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150 Best Grilled Cheese Sandwiches Cookbook

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Is anyone even half as ready for autumn and winter as I am? Don’t get me wrong, I love a lot of things about summer – baseball, fresh produce, songbirds at my bird feeders that aren’t there in cold weather, grilling out, and so on. Summer’s awesome in every way… but, having said that, autumn and winter are super special.

As a foodie, the cooler months make me think of soup, stew, chili, casseroles, chai tea lattes, and (of course) Halloween goodies, Thanksgiving dishes, and Christmas baking… how could a foodie NOT love this time of year???

I may be one of the biggest soup fanatics in the world, which is one of the reasons I’m excited about a new cookbook I was sent to review: 150 Best Grilled Cheese Sandwiches.

Naturally, grilled cheese sandwiches are perfect all year. We certainly eat them year-round in our house. In fact, we’ve been known to enjoy grilled cheese sandwiches at all times of the day and night.  Talk about a delicious comfort food.  Cheesy deliciousness that comes together pretty darn fast – sign me up.

150 Best Grilled Cheese Sandwiches is a perfect guide to getting extra creative with this wonderful comfort food.  Although the modern version of the grilled cheese sandwich dates back to 1920 (when it became popular during the great depression, for obvious reasons), these delicious and inexpensive delicacies are currently a popular trend in cooking.  I think one of the reasons is the fact that they aren’t expensive to pull together.  I think the popularity of food trucks has also helped revive this wonderful sandwich.

Some people are even calling the grilled cheese sandwich the “new burger.”  The fact that so many people are eating less meat is another reason these sandwiches are so wildly popular.

From the Back Cover: A grilled cheese sandwich is classic comfort food and it’s enjoying an incredible resurgence in popularity. These fabulous recipes all begin with the grilled cheese we all know and love, and then from there, creative twists showcase just how incredibly versatile this sandwich can be.  The recipes reflect an almost endless and delicious variety of choices that include simple and timeless as well as gourmet and artisanal. From breakfast to dessert, there’s something for everyone in this book.

Another reason grilled cheese sandwiches are so popular is, let’s face it, they’re fast and easy to make.  You can have a warm, delicious, and comforting meal in a matter of minutes. This is one of the reasons they’re so popular with bachelors, college students, and beginner cooks.

Whether you enjoy your grilled cheese sandwiches with soup (one of my favorite meals), chips, or alone, nothing beats a great grilled cheese sandwich.

As I’ve probably mentioned on the food blog, when I had to totally give up wheat and gluten a number of years ago (health reasons), it threw my cooking persona into a tailspin. Imagine everything you are accustomed to cooking and baking for your family and yourself thrown out the door. Then finding yourself having to start over, pretty much, and discover a whole new way of both cooking and eating.

Stressful… and yet kind of mentally stimulating!

It’s a hideous predicament for anyone but for an avid cook and food blogger who was extra keen on homemade breads, cornbread, cakes from scratch, pies, etc.. it knocked me on my backside for a bit. However, I (honestly) found out that many aspects of gluten-free food are actually as good as their gluten-y counterparts and some are even better in many ways.

For example, for whatever reasons, gluten-free fried catfish is actually better.  Don’t ask me why (please), but the combo of rice flour and yellow cornmeal makes the best fried catfish in the world. Trust me, this is a personal favorite and something I’ve been cooking since I was allowed to touch the stove.

Grilled cheese sandwiches have been another pleasant surprise (along with French Toast, for that matter). Gluten-Free bread, in my opinion, makes them even better. I think it’s because they’re denser and, sometimes, thicker, than regular bread. Then again, Texas Toast is a great way to go with grilled cheese sandwiches.

150 Best Grilled Cheese Sandwiches includes so many creative, fun, and delicious recipes you won’t stop until you’ve made them all.  The cheese combinations, along with the additions of complimentary ingredients will boggle your mind.  I cook every single day (and have for years) and consider myself to be really creative in the kitchen, but even I found myself saying, “Ooooh, I would’ve never thought of that...”  One of the combinations that was wildly new to me was the one given in the recipe below.  I wouldn’t have ever invited Muenster Cheese to a grilled cheese party, but this recipe has me slapping myself for the oversight.

The recipe below is from the cookbook and is outstanding. I love it alongside tomato soup or chili and have been known to have it simply with a large dill pickle and Funyons.

I know how to live, after all.

Classic Grilled Two Cheese

Author: Alison Lewis
Serves 4

8 slices white or whole-grain bread (1/2 inch/1 cm thick slices)
2 TBS butter or margarine, softened
4 oz Muenster cheese, thinly sliced
4 oz Cheddar cheese, thinly sliced

Instructions

  1. Brush one side of each bread slice with butter.
  2. Place on a work surface, buttered side down.
  3. Top 4 bread slices equally with Muenster and Cheddar cheeses.
  4. Cover with remaining bread slices, buttered side up, and press gently.
  5. Place sandwiches on preheated panini grill or in a large skillet over medium heat and cook, turning once if using a skillet, for 3 to 4 minutes or until golden brown and cheese is melted.
  6. Serve immediately.

