Grilled Cheese Social

Fondue Me

2012-02-13T17:06:00.000-08:00

Roses are red

Violets are blue

~~I might just be falling apart~~

~~but this recipe is for you!~~

Grilled cheese is rad

And so are you!

So I'm sort of sick right now and I really can't think of any funny jokes to write about how I'm going to spend tomorrow. Maybe all the sudafed and mucinex that I've taken has gone straight to my dome and blocked all of my ridiculousness (and grammatical skillz), but just to fill you in, I'm spending another Valentine's Day single. Now this doesn't mean that I'll be binge eating chocolate ~~and taking shots of vodka while blaring Fleetwood Mac~~ all alone ~~again~~, because this time I'll be at work and can enjoy all the Mast Brothers chocolate i want, with my other single co-workers, without feeling a lick of pity. I hope. I mean...who knows? All the single ladies of Depanneur are scheduled to work tomorrow night so it might just turn into some weird, ridiculous sob fest where we talk a little too much about Ryan Gosling, gossip about our neighborhood crushes, and gorge ourselves on brillat-savarin. That actually sounds pretty fun now that I think about it. Or maybe I'll be so doped up on medicine that I'll start hallucinating and hide in the cheese case to scare oncoming lovers. Or maybe...Ok, enough of the possibilities for tomorrow. I'm sure you can imagine some weird things that I might get myself into but I'll get to the food. That's why you came here in the first place, right?

And because I'm metaphorically falling apart, I thought this would be an appropriate time to do a deconstructed grilled cheese. I know, i know, it's not really a grilled cheese but it's got all the goodness that makes up GC; toasted bread, delicious fillings, and of course, melted, gooey delicious cheese.

Here's what you'll need if you have someone special or you don't mind having a shit ton of cheese to eat by your lonesome.

Ingredients:
FOR THE FONDUE:
-1/2 pound of gruyere, shredded
-1/2 pound of emmentaler, shredded
-1 cup of hard apple cider
-2 tbsp of cornstarch
-1 tsp of mustard
-1 tsp of worcestershire
-sea salt to taste
FOR THE DIPPERS:
-olive oil toasted baguette rounds
-bacon wrapped dates
-braised brussels sprouts
-and if you want to get really creative, take a heart shaped cookie cutter to some cranberry and nut bread... oh yes, it's delicious toasted and then dipped in cheese

So to begin, make sure to get all your dippers together. To make what I did, just click the little links above or pair with whatever you'd like.

Then pour your cheese in a big ole bowl. The biggest bowl you can find!

FYI, that first paragraph took me two hours to write. I felt super unfunny and exhausted but now I'm starting to feel super loopy and a bit nutty. I THINK I MIGHT BE GOING STIR CRAZY!

Then toss it with some cornstarch...

(I wanted to put something completely inappropriate here: "Then toss ***** *****" but that's just absurd and probably not a good idea. So asterisks it is!)

...So that each piece is lightly coated. This will help keep the cheese from getting all stringy and clumpy when it's in your fondue pot later on. Because that texture ain't sexy! And because no one wants to be hand-fed some gross, gnarled string cheese. This isn't bagged lunch, ya know.

Meanwhile, bring your hard apple cider to a baby boil. I bought this really delicious one that we sell at the shop called JK Scrumpy's Hard Cider, and no I'm not joking that's the actual name, and I'm not gonna lie but I drank the rest of it and got pretty tipsy at 10 o'clock in the morning last Friday when I did this photoshoot.

Oh! and in case you didn't know, a baby boil is when there are just teeny tiny bubbles at the bottom of your pan. I guess the correct term would be simmer but I prefer baby boil cause it's way cooler.

Let the apple cider baby boil for about five minutes. It won't really reduce that much but you just should, at least that's what I read in the recipe that I adapted this from. I should probably give credit to that so here ya go... Thanks bon app.

Then handful by handful, add in your cheese and stir each time until it's completely melted. Do not, i repeat, do not eat the cheese handful by handful. You will not have a sexy Valentine's. ~~It'll just clog you up! GROSS MACKENZIE!~~

Now it's time to flavor-it-up! Add the mustard and worshirreelkjlkjf or however you spell it. That is truly one word i cannot say. Along with thousandths. Can't say that one either.

Anyways! Stir in those things and season with salt... and pepper if you choose. Pepper makes me sneeze uncontrollably.

Then give it one last stir, just to make sure that it's all silky and smooth. You can totally dip lots of things in it to make sure that it tastes good at this point. Just to make sure, ya know? You don't want your special someone to be grossed out by one of the things you've thought to pair it with. So it just makes sense to try them all before you serve it! And you won't look like a ravaged scavenger that hasn't been fed for days when you present your amazing vat of cheesiness.

Now that's the end! All you have to do is pour it in your fondue pot and light a little candy underneath and put your dippy items around it. Do it pretty or you'll get the wire hanger!

Then shove it in your lovers face so that they can truely see that you are the most amazing Valentine that they've ever had and they're incredibly fortunate to have you! Whisper in a sexy voice "eat this baby" and shove a pokey stick in a brussels sprout or mini hot dog (why didn't I think of that before?!) and force feed them until it's all gone. Meanwhile, be sure to remove that crazy smirk and demon eyes from your face and stop huffing with excitement. You've got them, for now.

Love you all a lot,

xoxo,

GCS

The Sugar Daddy

2012-01-30T15:21:00.000-08:00

Do you ever just have those days when you're completely off? When something just isn't right with you? When it's just impossible to act like a normal human being without seeming like a total freak to the outside world? Ok, it might not be that bad, but for some reason as of lately, my attention span resembles that of a ~~horny~~ first grader with severe ADHD.

Take the other day for instance. I was working at the cheese shop (The Dep), prancing around like a helpful, knowledgeable little employee that I am, when suddenly a rogue customer needed some help. I did a little skip over to the register, and with a smile on my face, I asked how I could help. It turns out they wanted a quiche. A quiche, which we only sell two varieties of and which I've sold about three billion of since I started working there. But something strange happened when they asked me what kind we sold. I blacked out. I seriously blacked out like I had been binge drinking all night. For some reason, my brain was like "sorry girlfriend, I'm busy concentrating on the hot dude from across the street so I can't help you now". So ya know what happened? With a completely confident face, I told him we had egg quiche.

And as the record player screeched to a halt and the crickets started rubbing their legs together to make that awkward noise (or however they do it), the reaction on my co-worker's face and the poor costumer made me realize what had just happened. My helpful, overzealous smile turned into a slightly horrified grimace and I did the walk of shame to the backroom to take a breather.

Now I don't know if it's because Valentines day is approaching and I don't want to do another ~~sad~~ sarcastic post about my pathetic love life (gahhhh is my love-life really driven my blog posts?) or if it has something to do with the overwhelming levels of hot dudes that my neighborhood contains but I seriously think I'm turning into a teenage boy. Seriously. All the hunks in my vicinity take my complete attention and I act a fool.

So yeah, get ready for my Valentines Day post in a few weeks. It'll be a hoot, I'm sure. But in the meantime, check out this attention worthy grilled cheese with some whacky sugar daddy tasting gjetost cheese and apples. It's like an apple pie grilled cheese with crack sprinkled all over it.

*Oh and we don't really a mirror, I just use the glass on the back refrigerator as a mirror

which doesn't always work that well I've noticed as I've been spotted with

arugula in my grill far too often, right after checking.

~~Have your own sugar daddy buy you these~~ Like the independent person you are, buy these tasty ingredients for yourself!

Ingredients

- 1/2 cup of Gjetost (Ski Queen cheese), shredded
- 2 pats of salted butter
- 2 slices of cinnamon raisin bread
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced granny smith apple
- 1 tbsp apple butter
- 1 tsp of cinnamon sugar

First, smear on some of that yummy apple butter - both sides of the bread and maybe even the inside of your mouth ~~or on a loved one~~.

Now it's time to pile on half of the craziest tasting cheese of your existence. GJETOST!

This pasteurized goats milk cheese is out of control. When you first taste it, it's sort of tastes like firm, salty butter but then all of a sudden it changes into this crazy caramel fudge-like-thing that tastes exactly like a sugar daddy. Not the kind that will buy you things and take you on trips, but like the caramel-y candy that you probably ate too much of at one point. It might have even helped form those cavities that you had filled as a teenager.

Then slap on some of those super-thinly sliced apples and douse them in cinnamon and sugar. I chose granny smith apples here because I thought the tartness would be a nice contrast against all the sweet things in this sandwich, but if you're not into that, use whatever apples you like. I won't be ~~seeing my therapist for this or anything~~ offended at all; I swear.

Now pile on the rest of the gjetost. You know I have absolutely no idea how to say this in real life, right?

Then put the topper on and smear it with butter, sweet, sweet salty butter.

Now that it's built, heat up a giant frying pan to medium low (ok, you don't have to use a giant one, but it's so much more fun when you do!) and place your little sandwich right in the middle. Let it cook for a few minutes until the cinnamon raisin bread starts to get all golden and crusty and the cheese starts to melt. It's not going to really melt like normal cheese, but you'll know what I mean as soon as it starts to happen.

Oh, and don't forget to flip it dumdum.

Once it's ready, take it off the stove and serve immediately! No waiting with this bad boy!

*Insert happy dance here*

Ok, so wish me luck on finding a boyfriend in like one week. At least one that will make me a nice dinner in a couple of Tuesdays. And for you single peeps out there, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you, too, because I love you and appreciate you. Marry me?

xoxo,

GCS

Braata Braata

2012-01-18T09:15:00.000-08:00

It's 6:00 on a Friday night and I'm sitting in front of my computer with a full face of makeup on (which rarely happens) and a crystal light mojito in hand (don't judge me), getting ready to go out ~~HARD~~.* I know I haven't done a blog post in about a month now but it's time to get real, which is even easier ~~said~~ typed than done when you have on some confidence-boosting-hot-pink-barbie-lipstick and a night full of uncertainty ahead.

Now I'm not one for New Years resolutions but this year I figured "why not?". 2011 was a weird year for me, which wasn't always a bad thing, but I feel like changing some things might make this year even better. So I guess one of my new "self-improvement" type things has to do with being more honest and to just say things when I should. No more holding back, MacKenzie! No more! That's why I'm going to start my first blog post of the New Year with a confession. Now it's slightly embarrassing but I can't help it, I have a new guilty pleasure... I just can't stop... I just can't...can't stop listening to RHIANNA. There I said it. I consider myself sort of a music snob and I never listen to the radio, ever, but when I was in FL for the break I did, like a lot. Rhianna and Calvin Harris's We Found Love has become my new obsession and I have it on repeat. You don't even want to know how many times I've played it. So, yes, this is me 2012. I'm starting you out (a few weeks late) the right way, with an over the top club banging hit.

Oh and one more thing, I just had two days off in a row (SAY WHAT?!) and all I've done is stayed indoors, worked on work-stuff, ate microwavable food, and watched 2 seasons of the UK version of SKINS. so yeah, cheers mates.

**Yeah, yeah I know it's not Friday anymore but I didn't have time to finish it that night.

This grilled cheese was inspired by one of my buddy-followers Coverly and her discovery of Beechers No Woman Cheese, which is really freaking amazing. Follow her tumblr if you know what's good fer ya!

Ingredients

-2 slices of rye bread
-1 cup of Beechers No Woman Cheese
-1 tbsp of green tomato jam
-2 pats of salted butter
-1 tsp of grated fresh ginger

So like most of my recipes begin, you'll want to place half the cheese on each slice of bread. This might be easier to just do one-side-at-a-time, but I was ~~out of my mind~~ on vacation in FL when I shot this, so errrm, yeah. There's also no stove top photo which confuses me. how did I overlooked that part? Who knows. Let's just say that I have no idea what was going on with me that day.

