Usually I don't really care that much about celebrating the random food holidays that are out there (unless of course it involves making a specialty cocktail then I'm ready and willing!), but I am super excited about today's nonsense food holiday. Drums please, it's National Grilled Cheese Day (actually this month is National Grilled Cheese Month too)!

YumSugar and I love cheese so much that we marked this one on the calendar months ago. I'm a big fan of enjoying the simple pleasures of life and nothing is as wonderfully good as slices of cheese melted between two pieces of toasted, buttery bread. On average I consume about one grilled cheese a week and practically lived on these little sandwiches in college. I love them made with individually packed American cheese slices and wheat bread as much as I love them made with CowGirl Creamery [1]'s goat cheese and fresh baked focaccia. Gourmet or down-home style, a grilled cheese is easy to make if you are patient. Never make one over high heat because the bread will toast before the cheese has melted. For more tips on making the perfect grilled cheese and a classic recipe that can be tweaked to your liking [1],

• Use a nonstick pan for best results rather than a cast iron grill to ensure that the bread does not stick to the pan.
• Place a lid on top of the pan while you are cooking the sandwich to thoroughly melt the cheese without burning the bread.
• If using a bar of cheese, grate it rather than slice it. Grated cheese melts quicker and more evenly than slices no - matter how thin they are.
• Consider the thickness of the bread, the thinner the bread the sooner it will toast. When using a thicker bread, like a roll or focaccia, pull some of the inside out to have a nice bread-to-cheese ratio.
• Use a low temperature, never higher than medium.
• Although you may use olive oil, I find that butter makes the tastiest grilled cheeses. Use room temperature butter that will spread evenly to prevent splotchy toastiness.
• Preheat pan before you place sandwich inside it. Flip with a spatula.

Grilled Cheese Sandwich [2]
From the Fannie Farmer Cookbook [3] by Marion Cunningham

2 slices Cheddar, American, or Swiss cheese
2 slices white bread
2 tablespoons butter

1. Put the cheese between the slices of bread. Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a skillet or grill and when melted add the sandwich.
2. Gently press down with a spatula once or twice during the grilling.
3. When one side is golden, add the remaining tablespoon of butter, turn the sandwich over, and brown.

Serves 1.

Print recipe with images [3] | without images [3]

Source: Sally's-Place [4]