When it comes to grilled cheese sandwiches, you have to really be careful with cheese combinations. Make the wrong move and the result will be thisclose to gross. You also have to be careful with what fillings you add and how you treat the bread. Again, the wrong move can leave your taste buds borderline depressed.  In this wonderful and fun cookbook, Alison Lewis has done all of the hard work for us and taken all of the guess work out of our hands.  We’re left with a ton of delicious recipes and combinations that’ll make us the Queen or King of Grilled Cheese.  Whether you use a Panini or Sandwich Press or a favorite skillet, you WILL use these recipes again and again and again.

Below are just some of the recipes included in 150 Best Grilled Cheese Sandwiches:

  • Roast Beef with Asiago and Watercress
  • Grilled Steak and Blue Cheese
  • Italian Tomato-Basil Bread
  • Hot Bacon Swiss Crostini
  • Havarti and Cucumber Sandwich
  • Grilled Spinach, Pepper Jack, and Bacon
  • Warm Peanut Butter Power Wrap
  • Italian Salami Panini
  • Sweet Pepper Relish
  • Hummus
  • The Pilgrim
  • And many, many, many more.

See 150 Best Grilled Cheese Sandwiches for more information and to order your copy today… just in time for soup season!


Classic Green Mint Chutney Recipe

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Mint Chutney

Mint Chutney – Recipe from Spices & Seasons by Rinku Bhattacharya 

I’ve always loved listening to the radio while driving – ever since my parents reluctantly allowed me to start driving at 17, simply because they didn’t think they could put off the inevitable any longer. Music had always been something I enjoyed a lot. A few years back, though, I decided there was nothing for me on today’s radio, so I stopped even bothering to turn it on.  Then Adele hit the scene and made me excited about music again. She was fresh, exciting, and delightfully different from everything else.

She woke music up.

I often think about world cuisines along the same sort of lines.  If we were to eat the same things over and over and over again, our culinary lives would become just as stale, uneventful, unexciting, and bland as music had become pre-Adele.  Mixing things up for your family, as well as your own taste buds is a deliciously smart thing to do.

I home schooled our daughters all the way through school and when they were growing up, I’d incorporate whatever region we were studying into our family meals.  Hmm, I guesss that’s why they were extra excited whenever we studied Italy. It wasn’t my lessons, it was my food!

I still love to incorporate as many “tastes of the world” into our meals as possible and Indian food has become a new obsession. When you try different cuisines, you discover a whole new world of flavors and tastes and when it comes to Indian food, it’s an uncommonly beautiful experience.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be telling you more about a new cookbook that’s making my quest for fresh and exciting recipes and meals as easy as it gets. The book is Spices & Seasons: Simple, Sustainable Indian Flavors by  Rinku Bhattacharya. I’ll share a few recipes with you from the book and you’ll soon see that this is a cookbook you simply must get your hands on.

The first recipe is for something I had honestly never made before, Chutney.  Don’t let the word Chutney intimidate you and, by all means, don’t let the word mint turn you away. If you’re anything like me, you only think of mint as something beautiful in your herb bed and pleasant in your tea.  I’m so narrow minded when it comes to mint that I was tempted to leave the mint out of this recipe! Seriously, I thought, “Hmph. Mint goes in tea, I’ll just replace it with nice innocent parsley.”

I can be so ridiculous like that.

In the end, good common sense won out and I left the recipe as it was intended to be prepared, and it knocked my socks off.  The flavors are so intense, fresh, unique, and delicious. Trust me, you don’t want to replace the mint in this recipe – this is a perfect 10 recipe and I can’t wait to make it again.

I ate mine (of course) with Gluten Free Rice Crackers (Nabisco’s Gluten Free Rice Thins are won-der-ful) but I provided flat bread for everyone else. Everyone loved it and they, too, can’t wait for me to make it again!

 

Classic Green Mint Chutney

(VE, GF)

Green mint chutney is a classic, popular staple, omnipresent next to snacks, particularly in the summer months. This recipe is a very simple free-form variation of the classic recipe. There are other creative variations using tomatoes, green mangoes, and the works, so I encourage you to create and innovate to suit your fancy. Mint by itself in this recipe can have a bitter aftertaste, so it is tempered with cilantro. You can mix and match other herbs as desired. This chutney can be used as a condiment or sandwich spread, or can be added to sauces.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Makes: 2 cups

1 bunch cilantro leaves (about 3 cups of leaves; tender stems can also be used in this recipe)
2 bunches mint leaves (about 11⁄2 cups)
2 green Serrano chilies
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1⁄2 teaspoon salt or to taste
1 teaspoon black salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons oil (such as mustard or canola)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

  1. Place the cilantro, mint, green Serrano chilies, cumin powder, salt, black salt, sugar, oil, and lime juice in the bowl of a blender.
  2. Grind mixture until smooth. This chutney will keep for 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator, but the color will darken due to the lime.

 Mint Chutney and GF CrackersTips and Tricks:

It is important to ensure that the mint leaves used for this chutney are tender or they tend to add a bitter taste to this condiment.

This chutney can be mellowed by adding 11⁄2 tablespoons of yogurt or coconut milk as a vegan option. If adding yogurt you can skip the lime juice.

Another variation is to add some blanched peanuts or almonds.

Ideas for Serving the Chutney: Flatbread, grilled shrimp, crackers, toasted bread wedges…

Edits: