Grilled Cheese(s)

So, for this post, I am not going to post a recipe. I am not going to give you step-by-step instructions. I am just going to comment on how I did a grilled cheese this time. This time? Yeah, 'cause grilled cheeses around my house change so often! 

This is, what I am calling, an "Inspiration Post." I always try to get your mind stirring a bit. To get those culinary juices flowing. Yes, we all have them - Culinary Juices. We just all have them on different levels. But, no matter how "juicy" you are, your juice is unique and you can do different things with your own juice. (Oh, I am kind of making myself laugh right now!)

We have grown up in different households. Some of us have grown up in different parts of the country, maybe even in different parts of the world. This plays a role in how our juices work. Sometimes this plays a role in how many juices we have, but I encourage you to use "what the Good Lord gave you" and work it. We all have different Grandmas that kneaded bread in their own way. The smells that wafted from your best friend's Grandma's house were not the same as what you remember from your Grandma's house. We all have different mamas that stirred the spaghetti sauce pot in her own fashion. Some mamas added mushrooms to her spaghetti. Some wouldn't have even thought about it. We all have diverse Papas that worked that grill differently than the Dad down the street. Some did chicken like a rock star. Others perfected that steak to a "T." Or, hell, change that all around and give a high five to the Mom that had the best beer-can-chicken on the block and the Father who slaved all day over that stove until the sauce was simmered thoroughly, just to his liking.

What I am getting at here is, use what you have and always expand on it. No matter if your culinary juices are constantly flowing or if it takes you a few days to prepare before the first drop drips, you make food your own. Just like your Grandma's bread, your mom's spaghetti and your Dad's grilled chicken. If you like something, do it. Make it. Cook it. Bake it. Eat it. 

What I provide here, is a place for you to get an idea. I don't think recipes should be followed to the exact 1/4 teaspoon. Unless you are baking, then yes, but I don't bake that much. Cooking is a different story. If you don't like oregano and I put it in my recipe, leave it out. If you think tomatoes are the missing link, go for it! I never used recipes. This has been sooooo hard for me to write this stuff down and measure it. Or to even remember to measure it for blogging purposes. I taste something and my tongue talks to me. Let your tongue do the talking in your house, too. TASTE your food AS YOU GO ALONG. Start out with very little seasoning and ingredients and then build on what your tongue tells you. And remember the salt, people. You will never reach full potential unless you use salt. I promise you.

So, here we are with the good ol' grilled cheese. Do you know how many infinite possibilities are out there for this food? No, it's not a food. It's a concept. What better "concept" to back up my ideas here, in this post, than with the grilled cheese. So many breads you can start with. So many butters to use. And then you can get into all the ingredients you can add to the butter! See my compound butter post HERE. So many cheeses. So many meats. So many veggies. I mean, for real. It's crazy what you can do with a grilled cheese. So, that is why I am just going to "show" you a few pics to stimulate the juices. If I can stimulate the juices, I am doing my job here. (Ok, there. I made myself giggle again.)

I will make a few comments here and there, so keep an eye out. Or a juice.

"No Woman" cheese? Are you kidding me? Score! 

Sometimes buying cheese is crazy. Unless you are in some gourmet, artisan cheese shop that has cases and cases of cheese who can give you nibble after nibble until you buy, or unless you are familiar with the cheese, you buy it "taste unseen." Kind of like when people think you're crazy because you bought that eBay car, "sight unseen," a lot of times, you have to buy cheese "taste unseen." But, "No Woman" cheese?...WHO could pass that up? I also thought this creamy, brie-like cheese would be a good addition. However, I knew that when I got home, if either tasted like they were not made for grilled cheese, I am a cheese-lover and they would definitely be gobbled up somehow. Even if it were just alone, on a cracker. So, I get home and immediately research my new find. Beecher's No Woman Cheese sounded like a definite triumph with Jamaican jerk seasonings added right in. 

That No Woman cheese was awesome!! The St. Andre was a little piquant. Good for me and my grilled cheese, but I knew my husband would not appreciate it on his. See? Do what tastes good to you. If you like it, do it. If not, you do not have to.

I chose a country wheat that day.

And I used my leftover COMPOUND BUTTER from my steak dinner to butter my bread! And, remember my BACON POST? Well, this was why I was baking bacon that day! I also shredded cheddar. I am a fan of some yellow cheese making it to my grilled cheese party.

So, I went ahead and did the cast iron grill pan. The other side is a flat griddle, which also would have worked with this, but since there are herbs in my butter, I just wanted a grill. I cooked my first side on medium-low to medium heat. You would want to do a sandwich this thick on a lower heat. This way, the middle has time to heat up before you burn the outside. Once the first side was done, I flipped it and then just added an old, HEAVY pan on top and pushed down on the pan. If you have a sandwich press, you rock. If not, like me, be creative!