Also, for a little more info about this awesome cheese, it's a pasteurized cows milk cheese that is flavored with jerk seasoning. This means that it's quite earthy with spicy undertones but it's also got sweet notes from brown sugar and cloves. IT'S SO GOOD! Oh and Beechers is based out of Seattle but has a shop in NYC and is sold all over the country. So I'm pretty sure, no matter where you live, that you can find this stuff.

Then add some of that tangy green tomato jam. I really enjoy this product a lot. It's a little sweet, a little spicy, and goes really well with the flavors from the jerk cheese. It also seems sort of island-ish which is fitting and made me feel real chill when I ate it with my mom while we stared at the hot surfers on the beach.

Do I miss Fl right now? Maybe. Maybe just a little bit. Ok, a lotta bit. Whatever, it's freezing here and there's no snow which just makes it all seem pointless. I haven't even pegged anyone with a snowball yet and that sucks.

So anyways, now that everything is on the sandwich, go ahead and close it up and smear on some butter. Then sprinkle it with some grated ginger. I love how refreshing this makes the finish on the sandwich.

Heat your skillet to medium and place your GC right on in there. Let it cook for about 3-5 minutes on each side until it looks all crispy and you just can't take it anymore! Then remove it from the pan and let it sit for a hot sec, then dig in!

Oh and I'm totally sorry it has taken me so long to do a new post. As soon as I got back to NYC, it took me a while to get back into the swing of things. No more chillin on the beach and drinking with my family. Instead, I came back to crowded subways and work. A lot of work. And Netflix. So yeah, happy New Years everyone. I hope you all had an amazing holiday and all that jazz.

Lata Alligatas!

xoxo,

GCS

The Grilled Cheese Social Holiday Gift Guide!

2011-12-15T12:03:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking a lot about Christmas this week, mainly because it's in like two weeks and I haven't done any shopping yet AND because I ~~need~~ want a lot of new, awesome stuff. I'm not deprived in any sense, I mean, I work at a cheese shop and intern at Saveur magazine so I get a ton of awesome foodie stuff on the reg, but I am an American, so i always want MORE MORE MORE! And to be truthful, I don't know what Santa is going to think about my behavior year, because depending on how you look I've been naughty and nice, totally in a non-weird way, of course.

But to get some extra brownie points, I figured I should do something good and share with you an ultimate holiday gift guide for the Grilled Cheese obsessed. So there's two categories...1) that I'm cheesily posing by - which are the things that I absolutely swear by and couldn't be a grilled cheese gal without, and 2) things that I'm hoping someone puts under my Christmas tree.

So happy holidays everyone!

Products I swear by

1. Ultra-thin ultra-excellent OXO silicone turners

Let's get it straight, you need one of these. They're super thin, really flexible and they're heat resistant so it won't get really hot and burn the hell out of your hand. It can slide right up underneath one of your grilled cheese sandwiches without pushing it to the other side of the pan, and for that, I love it.

Want one? Click here!

2. Super serious Calphalon double-burner griddle pan

Now this isn't for everyone, but if you've got a family or a bunch of friends that like to mooch off of your creations, then this is totes for you. It's super big and takes over two burners so you've got about three times the grill space. I couldn't live without mine and my grilled cheese parties would be a bust without it, so yeah, I dig it.

Want one? Click here!

This grater has no label at all, WTF?!

3. The most functional grater in the world

I don't know if you can tell what this thing is, but it's a grater that comes with a multitude of different size grater sheets. You basically get about three different sheets and snap them onto a base. It comes with a little plastic storage case so you can keep them all together when you're not using it. I like it because I can get so many different size shreds out of it, and that's important in my world.

Want a similar one? Click here!

4. Heavy-ass press

I am not very strong and sort of lazy, so that's why I love having a heavy ass cast-iron press. I just set it on a super-hot burner and let it heat up for a minute and then place it right on top of my sammiches. It leaves nice little grill marks and it makes giant sandwiches more mouth accessible so you can pack a ton of stuff into your GCs.

Want one? Click here!

5. Sharp and sleek Henckels knives

I don't know a ton about knives but I know the ones that my uncle gave me are totally rad. They're sharp, strong, and cut like Patrick Bateman from American Psycho would have loved. Sorry that's a little macabre but you get what I'm saying. They can cut through GC's without smushing all the goodies out and I couldn't do my photo shoots wihtout 'em.

Want one? Click here!

6. Mildly embarrassing Rachel Ray cutting board

I'm just gonna say it. I have a love/hate relationship with Rachel Ray. She does some awesome stuff as a human, but I just can't get into her shows. I can, however, get really into how much I love this cutting board that comes with a bunch of bacteria-resistant plastic covers. I've had mine for about five years and it's still in perfect condition, and I use mine a lot, like a lot a lot.

Want one? They don't make it anymore:( but here's a similar one

7. Super fatty Plugra Butter

I don't think I've ever talked about what brand of butter I use, but I swear by Plugra. It's got a higher fat content than normal butter, about 85% I believe, so it makes a super nice, crispy crust and it's also a cultured butter so it has a more buttery taste which is oh-so-freaking-good! Salted or not, it's the only stuff I buy these days.

Want one? Click here!

8. The Filling Station Salt

My roommate turned me onto The Filling Station last Christmas as a gift and I can't get enough. They have a little shop in the Chelsea Market and I could spend my whole life in there, licking salt and taking mini-shots of fruity olive oils and fancy balsamic vinegars. I go through this stuff way too quickly, so I'm always trying new flavors. Right now, I'm on black truffle salt and Thai ginger salt. I LOVE salt.

Want one? Click here!

Things that I don't have that I need BADLY!

1. OMG SO HIP Brooklyn cutting board

I have to have this. It is so cute and awesome and I love my neighborhood so much and AHHH! I can't get over it. It will hopefully appear in a photoshoot sometimes soon!

Want one, too? Click here!

2. Grilled Cheesus Press

Jesus's face in a grilled cheese? Could there be anything more Christmas than that? I don't even know what else to say.

Want one, too? Click here!

3. Cheese Paper

Cellaphane and tinfoil just don't work at preserving cheese. But this cheese paper does and it's super awesome. It keeps it fresher, and doesn't allow for extraneous flavors to seep into your ultra fancy fromages.

Want some, too? Click here!

4. Cheese Subscription

What's better than receiving awesome blocks of cheese each and every month right to your doorstep? The only thing that I can think of is if the cute guys from The Bedford Cheese shop would hand deliver it and give me a kiss on the mouth. It might be a little better that way, I guess.

Want one, too? Click here!

The Cure-All

2011-12-06T13:09:00.001-08:00

I think I figured it out guys. I need to date a butcher. A big strong, burly butcher with some seriously hot meat-hacking abilities. Ok, now I know that it might seem a little gross and/or extremely weird, but let me tell you what I mean. After seeing Tom Mylan, my fav celebrity butcher (and yes that's a thing), and about twenty other hot, beefy men (pun intended) from various meat shops around NYC compete against each other at Roberta's 2nd Annual Beerfest, I think I found what all the extremely tall, handsome, and manly men do...and that just so happens to be slaying meat for a living!

While I was there, my mind was set on this new fantasy if you will. A cheese gal and a meat man? Could there be anything more perfect? Our friends would love to come to our dinner parties, we'd have the best of the best of our own speciality products at all times, and well, it would be like a fairytale made in foodie heaven. At least for me.

So at this party, I might have gotten a little too intoxicated off of ~~my new romantic endeavor~~ the 12 bud heavies that I drank, and I woke up with quite the ~~heartache that none of them even talked to me~~ headache. I needed a hangover meal; something greasy, but at the same time, something bright and full of nutrients to perk me up. And you probably guessed it, but a grilled cheese was what came to mind. With arugula pesto, scrambled eggs, and some tangy goat cheese, all grilled between two buttery pieces of multigrain bread, it sounded just about perfect. And it was. Even though there was no hot butcher to share it with. He probably could have even contributed some local bacon or something. Frick.

Here's whatcha'll need

Ingredients:

- 2 slices of multigrain bread
- 1 egg, scrambled
- 2 pats of salted butter
- 1/3 cup of crumbled goat cheese
- 1 tbsp of arugula pesto (recipe courtesy of
my other job at Saveur .com)

To begin, roll out of bed. Don't brush your teeth. Grab ingredients out of fridge and sprinkle half of the crumbled goat cheese onto one slice of bread.

I used a nice Capricho De Cabra from Spain. It's a super tangy, lemony, fresh goats milk cheese that melts really nicely without getting all gritty and gross like some do. Totes recommend it and probably eat too much of it, but that's another story.

Next you'll want to scramble one egg up, really quick, and add it right on top of that goat cheese-d up bread. Use fresh eggs if you've got them.

My dream butcher boyfriend probably has a super-sweet fresh egg connection. //Facepalm//

And add some of that arugula pesto.

I wouldn't recommend making it when you're hungover because the sound of the food processes made me want to kill myself. Maybe make it before the weekend happens so you can act like a pro when/if you've got a certain someone to entertain one morning.*

*I am not implying that anyone is a slut here, ok?

Then sprinkle on the remaining goat cheese and nibble on whatever's left over. You can even lick your fingers. I won't tell. I might have even done it myself, I was pretty bummed out that next morning.

Place the top piece of bread on top along with a smear of butter. Don't lick the remaing butter, that's gross!

Turn your stove top to medium high and place this cure-all sandwich, butter-side down, into the pan. Add a dollop of butter to the other side and let it cook for about 4 minutes until it starts to get brown and toasty.

When it looks good enough on one side, flip it and repeat. The goat cheese melts super quickly so it's not really about waiting for the cheese to melt, it's more about waiting to get a nice crust on your bread.

After it's toasted on both sides, take it out of the pan, let it cool for a hot sec, and chow down.

So now that you probably know a little too much of what goes on in my head these days, at least you have the prospect of a new sandwich to keep you coming back to my blog.

~~Or if you're a butcher... call me. I'm single.~~

Pair with a strong bloody mary, a couple advils, and some dark sunglasses and you'll be set. Until next time my darlings...

xoxo,

GCS

The "I'm never eating again" Sandwich

2011-11-25T13:05:00.001-08:00

Minus having a broken meat thermometer and one too many morning mimosas, I'm happy to report that yesterday was a total success. As you can imagine, because of our blood alcohol concentration and the absence of a certain kitchen tool, our bird ended up sort of dry. But whatever, it was still edible and that's all we seemed to care about after what seemed like an eternity of cooking.

Proudly, we even managed to not eat ourselves into a coma and got all pretty and went to hit the strip on Bedford. To our dismay, we discovered that not a lot of people actually go out on Thanksgiving here in the grand old neighborhood of Williamsburg, but we did! And after about five drinks at a bar where we were the only patrons, we all decided that it was the perfect time for Thanksgiving round II. So we went back to my apartment to destroy ~~my perfectly clean kitchen~~ what was left of our feast.

One of our creations consisted of a grilled holiday citrus roll with cranberry mustard, leftover turkey, mashed potatoes, and some nutty, gooey gruyère. So I decided to share that with you all, only a prettier, less-sloppy version, of course.

Here's how we made use of our leftovers.

Ingredients:
- 1 heaping spoonful of mashed potatoes
- 2 thin slices of gruyère
- a couple pieces of turkey
- a dollop of Inglehoffer cranberry mustard
- 2 pats of butter
- 1 leftover roll (we had some weird citrus-y
ones that had nuts in them)

So any leftover roll will work, but the trick to getting a nice, evenly grilled cheese is all about making sure your bread is level. If your roll has a huge, ridiculous top like this one, simply cut it off and eat it right away. Consider it your appetizer. Then make sure the other end of the roll, aka the butt, is used as the inside of the GC.

