Oh Cheese-us, What Month Is It?! By: Thryn Franz

National Grilled Cheese Month is here. 

I caught a whisper of a wind that maybe, perhaps, it could possibly be National Grilled Cheese month.

Ha, well, true to form I’m a day late, a dollar short, and the last to know. I caught a whisper of a wind
that maybe, perhaps, it could possibly be National Grilled Cheese month. It sounded like a good idea, so who was I to argue….or do any sort of investigation to the truth of this claim. I simply accepted it as fact and decided to celebrate!! As it turns out it’s actually National BLT month. Again, I’ve done nothing to stake validity in this either but I can say that my sources are more reliable this time around. Who knows, the former persuasion could be entirely true as well because I still haven’t, and won’t, look in to it. But that is beside the point as I didn’t make a BLT, I made grilled cheese!!!

With a celebratory spring in my step I leaped, yes, leaped into my kitchen with the intention of putting
together a grilled cheese to knock my (and your) socks off. One grilled cheese to rule them all, muah-ha-ha. Standing in the middle of my kitchen my grilled cheese domination instantly hits a wall when I realize that 1) My grocery budget is nil and 2) I lack the ambition to go shopping.

Two long stride to my fridge and I pull the door open to take inventory. At first glance it appears deceptively full but upon further investigation I have a mass accumulation of leftovers in containers that largely exceed the actual quantity of food within. I guess it’s a good thing I’m not feeding an army…or even two people for that matter. I have bread, compliments of last week’s endeavors, and cheddar cheese. Okay, off to a good start. Crouching there I shift into poor-broke-girl mode and start searching for what’s about to go bad so that I can thwart the process and consume it before it goes to waste. I spy some smoked salmon in the back corner that is by all means still good, but it’s best not to test your boundaries with fish.

I still don’t have a complete sandwich though. Ah-ha! Lost in the crinkles of a nearly empty bag I find a lone granny smith apple. This instantly synapses my brain to think ‘goat cheese’ and now we are talking. I cut off two slices of my homemade bread and place them on a plate for engineering. Goat cheese is awkward and unruly so I layer some crumbles down first and top with a little cheddar cheese to create cohesion. Next up, medium thick slices of the granny smith apple to give it the perfect amount of tartness. If you want you can toss another layer of cheddar on but I didn’t.

Alright, top with the other slice of bread. Mix two or three parts olive oil with one part grated parmesan cheese and baste your bread with that instead of butter! I picked up this little trick from my friends over at Roxy’s Grilled Cheese (http://www.roxysgrilledcheese.com/), which if you find yourself in their neck of the woods you have GOT to try one of their gourmet sandwiches. Seriously, they’ve got it down to an art.

Frying pan is going strong on a low to medium setting to allow for an ooey gooey inside without charring the outside. I like to cover the pan with a fitted lid to trap the heat and help our cause. Work smarter, not harder right? Not that it’s hard to not cover a pan but whatever. Don’t forget to flip it over! Once the desired consistency is reached remove from heat. Open the sandwich back up, pile on your smoked salmon, reclose, and you’re DONE! I highly recommend pairing with a small vat of plain applesauce and real lemonade but I won’t judge if you don’t. Now get outta here and go chow down in the spirit of a pseudo National Grilled Cheese Month because why shouldn’t we celebrate such a fantastic fundamental every month?!

Roxy's Grilled Cheese

Boston’s best grilled cheese.

"We don’t make your grandma’s grilled cheese. We can if you’d like us to, but if you leave it up to us, we’re going to put our own twist on things. We’re about taking grilled cheese to the next level by adding ingredients you never really thought possible."

http://www.roxysgrilledcheese.com/menu