The beloved grilled cheese. There’s really nothing like it. Simple and comforting, it’s amazing how satisfying this holy trifecta of bread, cheese and butter can be. The grilled cheese of my childhood was far from gourmet – Wonder bread and Kraft singles – but truth be told, it soothed my young soul. When mom placed a grilled cheese sammie in front of me, gooey American cheese oozing from two slices of crispy, buttery white bread, cut into triangles, all was right in the world.
American Grilled Cheese Kitchen (San Francisco)
Today, the allure of this nostalgic sandwich is sweeping the country and people are falling in love with the grilled cheese all over again. Whole restaurants are devoting their menus entirely to the glorious grilled cheese, food trucks are popping up in every major city, there’s even a highly competitive and well-attended Grilled Cheese Invitational, now in its 8th year. This isn’t the grilled cheese of your youth though. No, she’s all grown up now, with artisanal bread, high-quality cheese, and gourmet toppings.
American Grilled Cheese Kitchen (San Francisco)
The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen in San Francisco sports a perpetual line of customers spilling out the door who cheerfully await their cheese binge. A popular choice is the Mousetrap, a hefty three-cheese stack of Tillamook sharp cheddar, creamy havarti, and monterey jack on artisanal sourdough bread from Pinkie’s Bakery. Order it with “The Works” and you’ll get your Mousetrap topped with applewood-smoked bacon, roasted tomato, and house-made bread n’butter pickles. The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen is open for breakfast as well. The Breakfast Piglet is especially good for a rough morning — sharp cheddar, cured ham, egg, apple mustard, and rosemary butter on a rustic levain. Co-owner and Commander-in-Cheese, Heidi Gibson, was inspired to open up a gourmet grilled cheese restaurant after her many victories at the Grilled Cheese Invitational.
Inside American Grilled Cheese Kitchen (San Francisco)
The Mousetrap with the Works (American Grilled Cheese Kitchen, SF)
In Los Angeles, fellow GCI champion alum Eric Greenspan, also has sights on opening up a grilled cheese restaurant. Greenspan, chef-owner of the Foundry on Melrose, plans to open Greenspan’s Grilled Cheese right next door…although developments have been delayed for quite some time. If it happens though, you can bet his signature haute grilled cheese will be on the menu. The Champ features creamy taleggio, slow-braised short ribs, oven-dried tomatoes, and an apricot-caper puree on raisin bread. (Here’s the recipe, courtesy of LA Weekly).
Food trucks represent a burgeoning food scene, and many a melty grilled cheese has found a home amongst these roving food-mobiles. The Grilled Cheese Truck (Los Angeles) has a devout following with its over-the-top creative combos. Their famous Cheesy Mac and Rib is a full Southern meal in a sandwich, with sharp cheddar macaroni and cheese, BBQ pork, and caramelized onions stuffed between buttery grilled white bread.
The Grilled Cheese Grill (Portland) has two vehicles, a double-decker bus and a school bus, serving up heart-stopping concoctions like The Original Cheesus, a behemoth 1/3 pound burger sandwiched between two grilled cheese sandwiches (American cheese and pickles in one, Colby jack and grilled onions in the other).
Milk Truck Grilled Cheese (New York), feeds hungry weekend shoppers at the Brooklyn Flea. They do classic well with their Ham & Cheese: applewood-smoked ham, Vermont aged cheddar, and spicy Colman’s mustard on rosemary Pullman bread.
Big Cheese (D.C.) pays homage to fine cheeses, using cult favorites like Cypress Grove’s Midnight Moon goat gouda and Cowgirl Creamery’s triple-cream Mt Tam.
Honeycrisp Apples, Eastern Market DC
Inspired to make your own gourmet grilled cheese masterpiece? It doesn’t take much, just some attention to making the few ingredients involved really shine. A trip to the farmer’s market inspired my Honeycrisp Harvest Melt. I sampled some delicious New York extra-sharp cheddar from my cheese guy, and then feasted my eyes on a basket of shiny honeycrisp apples. Honeycrisps are a cross of Macoun and Honeygold apples. True to their name, they are incredibly sweet, juicy, and crispy.
As I carried my bounty home, hints of sage and gingerbread swirled through my thoughts. I decided to experiment with an oatmeal-molasses bread recipe, combining it with elements of my favorite dark gingerbread recipe. The result was a wonderful discovery – a hearty, homey loaf of whole-wheat/oat bread sweetened with molasses and honey, and spiced with ginger, cinnamon, and allspice. The bread rises beautifully, puffing up over the top of the bread pan, and with a finishing glaze of honey-butter and a sprinkling of oats on top for some extra crunch, it is just gorgeous.