I have absolutely no idea what kind of rolls these were besides that they contained chunks of nuts and orange zest. My roommate's brother, who forgot the meat thermometer and the yeast rolls, managed to somehow get his hands on these citrus-y babies, so of course, we utilized them.

Then pile on whatever cheese you have on hand. I always have some sort of fancy fromage in my fridge and last night I just happened to have some leftover gruyère from our sweet potato gratin*.
Gruyère's a semi-hard, nutty, and caramel-y cheese from Switzerland. It's one of my favorites and it melts really beautifully but sort of takes a long time.

*The sweet potato gratin was voted as the majority favorite, so one of

these days when I start a non-grilled cheese blog, I'll share the recipe.

Then you'll just want to slap on some mustard.

I got really lucky and was handed a bottle of cranberry mustard before I left work last week so I used that. I think you could totally mix some of your homemade cranberry jelly with some honey mustard and it would probably be the same thing.

Now it's tater time! Just put a dollop right in the middle and don't worry about spreading it out. Once you add the turkey, it'll naturally squish out everywhere.

Then add some turkey...

... and another layer of gruyère...

... and the other piece of bread and then do a little dance because your sandwich is done being built! Smear on some butter and turn your flame to low and place this Thanksgiving treat in your pan.

Cook for about 10 minutes on each side or until everything gets warmed up and the cheese starts to melt.

Then pull the GC off the grill and you know the drill - let it sit for a minute to firm up, and dig in!

I want to give you all a virtual high five for making it through Thanksgiving without cutting off any fingers or drunkenly yelling at any family members. If you didn't make it through without any disasters, then i want to give you a hug and say it'll be better next year, as long as you give me your booze, promise.

And as for a booze pairing, I'd follow my lead go with a bright and crisp brut champagne to play off of the citrus flavors in the mustard and bread.

xoxo,

GCS

Pre-Turkey Melt(down)

2011-11-23T08:13:00.001-08:00

One of the many depressing parts of growing up is realizing that you are way too broke to go home for Thanksgiving. Which sadly means no more of Mom's famous mac'n'cheese, Grandpa's baked beans, or Uncle Bro's secret mashed potatoes (ok, not so secret, he mashes one sweet potato in the mix and it makes all the difference!). It's not all that bad though, because it also means that there's no more interrogation sessions about what you're doing with your ~~sad, pathetic life in Brooklyn~~ self after you finish your internship or your alliance with certain political affiliations (My parents are grown-up hippies, so yeah, I'm not talking about them). But I'm sure you can relate, and I can definitely do without that.

Instead, I'll be trying to fit 15 of my closest friends into my tiny little apartment (there's no kitchen table so I'm still trying to figure that one out), having panic attacks over botched recipes, and making way too many trips to the liquor store below my apartment. And ya know what? I can't wait! And because of all these Thanksgiving-related things that are flooding my mind, I decided to do a simple grilled cheese that will give you an easy yet delicious meal to hold you over until the big feast. With a spicy pepper jack cheese from Tillamook (you know, my favorite), and some sweet, creamy apple butter, and a buttery croissant, this GC encompasses one of my favorite flavor combo's SWEET & SPICY (and buttery) and it's an excellent little Fall treat that pairs nicely with an acidic Sauvignon Blanc.

Because you'll probably be spending way too much money this Thanksgiving, here's a simple 3-ingredient GC!

Ingredients:

- 1 plain croissant
- a few slices of Tillamook Pepper Jack Cheese
- 1.5 tbsp apple butter (I used Fly Creek)

The first thing you'll want to do is slice your croissant in half and thinly slice some of that Pepper Jack and lay it on. I only use Tillamook's variety because I love how there's little bits of sweet peppers and how the creaminess of the cheese contrasts with spicy little bits of jalapeno peppers. It's so freaking good.

Then you'll just want to dab on some of the apple butter.

My roommate brought some of this stuff home from Fly Creek Cider Mill & Orchard, which is upstate, and it is sooo amazing. Slightly tart, yet super sweet and utterly creamy. I could eat spoonfuls of this stuff. Seriously.

Add another layer of of the Pepper Jack and put the top piece of bread back on top. Because croissants are basically all butter, and because I remember how greasy the last GC was that I made on a croissant (SEE HERE), you don't even need the stuff! You'll just want to turn your heat to medium low and stick it on.

After about five minutes on each side, it should start becoming even more flaky, golden, and crusty. I smashed mine a little because I couldn't resist.

When it's all pretty on both sides, take it off and give it a minute to sit. At this point, the cheese will be soaking up into croissant, and omg, it's about to get REAL.

I hope you all have an awesome Thanksgiving and that you remember your knife skills so that no one looses a finger. And if/when you're about to have a food-related breakdown, step out of the kitchen take a deep breath, ~~eat a xanax~~ take a huge swig of some wine and get yourself together kid!

Pair this GC with a nice tart and acidic Sauvignon Blanc which will contrast with the sweet notes in the apple butter along with the creamy texture and spicy undertones from the Pepper Jack.

xoxo,

GCS

Ellie Green Bean

2011-11-17T08:22:00.001-08:00

I'm seriously having puppy withdraws. My dog Ollie, the super fat dachshund, is a wimp and hates the cold so he's staying with my parents at the beach. Because of this, I'm talking to strange dogs on the street and sneaking in tail ~~grabs~~ pets when the dogs' owner walks by me. Let me just explain how weird things have gotten.

The other day I was at work at this guy came in with a brand new snow-white, blue-eyed puppy, named Elephant (OMG! think i OD'ed on cuteness). He tied him outside of the store and I heard him whimpering so I ran out to get some pets and possibly score a puppy kiss (just a lick, but I call them puppy kisses). Anyways, I instantly fell in love with him and was kneeling on the ground while he was jumping up and trying to lick my face. When he did this, I went in for a hug and I accidentally touched my bright red MAC-glossed lips on his white furry side. I retracted my hug and saw the gigantic crimson streak and tried to rub it out. Whelp, that mac lipstick that I'm in love with, well yeah, it's great because it's a stain. I STAINED A STRANGER'S DOG! I had to walk in and tell the owner that I kissed their dog and now it's stained red. The poor dog's red abdomin couldn't be anymore red than my poor, blushing face. Needless to say, I was super embarrassed but at least I was honest. I'm sure he totally thought I was a freak.

But anyway, this blush-worthy story has absolutely nothing to do with this Thanksgiving green bean casserole-inspired grilled cheese, but I thought I should share because it was absolutely ridic.

Inspired by one of the my favorite side dishes, this GC uses the following ingredients.

Ingredients:

- 1 half wheel of Camembert
- 6 inch baguette, cut in half
- 2 pats of unsalted butter
- 2 tsp of French Onion Dip seasoning
- 1.5 tbsp sauteed shiitake mushrooms
- a couple cooked green beans

Camembert, a mild brie-like cheese that has an earthy mushroom taste is perfect for this GC because it sort of mimics the cream of mushroom soup that is so often found in green bean casserole. You'll want to cut a few slices and basically just smush the camembert into both sides of your bread.

Then, gently press in some cooked green beans. If you have leftovers, totally use that, otherwise just trim ends and plunge the beans in boiling water for two minutes. Then strain and throw them in an ice cold bowl of water so that they stay nice and vibrant. No one wants some nasty old brown string beans.

Next comes the mushrooms. For extra texture, I did a quick sauté using diced shiitakes and a little bit of butter. Quick, easy, and delicious.

Then gently place your other piece of bread on top. The cheese that you smushed into the bread should stick so you won't have to worry about trying to get it laid out evenly.

This is my favorite part! You know those packets of French Onion Seasoning that you use for like dips and baked chicken and stuff? Well I sprinkled some of that on top of my butter so it could be like the fried onion crust that's obviously the best part of the casserole*. Do this on one side now, and then on the other once you have it cooking and are ready to flip.

*This was my best idea of the week, just so you know.

Once it's built, turn your burner to medium and place GC straight into the pan.

Place a weight on top of the grilled cheese so that the round part on the top will cook evenly when you flip it over. Let it grill until golden and crispy; about 4 minutes.

Because Camembert is ultra creamy and super silky, you'll want to let it rest for a hot minute. Resist urges to bite in because you will burn your face off with hot molten cheese lava. Trust me, I might just be ~~the world's biggest klutz~~ an expert on melted cheese oriented burns.

With Thanksgiving about to slap us all in the face and make us ten pounds heavier, I figured why not start the party early. And, if you take any message away from my aforementioned story, remember honesty is the best policy. I might have made a fool out of myself, but that guy might have been even more freaked out if he didn't know why his poor little pup had a giant red blood streak down its entire side.

Oh! And for my new beverage-of-choice pairing, I'd suggest a robust red Bourdeaux, which stands up nicely against bloomy rind cheeses like this and at the same time, enhances the earthy flavors from the mushrooms.

xoxo,

GCS

The Frumpy Dumpling

2011-11-02T15:51:00.000-07:00

My brother's gone and I made it through Halloween without getting arrested. Thank God. He's such a party boy and trying to keep up with him was absolutely exhausting. You know how when people come to visit, it sort of becomes your vacation too? Well yeah, I'm just going to go ahead and call this my fall spring break because I partied like I was still in college - ~~not that I normally don't~~. And since Halloween is my favorite holiday, and because I didn't think (or have time) to do a Halloween post as awesome as last year's, I'm making these savory cheesy pumpkin grilled cheese "dumplings" that are bathed in a sage brown butter sauce as the new exciting method for cooking up these awesome sandwiches. Get excited!

Here's what you'll need to get your spook on.

Ingredients:

- 1 tbsp ricotta cheese
- 1.5 tbsp gouda
- .5 tbsp pumpkin puree
- 1 tbsp salted butter
- 2 small sage leaves
- 1 tbsp of chopped cooked nueske's bacon
- 1 pinch of nutmeg, cinnamon, & sugar
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 2 large dinner rolls dough at room temp

First we need to mix up our filling. I combined the ricotta, pumpkin puree, and grated gouda.

Then I mixed in the spices and the cooked bacon. If you haven't had nueske's bacon then you are seriously missing out. The New York Times calls it the beluga caviar of bacon and I completely agree.

Once the mixture was ready, I started to stretch out the thawed dough. Be careful not to let it break because it will if you play with it too much. You'll want to stretch it far enough so you can seal in the filling.

Then I plopped about 3/4 tbsp of the mixture in the dough. If you think you can fit more, go for it!

From there, I gently folded the dough over and sort of made a little hand pie. I basically just tucked in the the outside so the filling wouldn't ooze out. You can also use the fork approach and go around the edge with the spiky part by gently pressing down. If you have no idea what I'm talking about (I don't blame you, trying to type this took me about 20 minutes) then check out this video.

Once these little pockets of goodness were ready, I started to make the brown butter sauce. Because I'm essentially cooking the "dumplings" in it, I made sure not to let the butter brown too much because I didn't want them to burn and I wanted to let the insides get all hot and melty. So to do this, turn your heat to medium, add the butter, and once it starts to bubble stir in your bay leaves.

Then, plop your little dumplings in there and let them sizzle for about five minutes. Your kitchen should start smelling really good. The sweetness from the dough mixed with the nuttiness and herbal awesomeness from the sage brown butter... Ohh la la!

