I like those Panini sandwiches from Randall's, the ham and cheese with mustard is to die for after it's grilled. The pastrami is pretty good too.
"gourmet grilled cheeses" I just can't take some of these high-end culinary titivated, embellished adaptations of common junk foods seriously... like "gourmet burgers"... "gourmet hotdogs"... "gourmet nachos" for god's sakes...
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Don't wreck a grilled cheese with those snooty cheeses. Geez. You take a cheap, bad-ass, working man's, Depression-era sandwich and try to sissify it? What next? Take a manly drink like coffee and make it a pansy drink at a store called Starbucks?? Oh wait... I think I'll have one tomorrow... with Kraft cheese and Mrs. Baird's!
I like making them with mozzarella with a good sourdough or other type of white bread. I cook them in a cast iron skillet with butter in the pan. Sometimes I'll slather one side with basil pesto before grilling. I usually pair that with a bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup a dozen or so times during the long Seattle winter. That's a mighty fine meal on a rainy day.
I prefer mine with two thick slices of texas toast, kraft or velvetta cheese on the inside with mustard and sometimes tomato, and use garlic butter for the top. It's freaking amazing. The whole point of the grilled cheese bread is that is has a crusty,crispy top, but a soft warm middle, which is why i dont press my sandwiches when trying to make grilled cheese, though i do love paninis too. Must. Resist. Temptation.
I vote we establish grilled cheese purity laws. Much like the German beer purity laws. American Cheese White Bread Butter/Margarine These are the only 3 ingredients which may be used in the creation of a "grilled cheese" sammich. Man law? Man law.