Ginger Molasses Bread
I brushed my Ginger-Molasses Bread with generous amounts of sage butter and grilled it up in my frying pan. The scent of fried sage bits and warm spices filled the kitchen. Oozing melted cheese and delicately crispy, sweet-tart apple slices finished off the sandwich. Try pairing this meal with an Alsatian Gewurztraminer. The wine’s lush, floral, fruity perfume will bring out the honey notes of the apple while its spicy notes complement the gingerbread. Now that’s a grilled cheese lunch, grown and sexy.
Makings of the Honeycrisp Harvest Melt
Ginger Molasses Bread
Grilled cheese made with New York extra-sharp cheddar, honeycrisp apple, and sage butter on ginger-molasses bread. Enjoy this with a velvety rich bowl of butternut squash soup and you'll think you've died and gone to heaven.
The bread is adapted from Bon Appetit (November 1994). It's a gorgeous whole-wheat/oat loaf, sweetened with molasses and honey, and spiced with ginger and a touch of cinnamon and allspice. Hearty, homey, and best of all, you can hand-make it without even a mixer.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup packed old-fashioned oats
- 3/4 cup boiling water
- 1 cup warm water (105F to 115F)
- 2¼ teaspoons dry yeast
- ½ cup unsulfured molasses
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 2½ cups whole wheat flour
- 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon melted butter mixed with 1 teaspoon honey (glaze)
- 1 tablespoon old-fashioned oats
- 2-3 slices New York extra-sharp cheddar
- 3-4 thin slices of honeycrisp apple
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted (plus butter for the griddle)
- 1 teaspoon finely minced sage
- 2 slices of Ginger-Molasses Bread
Instructions
- Place 1/2 cup oats in large bowl. Pour 3/4 cup boiling water over it. Let stand 30 minutes.
- Pour 1 cup warm water into a glass measuring cup. Sprinkle yeast over and stir to blend. Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 10 minutes.
- Mix molasses, honey, 2 tablespoons melted butter, grated ginger (a microplane works best), cinnamon, allspice, and salt into oat mixture in bowl. Mix in yeast mixture.
- Add enough flour, 1 cup at a time, to form medium-soft dough, mixing with a large spoon/your hands until well blended, about 3 minutes.
- Turn out dough onto floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if dough is too sticky, about 5 minutes. Form dough into ball.
- Butter large bowl; add dough, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
- Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 400F. Butter 9x5-inch loaf pan. Punch down dough; turn out into floured surface and knead 3 minutes. Form into 8-inch-long loaf. Transfer to prepared pan. Cover with plastic, then towel; let rise in warm draft-free area until dough has risen about 1/2 inch above rim of pan, about 45 minutes.
- Bake bread 10 minutes; reduce temperature to 350F. Bake 25 minutes longer. Brush top of bread with glaze; sprinkle 1 tablespoon oats over. Bake until bread is golden and sounds hollow when tapped on bottom, about 10 minutes longer.
- Transfer to rack; cool in pan 10 minutes. Turn out brad onto rack; cool completely.
- Mix together the melted butter and minced sage. Brush on both sides of the bread.
- Melt a pat of butter on your griddle or frying pan over medium heat. Place the bread in the pan and toast one side until golden brown.
- Flip the bread and place cheddar on top. Cover the pan and turn down the flame to low. Cook until the cheese melts. Remove from the pan, top with apple slices, sandwich it all together and enjoy!
Notes
Bread can be made 2 weeks ahead. Wrap tightly in foil and freeze. Reheat wrapped bread in 350F oven about 15 minutes.
Recipe Source: LickMySpoon.com.
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1 S Park Ave
(at 2nd St)
San Francisco, CA 94107
(415) 243-0107
The Foundry On Melrose
7465 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90046
(323) 651-0915
The Grilled Cheese Truck (@grlldcheesetruk)
Los Angeles
The Grilled Cheese Grill (@GrildChzGrill)
1027 NE Alberta Ave (The School Bus)
(At the corner of Alberta and 11th)
Portland, OR 97211
(503) 206-8959 ‎
113 SE 28th Ave (The Double Decker)
Portland, OR 97214
(503) 206-7018 ‎
* Both locations closed Mondays
Milk Truck Grilled Cheese (@milktrucknyc)
SATURDAYS
Fort Greene Brooklyn Flea
176 Lafayette Ave
(between Clermont & Vanderbilt)
Brooklyn, NY 11238
SUNDAYS
Williamsburg Brooklyn Flea
27 North 6th St.
(between Kent Ave. & East River)
Brooklyn, NY 11217
Big Cheese (@bigcheesetruck)
Washington, DC
More Cheese Please
This post was published in Wine Enthusiast Magazine’s Unreserved.
This recipe is brought to you by LICK MY SPOON
http://lickmyspoon.com/restaurant-reviews-and-stories/grilled-cheese-all-grown-up-honeycrisp-harvest-melt-ginger-molasses-bread-recipe/