After about five minutes the crust should resemble the picture below. If it doesn't, let it cook for a little while longer and if it does, then flip it! If your dumplings were big, then feel free to rest them against each other to cook the sides that aren't brown. I did so on the opposite side of the seam so I could get more crunchy bites.

Then when they're all nice and golden, take them off the skillet and immediately sprinkle them with salt. Make sure to let them rest for about a minute before you serve them.

So yeah, that about sums it up. I hope you all had an awesome Halloween and I'd love to know what you were so leave a comment below - I get a kick out of that stuff. I was Garcia from criminal minds one night and a failed baby Sinclair from Dinosaurs the other. So I'll just leave you with this grilled cheese song until next week when I bring you another unique method for cooking GC's.

xoxo,

GCS

The Burnt Gardener

2011-10-26T09:54:00.000-07:00

Man it's been too long since I've done a post! This is actually the longest break I've taken since I started GCS over a year ago. Yikes. I apologize to anyone who's been waiting for a new recipe. ~~Fingers crossed that it's not just my mom~~. But seriously, I've had the busiest month of my entire life and I'm so ready for it to slow down. But unfortunately with Halloween right around the corner, my brother coming to visit (!!!), and my new (third) job writing for Depanneur, I don't actually see chill-out sesh in my future. So yeah, I'm going to try my hardest to keep doing a post a week, even if it means doing it hungover on a Saturday morning. Yeah, that's dedication.

Deep breaths MacKenzie, deep breaths.

In the meantime, I present you with another new method for cooking grilled cheese. This one is called the burnt gardener because, well, it features a burnt cheesy crust on every side of the bread and it's got a lot of herbs that were picked from my ~~pathetic~~ fire-escape garden. I don't mean to brag, but it's a textural masterpiece. The alternating layers will blow your mind and basically go like this: crunchy--soft and airy--crunchy--melty gooeyness--chewy--crunchy--soft and airy--then crunchy again! That probably makes absolutely no sense, but just check out the pictures and maybe even try it yourself to see what I'm talking about. I think you'll like it.

Alright, let's get this party started.

Ingredients:

- 1 cup of burning melange gouda

(or some sort of herbed gouda)

- 2 slices of an olive batard

- 1 tbsp of diced semi-sun-dried tomatoes

- 2 pats of citrus herb butter

(Mince one big leaf of basil and mint, a few

tiny sprigs of rosemary and parsley then

combine with 2 tbs of salted butter and a

pinch of lemon zest)

To begin, go a ahead and melt some of that zesty butter in your nonstick pan over medium heat.

Once it starts to bubble, throw in 1/3 cup of cheese and spread it around. When it starts to bubble up, turn the heat to high. This high heat will help transform the cheese into a crunchy crust.

Oh! Before we go any further, I've got to tell you about this crazy good award-winning cheese.

About two and half weeks ago - in the midst of the craziness - I was lucky enough to enjoy a delightful lunch with some of my favorite ladies from the WisconsinMilk Marketing Board. And guess what? Not only were the super nice, but they were also the most generous people EVER! They took me out to lunch (Gah, I love Cafe Colette) and brought me a giant bag of Wisconsin's finest. Among the many blocks of cheese was a cut of burning melange gouda. This herby gouda is spiked with stinging nettles, chives, celery, parsley, dried onion and garlic. It awakens the palate with the bright and refreshing flavors from the herbs, but at the same time because of the aging process, it's mellow and semi-sweet. I've never had anything like it.

So now that you know a little bit about it, let's go back to the recipe.

Once the cheese and butter are bubbling like a fourth grade science experiment, very quickly throw in two pieces of sliced olive bread and smush them into the cheese. Be careful not to burn yourself. You remember my rule about cooking without a shirt on right? DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT cook in a bikini (or naked) EVER. It may be sexy, I guess(?), but the risks definitely outweigh the rewards.

While the cheese is bubbling away on the journey of becoming a delicious crispy crust, spread on some of your herbed butter. It should take about 6-8 minutes depending on how much cheese you threw down. I used quite a lot (...duh...) so it took a while. If you decided to be a non-fatty and use a smaller amount of cheese, it should take about 3 minutes.

Using a metal spatula, gently scrape it against the bottom of your skillet to help seperate the cheese from the pan. If you used a nonstick pan, you shouldn't have to do this, but if your pan has been through the works like mine, well it's best to follow my lead.

Then peek under your bread to make sure that the cheese has burnt a little bit. When it has, flip it!

Once it's flipped, these burnt cheesy sides are going to be on the inside of your sandwich. Crazy, right?! Who says GC's are only crispy on the outside?

So go ahead and lay on another 1/3 cup of cheese.

Then add some finely diced semi-sun-dried tomatoes. If you have no idea what these are or you aren't able to get them where you live, then regular sun-dried tomatoes preserved in olive oil are fine. I just like the semi-dried variety better because they are less tough and still taste like tomatoes.

Now place the other piece of olive bread, cheesy side down to make the GC. Carefully balance it on your spatula and throw in half of the remaining cheese. Don't mind the amount of cheese from that picture because it's not enough.

From here, you'll repeat the same steps as above so that you get a cheesy crust on the outside of the sandwich.

When the first side is good, add the remainder of the cheese, and flip so you can do the other side.

EVERY SIDE SHOULD BE CRISPY.

Finally, when all the sides are equally browned and crispy, take it off the heat and let it sit for a minute so that everything bonds together.

Now I know this might not be the prettiest of my creations, but never judge a sandwich by it's crust. Hah! I should trademark that...Along with my sideways toaster grilled cheese that has become an internet meme without any connection to GCS! UGH. Anyways, I've got to get dressed and run to work (surprise!) but hopefully next week I'll finally get my hands on a grill and do a literal grilled cheese. Until then...

xoxo,

GCS

From Meme and Me

2011-09-28T10:40:00.000-07:00

There's something special about this sandwich. My Meme used to make me one of these every time I visited her. As soon as I'd walk in, she'd ask that magic question that never even needed an answer. "You hungry darlin'?" she'd say, and without waiting for a response, she'd rumble through the fridge and bring out her iconic ingredients: cheese, white bread, butter, and a tomato.

I know I didn't really mention it but when I went to visit Tallahassee last week, I also went to see my Grandma who has Alzheimer's and is living in an assisted living facility down there.

During college, I spent a lot of time with my Grandparents; from Sunday meals to running errands around town. But after my Poppy died during my sophomore year, I sort of became of my Meme's caretaker. It got hard after he passed. They had been married for almost 60 years, and it seemed as if her mind couldn't really deal with it. She began to forget things and the doctor told us that she was displaying early signs of Dementia. At first we laughed about her using sugar instead of salt in her tomato gravy and rice, but it got to the point where she needed some serious help and unfortunately, I was planning on moving to New York for grad school that same summer. The decision to leave was really hard, but luckily, I had my amazing uncle there to help as much as he could. After I left, the inevitable happened, the disease got a hold of her and was she diagnosed with Alz.

I'm not going to put on a front and say it was lovely and wonderful seeing her last week because it wasn't. It was really, really, really freaking hard. I mean, luckily, she still remembers all of us, but it's not the same. She's not really there and she knows it. It's tough seeing her like that. And because of it, I wanted to make a post to celebrate my Meme by commemorating her amazing hospitality and love. This little snack was something that she'd whip up, pop in the oven, and then forget about it for the next few minutes while she caught up with me. It was also perfect for times when I brought over my starving college friends, because she could fill a whole baking sheet and not have to tend to the frying pan like with traditional grilled cheese sandwiches. Honestly, she's the best, you'd love her...even when she gets a little sassy...and she does get a little sassy.

As I mentioned before, those iconic ingredients are:

Ingredients:

- 2 slices of lite boule or some white bread
- 1/2 cup of shredded fontina
- 1 giant beefsteak tomato slice
- 1 tbsp of herbed butter
(combine 1 tbsp salted butter with 1/2 tsp herbs
de provence)

My entire family is obsessed with butter. I'm not kidding, not even a little bit. I once saw teeth marks in a tub of I Can't Believe it's Not Butter. Who does that?? I still think it was my Dad but he'll never fess up. But yeah, my mom always bought that kind because if we had the good stuff in our fridge, it would be devoured, along with every single piece of bread or cracker in the house. But before I gross you out any longer...

To begin, go ahead and butter your bread with some delicious herbed butter. Feel free to mix up with anything you'd like; garlic or thyme-infused butter would work wonderfully.

During the next step, you'll want to preheat your oven to 450°. Then put the bread, butter side down, onto a baking sheet. Then sprinkle it with fontina cheese. My Meme always used ~~government cheese~~ cheddar but I just did cheddar in last week's post so I wanted to switch it up.

Next, you'll want a nice thick slice of tomato to lay down right in the middle of the sandwich. Sometimes Meme would salt and pepper it, but I never knew when to do that so I left it out. Whenever I tried , it would always come out too salty. I guess she just had some sort of magic touch.

When it's all built, go ahead and place the baking sheet on the middle rack for about six and a half minutes. This will give you ample time to pour someone a sweet tea and bring them a cookie.*

*Hospitality lesson 101: Always bring someone a sweet tea and a cookie. It will instantly make them happy they came over.

And then when it's all bubbly and golden, take it out and fold the two pieces together to make a sandwich.

Give it a second to rest because if you cut it right away, the tomato will slip out and burn your chin. I'm speaking from experience, of course.

I know that Meme will probably never see this because I don't think she even knows what the internet is, but at least I can share it with all of you. I know Alz can be hard, but it's best to treasure the good times and this sandwich definitely helps me do that. It reminds me of being a little kid and sitting in her kitchen while she helped me with ALL of my problems. As I ate this after I shot it, I got a little teary eyed because I wish I could have been eating it with her. I know she probably feels the same way.

And if you're feeling generous, the Alzheimer's Assocation is a wonderful not-for-profit group that would love your help to keep fighting the memory loss battle. And for those of you who are struggling with the same thing, stay strong and keep loving! Hopefully there will be a cure soon.

xoxo,

GCS

The Osceola

2011-09-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

Bye bye Brooklyn! I'm heading back to the good ole Sunshine State tomorrow to ~~get real sloppy~~ have a nice little vacay. I'll be seeing family, tailgating at the Doak, eating lots of Southern food, and reliving my college days; the good ones at least. Let's not get into detail about the long nights that helped me become "Champion" the drinker.

FSU did teach me a lot though. I mean, sure, I got my bachelors, and learned a ton about psychology and aging. But I also learned about the more important things in life; like how to hold my liquor and how to trick people into thinking that I actually cared about football. Which I did... sort of... at least the tailgating part. But most importantly, I learned how throw the most ~~trashy~~ eloquent dinner parties at four in the morning. And ya know what? I think this just might be where I developed a knack for weird grilled cheese combinations and cooking methods. I'd make due with what I had, because believe me, you didn't want me driving to Club Publix in the wee hours of the morning.

And that's where this off the wall way to cook GC's comes into play. One night long ago (ok, so like four years ago when I was a junior at FSU), I had some french bread that had a lot of holes in it. When I cooked up the sammie's, the cheese started to ooze out and even though I was freaking out (because I thought I ruined the sandwiches), I went with it. I guess you could call that liquid courage. This accident turned into a delicious disaster - give the bread the holes so that the cheese can melt out and you can have the best crust of all time. So yeah, you're going to poke holes all in the grilled cheese. GET EXCITED!

So here's what you'll need to get a little sloppy...

Ingredients:

- 1 brioche bun
- 2 tbsp Tillamook medium cheddar - shredded
- 2 pats of salted butter
- a couple potato chips - I used McClure's pickle
chips because they're my favorite thing EVER
- 1.5 tbsp sloppy joe mix at room temperature
**not pictured - a straw **

If you're new to reading this blog, then you probably haven't heard me rave about Tillamook very much. They're basically one of my favorite cheese companies OF ALL TIME. Thanks to them my friend and I were flown out to LA and got to be a part of the Grilled Cheese Invitational. BEST TIME EVER.

