When I was sick growing up—and even in adulthood—the best part was the grilled cheese and tomato soup. Back then, it’d appear before me, mom-sent, full of love and protection. So crispy, so gooey, so cheesy. We could argue the nutritional benefits of this meal for cold care (tomato soup HAS to have some benefits), but the bottom line is that comfort food is just that. COMFORT. And if you are trying to comfort someone, you need to do it right.
Here at Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup, we obviously take this warm cheese sandwich very seriously. I’ve spent a not insignificant amount of my life trying to find the way to replicate the magic of diner-style grilled cheese. You know the one. Just the right amounts of crispy on the outside, gooey on the inside. Makes your soul sing like B.B. King. Sorry, mom, this isn’t your grilled cheese. Maybe it doesn’t carry that mom-made magic. But it’s consistent, yummy, and can carry your love to whomever you make it for.
It’s time to make the perfect grilled cheese!
The Bread:
I can’t stress this enough. The bread you choose is going to play a huge role in your grilled cheese’s life. It’s the decision to send your kid to public school, private school, or to homeschool. Don’t take this decision lightly. Luckily, I suggest that you use sourdough bread for that perfect diner-style grilled cheese! Any bread is fine, but if you really want to go for the gold, you gotta get a bit sour. Sourdough is the key. Say it with me. Sour…dough…is…the…key!
Cheese:
Health nuts beware! This is comfort food, but if you’re typically a healthy eater we are about to get pretty uncomfortable. You need American cheese for this sandwich, lots of it. Well, maybe not a ton, but two slices should do you nicely. You can get a little creative here. The only constant is some kind of melty, processed cheese (American for example). Other than that, you can add whatever gourmet cheese you want. Havarti a fun time with it but it’d be gouda to have some American for a melty sandwich center!
Cooking Oil:
Butter is better. Channel your inner Julia Child for this one, honey. If you want a beautiful, golden-brown crust, you gotta butter that bread up! Sure, you can use olive oil or canola oil for a similar effect. But take it from me, butter is just dreamier and creamier.
Heat Source:
Just any nonstick cooking skillet will work fine. If you use a heated press, be careful! Don’t burn that puppy! It might be good to have some kind of lid as well. More on this later!
Ingredients:
2 slices of sourdough bread
2 slices of American cheese
1 slice of gourmet, flavorful cheese (I like sharp cheddar for a classic feel)
About a tablespoon of butter
Seasoning of your choice (salt, pepper, garlic, oregano if you’re a little weird)
Serves 1, duh.
Method:
1. Set out that butter to let it soften to a spreadable state.
2. Preheat your nonstick skillet to medium-low. I usually notch my burner just a bit below medium. By preheat, I mean literally let it heat up for 3-5 minutes. I think people usually jump into cooking way too fast without properly preheating cooking surfaces.
3. Now’s a good time to grab a butter knife and get to town buttering one side of a slice of the sourdough with ½ Tbs. of that butter you softened. Beautiful. Make sure you didn’t miss a spot. This is sunscreen at the beach, people! Don’t let that beautiful, homeschooled baby get burned! You can also season the butter however you’d like.
4. Once the skillet is adequately preheated, plop that bread butter-side down. Give it a little swirl like Jon Favreau does in the clip from the hit film Chef above. Real tender, just like that.
5. Layer on that cheese however you’d like. This is the time where you could use a lid to cover the pan and melt it by trapping heat. This also diffuses the heat from the bottom of the pan and slows down the browning of the bread.
6. Let that slice of bread and the cheese cook for about 4-5 minutes undisturbed. During this time, butter one side of that other slice of bread.
7. Top the sandwich with the other slice, butter-side up, and check the side that’s been cooking for browned perfection. If she’s lookin’ good, give it all a flip and repeat step 6. Don’t forget to give the new side a little swirl.
8. Cut the sandwich into a cross section for a photo-op. No filters here, just cheesy goodness.
Grilled cheese is an art form. The one I grew up on, the one my mom would make, used plain old white sandwich bread. There is no RIGHT way to make a grilled cheese. But I hope that you try this way to sample my own grilled cheese paradise.
Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup 