he said. “We had a total of 10 contestants; we just took the first 10 people who signed up.
“Our capacity at the bar is 80 people inside and 160 outside, and we were at capacity all day,” said Leaf, about the first of what he hopes will be an annual competition.
“One of the interesting ones had five different types of Wisconsin cheese, hot sauce and Doritos. That won people’s choice, and we raised nearly $1,000 and 400 pounds of food for Hunger Task Force. Wisconsin loves its cheese.”
Restaurants join the fun
No surprise, then, that there are even restaurants devoted to grilled cheese.
Seth Anderson and his wife, Sara, own the Elm Grove franchise of Tom + Chee, a gourmet grilled cheese and tomato soup restaurant chain started in Cincinnati. They’re currently negotiating the lease for store No. 2. The franchise has grown to 36 stores, including one coming to Wisconsin Dells. All of the stores use Wisconsin cheese.
“Its comfort food at heart,” Seth Anderson said. “With our build-your-ownoptions, we have seen some crazy versions of the grilled cheese.
“The one that comes to mind is a customer’s double build-your-own that we now call the ‘Kamikaze.’ That’s three slices of white bread, cheddar, pepper jack, Gouda, bacon, pepperoni, ham, grilled mushrooms, onions and bell peppers, lettuce, tomato and spicy cherry peppers and sweet hot mustard, served with salt-andvinegar potato chips.
“Not sure its right for everyone,” Anderson said. “But he left with smile on his face and a full stomach.”
Basic grilled cheese is on the menu, but at Tom + Chee loaded options are among the most popular.
“My favorites are the Flying Pig (white bread, Gouda, bacon, turkey and pickles) and the Crunchy Garlic Chicken (wheat bread, pepperjack cheese, garlic seasoning, grilled onions, roast chicken, sweet hot mustard, tomatoes and Parmesan garlic chips),” Anderson said. The Elm Grove store goes through more than 200 pounds of cheese each week.
For Heidi Gibson, coowner of the American Grilled Cheese Kitchen in San Francisco, grilled cheese with tomato soup was one of her favorite things growing up. More than a decade ago, friends put together a fun grilled cheese competition in Los Angeles.
“None of this crew that put this together are particularly good cooks, and we
ONLINE GRILLED CHEESE CONTEST
Sponsored by the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, the Grilled Cheese Recipe Showdown is a culinary competition searching for the best grilled cheese sandwich made with Wisconsin cheese. Through May 15, participants can visit grilledcheeseacademy. to submit their recipes and view full contest details. Entries will be judged on taste, creativity and presentation. For inspiration, the marketing board teamed up with chef Matt Fish, owner and executive chef of the Ohio-based gourmet grilled cheese restaurant Melt Bar & Grilled to create recipes. One is the Smokey Russian, with smoked turkey, fresh Napa vodka kraut, smoked Gouda cheese and Russian dressing. Fish also created a “Parmageddon” grilled cheese, with potato and onion pierogi, and a Hot Italian and the Mushroom Melt, both with provolone. These and additional recipes, cheese tips and pairing inspirations can be found at eatwisconsincheese.com. were all in our 20s,” said Gibson. “I suspect we ate a lot of grilled cheese.”
The now defunct Grilled Cheese Invitational started with different heats: the missionary position was bread, butter and cheese only; kama sutra division was anything goes; honey pot was for desserts.
“I competed in the honeypot competition,” Gibson said. “I spent months with brioche, half a dozen cheeses for the right melt and flavor, and went to LA for the competition. It was silly and over the top. One crew was trying to cook grilled cheese with flame throwers.”
After perfecting her grilled cheese skills as a competitor, in 2010 Gibson looked to 35 banks to help open her restaurant based on grilled cheese. They all said no. Today she has three American Grilled Cheese Kitchen restaurants in California.
“There is no American grilled cheese in our restaurant,” said Gibson. “American is not cheese. It is processed cheese food.”
Start with the bread
Teaming up with her husband, Nate Pollak, she’s sharing tips and recipes in her new cookbook, “Grilled Cheese Kitchen” (Chronicle Books, $19.95).
If you’re serious about your sandwich, Gibson suggests starting by choosing the right bread.
“The cheese is critical, but to me the most important ingredient is the bread,” Gibson said. “Most people reach for a lowerquality sliced sandwich bread on the supermarket shelf.” She suggests a bread with more structure.
“I prefer more artisanal breads, the same quality you want to eat on the side of your dinner.”
“Interestingly, it is best if the bread is a little stale. You get better crunch, it stays firmer,” Gibson advises. “One little trick with artisanal loaf is to slice on the bias and you get more slices out of it.”
Perhaps with grilled cheese in mind, Sara Lee recently developed Artesano breads, ready-made bread with thicker slices that is readily available on store shelves.
Once you’ve got your bread, consider the fat you’re using. Some people may put it in the pan, but most competitors recommend spreading it on the bread first. Salted butter is a popular choice, but mayonnaise, compound butters, even ghee can be used.
“It is important to butter the bread first, not the pan, because most people will overheat their pan,” suggests Gibson. “You throw the butter in there first, the butter burns and you end up with burned butter flavors and butter inconsistently applied to the bread.”
Experiment with cheeses
Cheeses run the gamut from soft to hard, and what you choose depends on your taste.
“My default cheese is a medium cheddar, but lately I’ve been really into Goudas,” said Gibson. “I will use that Marieke Gouda with fenugreek (from Thorp) in breakfast sandwiches. It smells like maple syrup.
“I combine it with a cheese from Utah called Barely Buzzed, made by two brothers. I use that for special events because they’re hard cheeses to get here.”
Once you have all your ingredients, the last step is to get the sandwich in the pan. Temperature matters, as does the size of the pan. Cast iron and non-stick both work well, but the pan should not be too hot.
“I see home cooks go awry on this. Low and slow is crucial,” said Gibson. “Way better for your pan to be a little cooler than too hot. I’ll even turn on the heat, put the sandwich in the pan and let the sandwich heat up with the pan. You’ll end up with more consistent browning. You can always stick a lid on top of it if the cheese is not melting fast enough.”