Ok, enough of the cap-locks - you get I'm excited about this, right? So, basically if you ever need some bomb a** cheddar you better do yourself a favor and use Tillamook. It's kind of hard to find on the East Coast but luckily some Trader Joe's and Whole Foods carry it. So yeah, get it and shred it up. The finer it's shred, the better it'll melt.

So to begin, you're going to want to use one of my tricks that I sometimes do here on GCS. When you're trying to use a bun, you'll want to cut it so that the two bready sides can function as the outside toasted pieces. I know that makes absolutely no sense, but basically you'll want to use the sides that are not the butt so that you get that nice toasty texture.

I had a super huge brioche bun so I chopped off the top and discarded it (ok, so i gobbled it up), and used the middle and bottom pieces. Flip the bottom piece so that the butt will be the side that you build the sandwich on.

See?

Righty-o, so now that you've got your bread sliced, you'll want to pack on a hunk of shredded cheese. I made this at like nine in the morning and I ended up eating like half of the cheddar I cut, so I kept having to shred more. That's totally fine - it's actually exactly what Tillamook wants; their customers eating whole blocks of cheese at nine in the morning.

Now pile on that sloppy mix - EXTRA SLOPPY. I know how you'z kids like 'em extra sloppy. **Now someone yell "Lady you're scaring us!"**

Now for the chippies. I have always put chips on Sloppy Joe's. I don't know why or how it started, but it's something that I have to do. The crunchy texture just makes the sandwich so much better. Try it.

And if you haven't had McClure's pickle chips, get yourself some. We sell them at my work, Depanneur, and let me tell you what - mmmmhmmmm. That's it. That's all I can say about them. Oh wait I guess I can share what my roommate said about them - "they kind of taste like salt and vinegar mixed with sour cream and onion and pickles." She's a genius, that one.

So pile on a few or smash 'em on. It really doesn't matter. They'll get crushed anyway.

Now, stack on the rest of the cheese.

And the top piece of bread.

Then you'll want to butter both sides of your bread and turn your burner to a low heat. Once your sandwich is in the griddle, go ahead and take your straw and poke holes all over it. This will create little tunnels that'll let your cheese flow out like molten lactose. As your liquid gold starts to ooze out, it'll create a cheesy crust that sort of tastes like a Cheez-It BUT BETTER.

Make sure to do the hole-poking thoroughly on each side so that you get a nice-even cheesy crust.

Since it's cooking on such a low heat, it'll take like 7 minutes to cook on each side. Because brioche burns so quickly and since you want your cheese to be able to travel through the holes, it's very important that you give it ample time to cook. Don't try to rush it. Relax, drink a beer. Unless it's nine in the morning, and in that case, drink a bloody mary or something.

This is what it should look like if your cheese was able to melt out through the holes. If it didn't, simply just smack some shredded cheese on the outside and grill it so that it cooks it real quick. It'll work the same way but the hole method is much more fun. It made me feel like a scientist! A grilled cheese scientist!

After that, you'll want to take it off the stove-top, let it set for a minute, and then serve it while it still looks all pretty and delicious like the one below.

So I guess that does it for today. I'm sure I'll have some interesting things to tweet about while I'm tailgating at the FSU vs. Oklahoma game. While I'm there, I'll also be working on three more neat ways to cook GC's that are kind of hard to do in NYC. So yeah, have a fun week everybody!

xoxo,

GCS

Brave Little Toaster

2011-09-06T11:30:00.000-07:00

I've always had big dreams for my toaster. Well sort of. I know it might sound strange, but ever since I saw The Brave Little Toaster when I was like five, I've had a soft spot for old appliances and a weird habit of calling my toaster slot-head. Remember the suicide-nightmare scene when Toaster is depressed because Master ditched him and dreams about falling into a bathtub to her (his? I could never tell) death? Horrifying, right?

Well yeah, I guess you can say it sort of stuck with me. Maybe that's why I can't seem to toss the jenky old toaster that was given to me when I moved to New York two years ago. I mean, it probably cost like ten bucks at CVS but I've put like thirty bucks into revamping it so it's not going anywhere. Yes, I've just announced that I've given my toaster a facelift a few times. Yes, I'm weird and spray paint my kitchen appliances so they look cute. Yes, you should too, it's so easy and Montana Gold spray paint works perfectly.

But I digress. This is about grilled cheese making! So let me tell you about this grilled cheese that's made with ~~my slot-head~~ a toaster.

Here's whatchaaaa need...

Ingredients:

- 2 slices of muenster cheese
- 2 slices of white bread
- four thinly shaved pieces of speck
- 1 tbsp of good and evil pickles
(or any sweet and spicy pickles)
- 1 toaster

Now before you begin - please take these necessary precautions and pay attention to these ~~slightly horrifying~~ important parts.

1. CLEAN OUT YOUR TOASTER.
2. FLIP YOUR TOASTER ON IT'S SIDE.
3. DO A TEST RUN.
4. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR TOASTER UNATTENDED WHILE YOU'RE MAKING THIS GC.

Basically just pop a piece of bread in there to see if you have any hotspots. These are areas that burn quicker than the rest of your bread. If you have a new toaster, you probably won't have this issue. But if you've got them you need to be aware and take extra steps before you start to toast the cheesed up pieces. Of course, my crappy old toaster had one really bad hotspot; in the back of the top slot which caused instant burnt toast once it was flipped on its side. I'll tell you how I remedied this later on in the post.

Another point that I need to mention is that when I was doing the research for this post, I found that quite a few people had toasters that had these metal gates that sort of gripped the bread while it was being toasted. My ~~hand-me-down~~ vintage toaster is probably about 8 years old, so it doesn't have any fancy metalwork. But some do, and if yours does, this method won't work for ya. SORRY! The heated metal prongs will press into the cheese and start a smoky mess and maybe even start a fire which is not a lawsuit I'd like to deal with. So yeah, give up now if that's what's going on in your kitchen. Come back next week and I'll have a new method just for you!

So when you use the whole "toaster technique" you're going to want to use a super flat slice of cheese. Using shredded cheese would be an absolute mess and would definitely fill your house with the smell of burnt cheese. No bueno.

So yeah, stick to the sliced stuff and lay one slice on each piece of bread.

Also, now that you're aware of your hot spots and are ready to start to melt some cheese, go ahead and gently press down your toasting lever and watch the magic unfold.

I let mine toast for about two and a half minutes on the "low" setting. And because of my toaster's hot spot, I made sure to rotate my bread half way through so the back wouldn't get all burnt up and cause my house to smell like death. Yes, death. It's awful, but not as awful as burnt hair. That's the worst.

And here's another tricky part, if your toaster is anything like mine, it will projectile-launch your toast four feet across the room when it decides it's "done". This is a serious issue. Cheese burns are no fun and they seriously feel like molten lava if they just so happen to launch out and hit you in the stomach while you're wearing a bikini*.

Make sure to gently pop your toast out, and have a shirt on, please, please, please take my advice and have a shirt on.

*True story, lesson learned. Don't ever cook in a bikini.

Now this is the part when you need to work quickly. After the cheese has melted, take your toast out and start piling on the good stuff.

I threw on some speck, which is like a juniper flavored version of prosciutto. It's super yummy and salty and good, and I actually like it about 300 times more than regular ole' prosciutto.

Then I piled a couple of these delicious sweet and spicy pickles that my friend Bev mailed me from Florida. They're called good and evil pickles and they're made by the wonderful people at Mercier Orchards. Basically it's equal parts whole garlic cloves, sliced jalapenos, and cucumber rounds. They're super spicy but it's not overwhelming because the sweetness masks the burning which in turn, forces you to keep eating them so that you maintain this equilibrium of hot-to-not-so-hot balance.

Am i the only one that experiences this vicious and sometimes fattening cycle? I think that's why I always eat way too much chips and salsa at Mexican restaurants. Sorry, back to the point.

Once your fillings are all in, place the other piece of cheesy toast on top. If you're not afraid of a few hundred calories more, smear some butter all over the toast to make it more grilled cheese-ish. I felt really weird about not putting butter all over this sandwich but I'm going back to Florida for a visit next week and i might have to be in a bathing suit, so i figured I could go without it... even if i felt like a traitor.

Now slice it down the middle and serve immediately!

In conclusion, this is definitely a method that should be used only in desperate situations. To be honest, I'll probably never do the toaster technique again, but at least we all know that it can be done without the tricks of cable television! I mean, it's not that bad, just a little dry and anxiety provoking (totally didn't even think about cleaning out the crumbs before I did a test run which was a bad idea).

And of course, I'll be back next week with a new and exciting grilled cheese cooking method, so stay tuned!

xoxo,

GCS

The #1 Dormmate

2011-08-24T13:27:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you but my dormitory experience was absolutely awful. I lived in a little allergen-infested cubbyhole with a girl that spent almost every night instant messaging until three in the morning. This wouldn't have been that bad, but you see, she always kept the volume turned all the way up. Do you remember that little ba-ding noise that happened EVERY SINGLE TIME you sent or received a message? Well yeah, it sort of drove me crazy. Oh and not to mention, she had a huge obsession with Sponge Bob. Our tiny cage, i mean, dorm room had it all: a Sponge Bob comforter, Sponge Bob pillows, Sponge Bob posters, the whole package. She had it and I was not having it.

She was a great girl though. Really.

Anyway, beyond being stuck with an 18-year-old female version of the 8-year-old boy I used to babysit, I was also without a kitchen for the first time in my life. This was a hard adjustment for me. I didn't get a meal plan because I thought the cafeteria was gross so I was forced to adapt. For the first few months I lived off of Pabst Blue Ribbon, copious amounts of cereal (Smacks and Lucky Charms if you can even consider those sugar concoctions cereal) and far too many peanut butter and jellies sandwiches (aka Pea-nutter-jel-andwiches). This was definitely a fun and exciting time in my life. Living on my own, having no curfew, and doing whatever the eff I wanted was wonderful. But my palette and reputation were suffering; one can only go through the TacoBell drive-thru so much before they start to know you by name. That was, until one day, I discovered this beautiful gem.

GRILLED CHEESE - IRON STYLE

Here's some simple ingredients that changed my dorm life and probably my slammin' teenage figure.

Ingredients:

- 1 iron
- about a 1 square foot of tin foil
- 2 pats of butter
- 2 slices of hearty whole wheat (mine was seeded)
- a little under 4 tbsp of shredded serious cheeses
    - 1 tbsp grated Comte
    - 1 tbsp grated Gruyere
    - 1 tbsp grated Ossau Iraty
    - .5 tbsp crumbled Stilton (or some yummy blue)

To begin, Plug in your iron and put it in a safe spot. I know you probably don't have a lot of room, but this is very important, burns are the worst. If it has a steaming option, turn it off and set it to the highest heat setting (which is usually labeled cotton).

From here, lay out your tin foil and butter one piece of bread. Flip it so the butter is face down.

Now pile on your cheeses! I know I definitely didn't have enough money to buy fancy cheeses like these while I was enrolled in college (and to be honest, I still don't have enough money!) and I'm not even sure if they had these delicacies available in Tallahassee (besides Sweet Grass Dairy which I didn't even know about until I was a senior..sad face).

I should have totally thought about this before I did this post... BUT OH WELL. I think it would be just as good with a Kraft single, some provolone and swiss, and maybe even a slice of muenster if you're extra fancy or go to an ivy league school or something like that.

