Thursday 12 April 2012

Grilled Cheese in Brown Butter


The ultimate comfort food, grilled cheese sandwiches can easily be paired with a simple bowl of tomato soup to create a delicious, hearty and wholesome meal in minutes! When I was young, I looked forward to a Tillamook Cheddar grilled cheese with Campbells Vegetable Beef soup!

Of course, not all grilled cheese sandwiches are created equal, these days. Now, there are many chef's making a grilled cheese sandwich with gourmet cheeses, a simple way to add delicious flavor and texture to this classic meal.

The fancy French name for brown butter is beurre noisette (literally meaning hazelnut=noisette, buerre= butter, although there are no hazelnuts used in this type of butter) and it can be used to make warm sauces for all kinds of things, including pasta, chicken, or fish. 
It may also be used to make pastries, added to vegetables…..AND to make grilled cheese sandwiches!  
In addition to changing color, beurre noisette takes on a nutty flavor not found in butter that has simply been melted. 



JJ's Buerre Noisette grilled cheese

8 slices of your favorite Sandwich Bread
6 ounces of sliced or grated Cheddar Cheese (cheese melts faster if grated)
6 ounces of sliced or grated Mozzarella Cheese
6 tablespoons Unsalted Butter

DIRECTIONS:

Heat a large heavy skillet on medium heat. Heavy skillets are generally preferred, as thin pans usually expose the butter too quickly to the heat, causing the butter to be scorched.

If your skillet is large enough to lay out 4 slices of bread, add a quarter of the butter to the skillet.  If your skillet is just large enough for 2 slices of bread at a time, use about a one eighth of the butter. Then repeat with the remainder of your sandwiches.

Let the butter melt.  Watching it closely, stir the butter around a bit until it starts to turn a golden color.

As soon as it turns a golden color lay each piece of bread in the skillet.
Move the slices around just a bit to absorb all of the butter in the pan.

Let cook until the bottom sides of the bread have a nice toasty look to them. 
Once the bottom sides of the bread are toasted, remove them for just a second and put them on a plate.

Add the remaining butter. Repeat with all your bread slices.

Next, put the slices of bread back into the pan with the toasted sides up.
Then, add the cheese to each toasted side of the bread.

When the bottom side of the bread has a nice toast to it, make a sandwich out of the slices of bread and cheese. 

Cover the pan with a lid and turn the heat off while the cheese melts.

Serve warm when the cheese is completely melted.

 
                                                  ~

*MORE- Bacon, Bacon, Bacon!! Last month I featured the Bacon Milkshake that Jack in the Box is trying out. Now check this out!!

Bacon sundae sign outside Burger King (© GrubGrade.com)


Severely testing the hypothesis that everything is better with bacon, Burger King may be trying out a new -- yes -- bacon sundae. BK isn't the only fast-food retailer to promote a bacon-centric treat: Denny's premiered a bacon maple sundae last year, while Jack in the Box offered a bacon milkshake. Burger King ups the ante with what seems to be an actual strip of bacon, served alongside vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce and caramel topping. There's no official word on when this new item might be added to Burger King menus nationwide -- but keep an eye out if you're near Nashville, where this ad was spotted.
  
Hahaha! What's this obsession with bacon?

Kitchen Kaboodle
404 NW 23rd Ave
Portland, OR 97255
Neighborhoods: Alphabet District, Northwest

Wee Bear found this shop in Portland, through a restaurant we had breakfast at. Wee Bear loves salt and pepper......well, salt! He knows it's not good for him, but, he grew up on butter and salt sandwiches!! Gracie's, in the Deluxe Hotel, we had breakfast, they had these wonderful salt and pepper grinders, that dispense at the rate, that Wee Bear likes........fast and furious!! He asked, where we could get a set, and off we went to, Kitchen Kaboodle. This is a wonderful shop with a friendly and knowledgeable staff. Wee Bear bought the "Pump and Grind" and a new Delongi coffee pot in red. I bought some new dessert vessels, a Rock the Garlic cutter(new item), a small cutting board and a few Easter items (now 50%off) for  Sweet One.

You'll find an unsurpassed selection of the finest cookware, bakery, cutlery, tools & gadgets, kitchen appliances, and more, all carefully selected by the most skeptical buyers. You'll also enjoy a glittering collection of dinnerware, table linens, glassware, and decorative accessories. And you'll see one of the most distinctive arrays of furniture you can find anywhere, including sofas, sectionals, sleepers, and recliners; dining tables & chairs, bar stools and buffets; occasional tables, lamps and rugs. Worth a visit if you are in the Portland area!


Cheers!
JJ

2 comments:

  1. Awesome blog today! I enjoyed reading about the obsession over bacon. Very well written and entertaining!

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  2. I love studying food trends!! What's interesting is the Fast Food chains are putting bacon on/in everything while 32.2% of Americans are obese. That is 90 million people! Another 30% of Americans are overweight. There are about 300,000 deaths in America each year from obesity related illnesses. It's sad to say but 13 percent of kids, who are 6 to 11 years old, are considered obese!! I know how hard it is to push back from a lovely meal, but, portion control is key.

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