Now simply place the other piece of bread on top and butter it!

Now fold up the tin foil to create a little alien spaceship home for your sandwich. These silver packets can function as really fun and playful weapons to use when your suite-mates* are getting out of hand. You can chuck it at them in anger without hurting them and as soon as they realize what hit them in the back of the head - you're forgiven because of the warm gooey cheesy mess that's about to grace their ~~state college~~ oh-so-refined palette.

*Why do they even call them suite-mates? There is nothing sweet about it.

Now when your is iron piping hot go ahead and place it on top and apply some pressure. After about five minutes, carefully (it's freaking burning hot) check to see if the bread is starting to crisp up. It took me about 5-6 minutes for each side.

I've heard you can also do this without the tinfoil, but at the time when I learned this method I didn't want to risk having any my beautiful Forever 21 garments spotted with butter stains. But to be completely honest, this was probably the most action my iron got during those days. And to be even more honest, I couldn't even tell you the last time I ironed anything. I really love the wrinkle release spray stuff. It saves my life or at least my appearance.

After it's all cooked up, go ahead and gently open up your packet. I think it's best to take out the grilled cheese right away because it gets kind of soggy if it stays all cooped up.

Now this method isn't only for dorm room residents. It also works really well in hotels, apartments with gross kitchens, bus stations, train terminals, ~~dive bars~~ and so on. As long as you have a plug, you can bring your sandwich pre-wrapped and cook it anywhere. Well almost anywhere, I'm sure the cashiers at Forever 21 might have a problem with it.

Stay tuned for next week, where I present another new and exciting way to cook up a yummy grilled cheese sandwich!

xoxo,

GCS

Cool Dude Cappy

2011-08-15T06:13:00.000-07:00

Guys, I am so excited! It's finally cooling down. It feels as if the gates of hell have lifted from my kitchen. Because of this, I've been paying a lot of attention to my ~~out-dated and temperamental~~ lovely "vintage" appliances. I sure missed them. When the highs were hitting around a thousand degrees, making anything that required more than fifteen minutes in the kitchen was off-limits. I just couldn't do it, the heat was excruciating and exhausting. I even had a weak moment where I thought about taking a break from GCS. I'm not being a baby, either. Sure, i miss central AC and all the wonderful times we had together. But it got to the point that every time i whipped up a new sandwich for a post, my entire apartment ended up feeling like a gigantic blow-dryer with a heat-seeker had gotten out of control.

So yeah, now that it doesn't feel like an exhaust pipe from the L train (do they even have those?) is funneling into my house, I'm finally taking a stab at all the recipes I've been ~~hoarding~~ saving over summer. One of the first on the list - eggplant caponata. Oh yes.

Of course I ended up with way too much, so here's a teaser to what I did with those leftovers: Deep, rich, and sweet caponata jam balanced out by creamy and tart goat cheese. Fresh mint is hanging out in the mix™ as well, to give a nice pop of herbal brightness that refreshes and cleanses the palette. Oh and I can't forget the super nutty and hearty whole wheat bread that acts as a crispy buttery case that encapsulates all this warm goodness.

THE GOODS:

Ingredients

• about 2 heaping tbs of Sweet Grass Dairy Goat Chevre
• 2 pats of salted butter
• 5-10 fresh mint leaves
• 2 slices Balthazaar's multigrain bread
• 2 tbs of Caponata Jam
(combine 1 tbs of eggplant caponata
with 1 tbs fig butter or preserves)

There are so many varieties of goat cheese. I really like this chevre from Sweet Grass Dairy (I mean, let's get real, I like EVERYTHING from them) though. Like a lot. It's creamy, tart, and smears on really well. It's not very chalky and I found that it works really well for grillin'.

Sooo anyways, back to the point, MacKenzie.

Smear on some of that good stuff. About a giant heaping tbs for each side.*

*obvs more or less depending on your bread size. You want just a nice thick and delicious layer and that's all that matters. Smear your heart out*

Now for the Caponata Jam. I had some of this delightfully sour and sweet eggplant dish left over and I thought it could be an interesting ingredient for a GC. As i was dreaming up some concoction, I began to think about the ~~played out~~ classic pairing of caponata and goat cheese. And although I feel like this combo is boringly delicious, it's been overdone. You probably even had the combo smeared on top of some dried out crostini at your little brother's basketball banquet. Or some other cutting edge event like that.

But ya know what? I couldn't let this routine pair make an appearance on one of my sandwiches. No way. Ick. So ya know what I did? I made a jam out of it. Not the fancy go-all-out-and-can-it-jam but rather a simple combination of sweet fig butter and tart, slightly tomato-y caponata spread.

So follow my lead and smear on about 2 tbs of this bright and sweet spread which will balance out the lip-puckering goat cheese.

After that comes the mint leaves. There's nothing like fresh mint. It's bright, citrus-y, and has the ability to balance out rich dishes by leaving a cool and refreshing aftertaste.

You'll want to just place a couple of the little green leaves on top of the caponata. ~~Or if you're like me and have a mild case of OCD, well then arrange them in beautiful little straight lines. Now do this four more times until they are absolutely perfect.~~

Then place the other piece of bread on top and smear some salted butter on it. I always use salted butter because...well...because i like it.

OK? Is that so wrong?

Unsalted butter is boring.

Now heat your skillet up to medium high and place your sandwich in. Butter the other side and grill for about 4 minutes (or until it gets that nice golden crust) and flip it. Repeat for the other side.

SEE? This is what's up. F'real.

After it's all beautiful and bronzed (Not bronze as in Snooki bronze, but yeah, the above kind of bronze) take it off the heat and let it sit for about a minute or at least until it's cool enough so that your fingers don't burn off when you are trying to feed your face.

Stay tuned for next week, because I'm beginning my AWESOME WAYS TO MAKE GRILLED CHEESE SERIES which will feature...well... awesome (and innovative!) ways to grill-up your all time favorite sandwich, the grilled cheese.

xoxo,

GCS

While you wait

2011-08-11T08:26:00.000-07:00

Well hello pilgrims! I know ~~everyone~~ someone (anyone?) out there in the blogosphere is probably in tears waiting for a new GC post to be up this week but unfortunately I've been super busy and haven't had time to do a write-up. I've already shot it though, and let me tell you, a combo of caponata jam, goat cheese, and fresh mint grilled between some buttery whole wheat bread makes for one sassy little sandwich.

And luckily for you, my good buddy ole pal, Travis, made you something AWESOME to smile at while you pass the time. Weeeeeeeeee!

Am i dancing? If not, click on me!

LOVE YOU ALL,

GCS

The Bee Sting (remix)

2011-08-04T05:56:00.000-07:00

I've got to get this off of my chest. I care about bees. Like a lot. So much so, that when I have to write up the Links We Love at work each week I try to throw in one story about what's going on in the world of bees. It's gotten a little much though. I know. I know. People don't want to be depressed and sad thinking about these poor little fuzzy insects that are living on the brink of their demise. They just want to think of them as cute little furry things that fly around and pollinate flowers and produce sweet liquid gold with their other bee friends. They have a matriarchic system for cryin' out loud! They're even raw enough for Wu-Tang to care about. So yeah, they're rad.

So to talk about bees without being a total drag, I've made a new sandwich to showcase their sweet, sweet nectar. It's inspired by one of my favorite pizzas OF ALL TIME. The Bee Sting. It's from this place Roberta's and it is the best thing I've ever had. It's sweet, spicy and absolutely divine. It's got fresh mozzarella paired spicy sopressata, basil, and red pepper flakes. Then it's finished with a touch of honey that just makes your taste buds go "WTF was that? GIVE ME MORE." Well, at least that's what happened to me.

So here's my spin...

Ingredients:

- about 4 slices fresh mozzarella
- 2 hearty slices of a Bâtard
- 5 slices of sopressata picante
- 1 tbs of red pepper flaked butter
(combine 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
with one tablespoon of real salted butter, MIX)
- 1 tbs of basil infused honey
(fresh basil leaves and tupelo honey, OF
COURSE)

Ok, so I'm totally obsessed with tupelo honey (and it doesn't have anything to do with my obsession for Van Morrison either. I swear.). It's the only honey I'll eat and you might remember it from the Floridian honey mustard that so deliciously starred in The Homebody. I even get my mom (love you mom!) to ship it to to me, because sadly, I can't find it ANYWHERE in NYC. It's a bummer. If you don't have any, you should buy some. Seriously.

To make the basil infused honey, julienne about ten small basil leaves and stir them into a tablespoon of honey. I let the mixture sit overnight to let the flavors of the basil steep into the honey. When I was searching for a basil laced honey recipe, I found that a lot of people said to heat them together but I didn't think it was necessary. I found that covering the mixture and letting it sit overnight worked wonderfully. After you've got your mixture ready, just spoon on about a 1/2 teaspoon (or more, depending on the size of your bread) onto each slice of the bâtard.

Then add a layer of mozzarella. Fresh mozz won't melt but it will get super stretchy and warm and delicious.

Then add some spicy sopressata. This salty dry meat pairs perfectly with fresh mozzarella because of how moist and mild it is.

And now add on the last layer of mozz.

Then the top piece of bread... AND THEN...

IT'S TIME FOR THE RED PEPPER FLAKE BUTTER. This stuff is for real. It's super spicy and it balances perfectly with the sweetness from the honey infused basil.

Then turn your burner up to medium and set your sandwich in. The lower the heat, the better. You'll want to cook it at a lower temperature so the red pepper flakes don't burn and have a chance to infuse the butter.

Cook it for about three minutes on each side or until it gets golden brown. WATCH OUT though, you don't want to burn the pepper flakes because they get nasty and bitter and no one wants that.

Before you chow down, let the sandwich rest for a minute so that the cheese isn't super stretchy and doesn't slip out when you try to cut it.

So there ya have it. And even though you might not be thinking about bees like I had originally intended, at least I got to talk about them without making people cry. For that, I'm thrilled. Enjoy!

xoxo,

GCS

Holy Hock

2011-07-27T14:57:00.000-07:00

So believe it or not, I got another job dealing with - you guessed it - cheese! I'm still at Saveur but I'm also slanging (yes, I used that word and no it's not illegal. What's pasteurized is supposed to be pasteurized. Promise.) my favorite milk-derived product at this super lovely little shop called Dépanneur in Williamsburg. You should totes come in. Not only will I sell you some awesome cheese but I also play DJ (sometimes) and slam their coffee (always) so I have way too much energy that could use an outlet. I think you would be perfect for helping me with that. Really, I do.

But back to the sandwich - I got all the ingredients from the shop and have, at least to my standards, perfected the grilled ham and cheese sandwich. Here it is. Say hello to your new best friend.

Made with The Dep's best...

Ingredients:

- 5 slices of fra'mani rosemary ham
- 1/4 pound of shredded Comte cheese
- 2 pats vermont creamery cultured butter
- smoked sea salt
- Roberta's city white bread
- 2 tbs chopped fresh pineapple

To begin, you've got to get yourself some Comte. This cheese is probably one of the best melting quesos EVER. It's firm yet creamy with a mild flavor and pairs perfectly with pretty much everything. The balance between sweetness and saltiness sort of works out the same way that Jens Lekman's songs are perfect for every occasion. Sort of.

Now that I've talked you into it, go ahead and shred it up and place half of it on one slice of bread. It really doesn't take Comte long to melt, but shredding it will speed up the process and anything helps when it's this ridiculously hot outside.

Now let's talk about this ham. Holy hock. It's really good. Like really, really good.* This salty meat is baked with savory rosemary and has a delicate interlace of semi-fatty streaks that makes it melt in your mouth. Yeah, ham can do that.

And because it can do that, you'll definitely want to put some on this sandwich.

* I know say that about almost everything i put on here, and I don't mean to sound cocky, but I DO use some really great stuff.

Now pineapple-it-up. You'll want to make a thin layer of pineapple - just enough so you can get a nice little pop of sweetness in each bite.

Now more cheese, more, MORE!

Then gently put the other piece of bread on top and squish it down. But before we move on to the next step, I need to tell you about this bread. It's from Roberta's which is probably the best restaurant in my hood. Having access to their bread is really tricky. I have to constantly distract myself from eating it. The crust is thin and a little bit burnt which contrasts beautifully to the dense, moist and nutty center. I want to eat it all the time. God help me.

Now that the sandwich is built, it's butter and salt time. Both of which, when combined, create a very unique and complex flavor profile.

The smoked salt by itself is sort of overwhelming. When I opened the container I almost gagged from the smell that bombarded my olfactory nerves. "How could anything this potent not overpower the other flavors?" I asked. I thought it was over for the salt and me. As I was on my way to toss it in the trash I began thinking about the money I spent on it so you know what I did? I tested it. I buttered a piece of bread and sprinkled some of it on and grilled it up. When the heat started to get to the salt, the smokiness seemed to fade and to my surprise, it made the underlying buttery notes even brighter. It's kind of hard to explain but it even though it was crispy, it still tasted like real-uncooked-butter. Muy delicioso.

TLDR: smoked salt is weird at first but super good when grilled with cultured butter. Do it.

Smear on some butter and add a pinch of smoked salt to each side.

Turn your skillet to medium high and place the GC inside. It should take about four minutes on each for it to crisp up and become all melty and gooey ~~and buttery and creamy and delicious and addicting and and and~~.

Then take it out the skillet, let it rest for a minute so that the flavors enhance, and serve!

For those of you that don't live in the area, I'm sorry if this post is completely irrelevant to you. Using your own local ingredients will taste just as good when it's all grilled and done. I'm just stoked on the quality of the products from Depanneur and felt compelled to share.

Oh AND, my book-give-away contest ends tomorrow and I wanted to thank all of you that have entered. I've gotten some great pics and can't wait to announce the winners on my Facebook page tomorrow!

G'luck and have an awesome week!

xoxo,

GCS

The Old Lady

2011-07-13T20:39:00.000-07:00

Well guys it's official, I'm ~~super~~ sort of old. I'm turning 25 this weekend *gulp* and I'm doing what any mature and responsible adult would do - dragging all of my friends to a water park in Long Island. Sounds fun right? I hope so. I really haven't been to one since I was in high school and I remember the lazy river being full of bandaids so I sort of swore it off for a while. However, since it's about a gazillion degrees here in the city, I'm willing to overlook it.

But that's not all I wanted to tell you. Even though it's my birthday and I should be receiving the presents, I'm going to switch it up and give my loyal readers some super awesome gifts! That's right, I've got 5 copies of Laura Werlin's new grilled cheese, please! book and one might just have your name on it. All you have to do is make one of my sandwiches and either post a pic to to my Facebook or Twitter page or link it down below in the comments section by next week (7/21/2011). Oh and feel free to get creative with it! From there, I'll randomly pick some winners and ship you the book!

So to pay some homage to the original GC gal, Laura Werlin, I'm adapting one of my favorite recipes from her book - the Pimento Cheese grilled cheese.

Adapted from grilled cheese, please! by Laura Werlin

Ingredients:
- 2 pats of salted butter
- 8 slices of a small baguette
- sriracha
- 4 heaping tbs of pimento cheese
   -combine 1/2 cup shredded aged gouda, 1/2 cup
   shredded cheddar, 2 tbs whipped cream cheese,
   1 tbs mayo, 3 spicy peppers finely chopped,
   salt pepper

Now I know you're supposed to use mostly mayo in pimento cheese but I couldn't bring myself to it. I don't know why, but I have this stupid fear of the stuff. So because of this, I ended up substituting cream cheese and I actually LOVED it. It reminds me of my absolute favorite GC in Brooklyn - The Adult Grilled Cheese from The Commodore.

So once you've got your pimento cheese mixed up, plop one huge tablespoon of the mixture onto 4 slices of bread.

I don't think I've ever used sriracha in one of my grilled cheeses, and what a mistake that was! I eat this stuff on everything I possibly can. Red rooster sauce, I love you. Anyways, depending on your spiciness threshold, squirt on as much as you like.

Now put the top piece of bread on each cheesed up piece and smear some butter on the outside.

At this point it's important that you crank up your heat super high. Pimento cheese takes about .2 seconds to melt so you'll want to brown the bread as quickly as possible.

Mine were only in the pan for about a minute or two until the bread started to sear and develop a nice crispy golden crust. As soon as the cheese starts to ooze out the sides, it should be done.

Now just remove them from heat and let them sit for a minute or two so the cheese can get a chance to firm up a bit. Then go for it (and sing me happy birthday)!

This post would have been so much better if I had a candle in the sandwiches. I think that would be appropriate, right? Happy Birthday to me.

But before I go, good luck on the contest and I can't wait to see what you guys come up with!

xoxo,

GCS

Marco Polo

2011-07-01T12:29:00.000-07:00

Alright I'm gonna make this quick, I've got a crowded train to catch and a sixer of bud to slam. I felt bad that I left my vegetarian buds out with my previous 4th of July post, especially since I just wrote about the plethora of opportunities for vegetarian BBQ. Because of this, I decided to get real and make something that's veg-head friendly. For this grilled cheese, I combine grilled corn on the cob, manchego cheese, and pickled jalapenos. I grill it between two hearty slices of Texas toast that are smeared in smokey chile butter. And for the zinger (literally), fresh lime juice is squeezed on top for the perfect little splash of citrus. And errr, I know how what my state of mind is going to be this weekend (or lack thereof) so I'll try to make this as drunk-friendly as possible, just in case, ya know...

So liquid diets are cool and all but waking up with the worst hangover of your life sucks, so it's probably a good idea to eat.

Ingredients

-2 slices of Texas toast
-1 cup of shredded manchego
-1 lime wedge
-1 tbs of pickled jalapenos
-1 ear of roasted corn
-1 tbs of smoked chile butter
(combine 2 pats of unsalted butter, a pinch garlic
salt, 1 tsp smoked paprika, & 1 heaping tsp chile
powder)

Alright everyone, to begin, get a grater out and carefully grate up a cup of manchego. I know this can be tricky and it's super important that you don't get your fingers too close to the metal. It can get pretty gnarly considering how thin your blood will be at this point. If there's any kids in the room or sober people, forcibly give them this responsibility.

Once it's grated, you can step back in and fumble some cheese onto the bread. Use half, or as much as you can pile on without it getting ridiculous.

Now THIS is probably the most dangerous part. Abandon ship. Give this to job to someone else. Seriously. Hand them a corn cob and shrug your shoulders. I found it helps if you make a whiny noise combined with a sad frightened face to let them realize how much of a bad idea it would be for you to use a knife right now.

After they help you out, stack it on. Kiss them on the face.

Now this next part - you can totes do it yourself. Just scoop out a spoonful of pickled jalapenos, let the excess juice drip off and put a few on. If you're a bad ass you should probably use real jalapenos but I'm too much of a wuss, especially when I'm drinking and people are already probably annoyed with me.

With the remainder of the cheese, carefully plop it on and press down.

Now take that second piece of bread and put it on top. Then smear some of that yummy smoked chile butter on top.

Alright time for the kids to take over again. Have them crank up the heat to medium and gently place the sandwich in - butter side down. Don't get too close to the flames, although you probably won't care because your sense of feel has diminished, you'll regret the burn in the morning. Hangover and burnt hands? No bueno.

And because you'll probably have no concept of time, just keep checking the belly of the sandwich with a spatula. Once it's crusty and golden and the cheese has started to melt, flip it. Repeat.

When it's done take it out of the pan, let it sit for another minute so the butter absorbs and the cheese thickens, then squeeze a lime wedge on top and chow down. You should probably give the person who made this for you a bite too. They'll appreciate it.

Wipe your mouth. Blast some Tennis and some Harlem. Do some cannon balls. DON'T FORGET TO REAPPLY SUNSCREEN. Have fun!

xoxo,

GCS

All-American Pleasure Bender

2011-06-28T20:36:00.000-07:00

Happy early 4th of July dear readers! My favorite thing about this holiday is that you have the perfect excuse to lay in the sun, binge eat, and drink way, way, way too much, because hey dudes - it's America. I'm also super excited because it's my besties birthday. You might remember last year's incredibly ~~fantastic~~ fat-ass-tic American themed grilled cheese that she inspired.

But this year we're switching it up and getting out of the city. Come Friday at six, we'll all be heading out to the Jersey Shore to ~~fist pump at Karma~~ to do some serious grilling and boozing. Oh, and we'll probably see the beach too (I guess). So before we leave, let me share with you this year's hotdog stuffed grilled cheese. It's everything your mother loves, inspired by Rosie the Riveter, made with authentic coney island franks, it's everything that Hitler hated.

So, Like your motorhead cousin's hopped up IROC, here are the red-white-and-blue-inspired ingredients that make you die sooner, but tastes really freakin' good.

Ingredients:

- 2 slices of texas toast
- 2 slices of kraft singles
- 2 cooked Applegate hotdogs
- 2 pats of salted butter
- 1/2 cup of asian slaw
(cucumber, tomato, red onion, rice
wine vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper)

I know I run a grilled cheese blog and all and that I'm supposed to be some sort of cheese snob, but there's honestly nothing more comforting than a Kraft single. Although I may be buying the organic ones from Trader Joe's these days (they don't melt as good, blah), I still have some weird bond with this childhood favorite. I know it's strange. I don't know why i feel this way, but I really do. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I basically lived off them as a kid. ANYWAYS! back to the point, go a head and place one Kraft single onto a piece of Texas toast. (and uhh remove plastic, ha)

And what's more 4th of July than hot dogs, so pile 'em on. I cut mine down the middle so they would lay prone in a stress position for the 350 degree heat. Multiple judges and justices have ruled that this cannot constitutionally be construed as torture.

With this next part, let me preface this by saying that my friends and I are all pretty obsessed with this street food vendor called AsiaDog and we eat it on the reg. They basically just pile a bunch of yummy Asian ingredients on top of hotdogs, and one of our favorites is the Asian slaw which sort of tastes like this cucumber salad that my mom used to make all the time. So a few weekends ago my buds and I were out visiting one of our loveliest friends for her garden opening in Sag Harbor and I made a big bowl of cucumber salad to go along with the stuff we were grilling. A few bottles of wine later, my genius friend started piling the cucumber salad on top of her hotdog and a revelation occurred - she had created our own version of AsiaDog and the best thing EVER.

So to make your own cucumber salad, basically just cut up some Roma tomatoes, a cucumber, and some red onion, then drizzle with some rice wine vinegar and sprinkle a pinch of sugar and some salt. let it chill for about an hour and then you're ready to enjoy! Once you've got that taken care of, put it on the sandwich. First the tomatoes,

Then the cucumbers,

And lastly, the onions.

Then top it off with another slice of the good ole' single.

Finally, put on the topper. Fireworks are almost here...

Butter the bread, and place in a medium hot pan. (almost, almost!)

After about 4 minutes it should be getting nice and crusty - at this point you'll want to flip it and FLIP OUT because it's about to be soooo delicious.

Once it's done, take it off the flame and let it sit for a minute to set.

BOOM! FIREWORKS! wowwwwwww.

Oh and in case you were wondering - yes, this it is Harrison Ford's personal favorite and in fact the only thing he will eat in certain moods.

xoxo,

GCS

***special thanks to Million Dollar Extreme***

Khalcheesi

2011-06-21T11:03:00.000-07:00

Warning: if you don't watch Game of Thrones, this post probably won't be that interesting to you. Just ignore my story, check out the ingredients, follow the pictures, and start watching Game of Thrones.

Let's get things straight, I'm making a Khaleesi grilled cheese - stuffed with the ingredients that will one day mount the world. I am totally obsessed with her. For some reason the part where she ate that horse heart totally stuck with me. I knew it would be kind of a macabre idea, but after the season finale, it was time - my moon and stars told me so - I miss you already Khal Drogo.

With a little bit of influence from Dothraki's and Targaryen's, I present to you my lord, the ingredients.

Ingredients:

- 1/2 cup Iberico cheese
- 2 thinly sliced pieces of ciabatta
- 2 pats of salted butter
- 1 tsp of garlic salt
- 1 sausage stuffed baby pepper (PLEASE DO
   NOT USE REAL HORSE HEART)
   (stuffed with one ground sausage patty, 1 tbs
   of iberico cheese, a bit of fresh parsley, drizzled
   with olive oil and baked for 40 minutes at 350)

So to begin, let's talk about this salty cheese. Iberico is one of Spain's most popular cheeses and is made from pasteurized goats, cows and sheeps milk. For the sake of this post, I'm going to pretend it's made from horse, deer, and lambs milk to make it more Targaryan-ish. The dragon feeds on what it wishes!

Alright, here's where it gets all Dothraki up in this house (and across the Narrow Sea). This next step involves making a ~~heart to make Khaleesi's baby strong and fearless~~ stuffed baby bell pepper. To do this, begin by preheating your oven to 350°. Core one small red pepper and hollow it out - making sure to remove all the seeds (The stallion that mounts the world HATES seeds...it is known). Crumble one small cooked sausage patty and combine it with one tablespoon of iberico and a few leaves of chopped parsley. Place mixture in pepper, drizzle with olive oil and crack some salt and pepper over it. Place in a small baking dish, cover, and bake for 30-40 minutes.

At this point, it will look exactly like a heart. It's sort of weird (i know), but it tastes delicious and it will make ~~baby stallion~~ you strong. Once you have this pepper cooked, let it cool off for a minute and then place it directly on top.

Now cover it with more of that salty iberico cheese. It is, they say, tradition to bring the Dosh Khaleen salt.

And place the last piece of bread on top.

Heat up your pan to one thousand dragon flames (or medium high heat). Melt one pat of butter and sprinkle some garlic salt onto it. Gently place your sandwich in the pan and smear it around so it soaks up all the garlic-y goodness.

Let the sandwich cook until the cheese starts to melt just like that molten gold that killed Viserys (No tears here, he was a horrible brother). Make sure to let the crust get golden brown too. It should take about 3-4 minutes.

Then take it out of the skillet and let it sit for a hot minute. This will enhance the flavors and keep your sandwich in tact so it stays together when you eat it.

Now….when you eat this, you’ll need to gather about two dozen friends, give them torches of some sort and have them form a large circle. You will then need to devour the sandwich at an easy pace while your friends watch in silence (don’t even think about saving half for later. That is not the Dothraki way).

This will be…a bit awkward, but once you’ve finished, you will need to name your food baby (something exotic) and declare that he/she will one day rule the world. Your friends will then chant your baby’s name in a very primitive and cool way. After that everyone can pretty much do their own thing.

xoxo,

GCS

***Special Thanks to Peter Kiedrowski (aka firemachine)***

Lettuce & Feta - Nothing Betta

2011-06-07T13:28:00.000-07:00

Now that I'm working at Saveur I get to spend my whole day around food. I absolutely love it. It's like a dream job that I never knew could be real, except it totally is! I am constantly taste testing, reading and writing about food, helping with shoots, and hanging out with some awesome people who couldn't be more kind. The other day when I was cruising the web trying to find some news for Saveur.com's section Links we Love, I came across a grilled caesar salad and I was instantly hungry. I had never grilled lettuce before but it seemed like a fun thing to do so I tried it out. To my surprise, grilling romaine really mellows out the bitterness and intensifies the underlying lettuce flavor. I decided to pair it with some sauteed red onions, feta, and balsamic glaze to give it a nice Greek twist.

Here's what you need to make this Greek treat...

Ingredients:

- 1/2 cup of feta
- 1 1/2 tbs of sauteed red onion
- 1/2 tbs of balsamic glaze
- 2 pats of salted butter
- 2 pieces of sourdough bread
- 1 grilled red romaine heart

To begin, place a few thinly sliced pieces of feta on top of your sourdough. I love feta. It's super salty but not too overwhelming and the texture is a weird mix between moist and firm. When you take a bite it's like a salty ninja kicks you in the mouth and then hugs your tastebuds until you feel all better, well sort of.

Then on top of that, delicately place your grilled romaine heart. This is actually my first time making/eating this and it was super easy. So if you've never done it before and you want some guidance, let me tell you how I did it.

You basically begin by cutting a piece of romaine down the middle and cranking up your grill to a very high heat. Then drizzle some olive oil on top of your lettuce and place it on the heat. After a few minutes it'll start to tenderize and caramelize at which point you'll grind some peppercorns and crack some seal salt on top.

Place on some of those sweet and semi-crunchy red onions.

Hit it with a few drizzles of balsamic glaze. I buy the pre-made kind because I ~~am way too lazy~~ use it way too often to have to make it for myself but I'd definitely recommend home-made reductions over the store bought kind.

Then put a few more slices of the feta to create a glue which helps the ingredients bond together.

Put your top piece of bread on and then smother it with some butter.

Before you put the sandwich on the grill, heat up your press on high heat for a couple of minutes. Meanwhile, heat your pan to medium high and melt some butter for the other side of the sandwich.

When everything is heated up (which should be about five minutes) place your sandwich in your pan and smush it with your press. I totally spaced when I picked up my press and didn't think that the wooden handle would be burning hot, but it was, and now my hand is hurt. And I want my mom ~~and a xanax~~.

Make sure not to move it for a few minutes so you end up getting nice grill marks. I let mine sit on there for about four minutes before I flipped it and pressed the other side.

And finally when it's all golden and crispy on each side, take it off the grill and serve immediately!

Now if only I had a nice glass of wine and/or were swimming around in the Greek Isles with some hot stud... I guess there's always tomorrow.

xoxo,

GCS

Cheesecake Heaven

2011-06-01T11:57:00.000-07:00

Hooray! I have a new guest blogger this week. My best bud from Bittersweet Sugar & Sarcasm has been kind enough to create an amazing dessert grilled cheese for all of you to enjoy! Here's his recipe and even though it was hard on him - step by step pictures, as well. Make sure to head over to his site to ~~develop diabetes~~ check out all the amazing and fun desserts he cranks out every week!

I'm so excited to be doing a guest post with my best bud Mac. If only all of you knew her in person, you would now how much energy and happiness she spreads around effortlessly. But I have one beef with her and this blog:

Ok the step by step thing looks great to read but it is a pain in the @$$ to Q##@%$ photograph and post every @#$% time. That was looney tunes curse words if you picked up on it.

No that is not really my style, I'm more of a reader. Or video that is quite nice too. But the step by step is tedious. Thankfully over now. I lost my track. . .

Yes grilled cheese. I love sugar so I thought Mac and I would make a marriage of our blogs so to speak and make a dessert grilled cheese! Mine might be a little tacky (strawberry butter and Nutella add class) but I assure you, it is insanely delicious. You should probably only consume one per lifetime as a warning. Or share it with friends. Or run a marathon. Because the fate won't treat you kindly after this.

That's not selling it is it?

Cheesecake sandwich!

That's all you need to know

First things first you need the strawberry butter:

Strawberry butter:

What you need:

2 sticks of super soft butter

1/2 cup strawberry jam

What you do:

In an electric mixer, or by hand if you are so savvy, simply mix together the softened butter and jam. Hopefully it will be pink and pretty. Either way it will taste good. Yes this description required 3 pictures.

Cheesecake Grilled Cheese

What you need:

- 2 slices of brioche

- slather of Nutella

- slather of strawberry butter

- 1 piece of cheesecake

- 2 dabs of butter

What you do:

Preheat a skillet to high heat. On one slice of bread, spread the Nutella. On the other, spread the strawberry butter you slaved away at.

Next, plop the cheesecake and squish it between the Nutella and strawberry butter.

Then on the outside of your sandwich, butter both slides then drop it on the skillet for about 5 minutes. Press it down a little bit with a spatula. After five minutes, flip it over and let it cook on the other side for about three minutes.

Serve immediately and spread some more strawberry butter on it like it is tomato soup.

WOW. WOW. WOW. That looks insane and now I'm ravenous. I need someone to eat this with because if I do it alone I will indefinitely feel guilty. But for now, I want to thank Rick for sharing this super sweet grilled cheese with us and give him a virtual high-five for taking these lovely pics. You da man! Thanks boy!

xoxo,

Bittersweet Sugar & Sarcasm & GCS

The (F)unemployment Special

2011-05-26T11:17:00.000-07:00

(F)unemployment: (Noun) The state of being unemployed in New York City.

Yeah, it's cool for about a minute until you start to drive yourself crazy. For once I don't have work or school and I have no idea what to do with myself. I guess I shouldn't complain, it's been great in some ways. My room is constantly clean, I've caught up on new music, and a lot of reading has been done. But I want to work (which is a weird thing to say, i know). I need to have something to do, something to work on, something to keep my stress level higher than it is now. It's only been a week and I'm starting to feel like a blob - I'm not into this blasé lifestyle AT ALL.

I did, however, have two interviews at one of my favorite food magazines this week, so please, please, please keep your fingers crossed for me! I honestly don't know how much longer I can last. In the mean time, I guess I'll just keep eating this sweet and savory grilled cheese sandwich to keep me happy. It's got a delicious rosemary butter, brie, fig preserves, and POUND CAKE. omg, yes.

Here's what's keeping me (sort of) sane :

Ingredients

- 2 thin slices of pound cake
- a few slices of brie
- 1/2 tbs fig spread
- 1 small rosemary sprig - chopped
- 1 pat of butter

It's so easy. Just place a few slices of brie onto one piece of pound cake.

Smear some fig preserves on the other piece of bread.

Melt a pat of butter in your skillet on medium and throw in the chopped rosemary. Keep heating the butter and rosemary for a few minutes until the leaves start to soften up and the rosemary flavor starts to infuse into the butter. You'll also want the little bubbles (that you see below) to dissolve before you put your sammie in. I think it makes for a better consistency when it's soaking into the bread.

When it's all smooth and melted, put both pieces of pound cake in your skillet (still on medium) and let'em cook.

After about three or four minutes you should start to see a nice crust developing on the bottom of the pound cake. To look - GENTLY use your spatula to peek underneath. If you think it's good to go, gently flip one piece onto the other. Don't worry if your brie hasn't started melting yet, when you do this step the heat from the other sandwich will instantly heat up your cheese and finish the melting process.

Then take it off the skillet and eat immediately. Real fast. Inhale it.

So to those of you out there that don't have a job, I hope this will make your life a little bit less stressful and more enjoyable. And for those of you who do, quit your job so I can have it. Just kidding, but seriously - someone hire me before I go crazy.

Oh! How could I forget? I have A TON of Applegate coupons, and they're all for you guys! If you leave a comment and/or email me your address (grilledcheesesocial@gmail.com), you can expect some coupons in your mailbox!

xoxo,

GCS