What kind of grilled cheese do you like? Are you a straight-up American cheese, white bread Grilled Cheeser? Tomato or no tomato? Bacon? Ham and cheese? Grilled onions? Turkey and brie? Nutella and banana? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! The choices! The choices!!!

Yeah, I might have snuck a jalapeno in mine. ;) 

Compound Butter(s)

I remember, in the courting process, after me and my husband met, he talked about his ability to grill up a mean steak (don't all men claim to be the King of the Grill?). Wow! Yes, please!!! Pleaseeeee grill me up a mean steak. I will take it any time you want to fire up that throne of yours outside. In curiousness, I asked him how he liked his steak cooked and he said "medium-well." Ugh. Ok, that was almost a deal breaker right there. But, I am a forgiver. I knew I could eventually work on this. That with a little coaxing, this is something that could be easily changed. Much easier than teaching them to put the toilet seat down, right? Well, in his first attempt of showing me his grill royalty, I reminded him that I only liked mine medium-rare and he said, "No problem." I mean, we all know that us rare/medium-rare people cannot do a well-done steak on our plate. We just can not. Period. So, let me get this straight. Did you say "No problem?" He responded, "Yeah. No problem," with his chest all puffed up. Sweet! A man who can cook steaks to any temperature. Yay! Well, I won't go into much more detail, but good gravy! Let's just say thank God for second chances? We all make bad meals. Oh my goodness. It happens to the best of us! 

So, yeah, in a couple of weeks, his second chance was granted. Ummm, okay. This was going to be more work than I thought. I needed to get on the grill and get some lessons out. Quickly. So, now that his ego had settled down, I remember cooking my first grilled steak dinner for him...my way. And, yeah, I cooked his medium-barf-well and cooked mine to a perfect, bloody mess (a bloody mess to a rare/medium-rare person is a good thing. A GREAT thing.) But, I also got a weird look when I plopped that plate down in front of him and his steak had a half-dollar-sized butter coin on it. But, he obviously had never experienced a steak cooked decently for him, nor had he ever experienced the compound. The compound butter factor. Trust me. It works better than that pint of A-1 sauce he normally dumped on his meat.

I would like to say that my husband has come a long way. He now does medium-rare and can now decipher the difference between a rib'eye' and an 'eye' of round roast. :/ Yeah, we won't go there, either. But...look! He's eating medium-rare now and no more A-1!! He even can tell you what the two sides of the T-Bone steak cut are! What did he ever do before me? And what was his ex-wife cooking for him? I can't even imagine...-- The Queen of the Grill

Butter. Yeah butter, baby. It does a dish good. So, let's go ahead and talk about compound butters. This is just a way of kicking up butter to a new level. Adding whatever you want to a softened stick of butter to create a smooth, flavorful, gild the lily masterpiece that completes savory (and even sweet) dishes! And, I must say compound butters are divine on steaks.

I have made my steak compound butter for you in this blog post. I change it up sometimes, but this is the basic recipe. Like I said earlier, you can add whatever you want to cater to your taste buds. This is just my version. On the morning of steak night, take out a stick of unsalted butter from the fridge and let it sit out all day and come to room temperature. This is a must. It won't work well unless the butter is softened to room temperature.

Here are my ingredients, all ready to prepare for this recipe. Salt and pepper (I actually use table salt here. Since we are not cooking this recipe, kosher salt does not dissolve well in this recipe), garlic, chives, onion powder, a chipotle pepper rub, parsley and my softened butter:

Chop about a tablespoon of chives and parsley, and dice your 2 small/medium cloves of garlic SUPER FINE. I do not mind the flavor/taste of raw garlic. Some people say you should never serve raw garlic, but screw 'em. I like it. Just make sure you mince it as fine as you can. If you do not like raw garlic, you can definitely use a teaspoon of garlic powder here. Add everything to a bowl.

Then, take a fork and mash your ingredients into your stick of butter and mix well.

Lay a piece of plastic wrap flat on your counter and plop the butter mixture on the plastic wrap on the bottom third of the surface.

Roll up the bottom side over the butter mixture and start to roll up the butter mixture in the plastic wrap, making a log formation as you roll.

Make sure your log is rolled uniformly and twist up the ends. Place right into fridge. It doesn't take long to harden back up. Maybe 30 minutes, but can be stored for 2 weeks. Use it to butter your bread for grilled cheeses. Use it in baked potatoes. Over grilled asparagus. Use your imagination for the leftover butter.

Immediately, when your steak comes off the grill, add a pat of your butter on top of your steak and let the heat from the steak slowly melt your butter all over the top of your steak. You should let your meat rest before slicing anyway...so let it rest with butter oozing all over it. Oh, gosh...heaven! It adds a richness and a wonderful flavor to any steak.

We talked about adding anything you want to a stick of butter to make compound butters your own recipe. Try making a sweet compound butter:

Add 2 tablespoons of honey, a tablespoon of brown sugar and a pinch of cinnamon to butter. This is good for morning biscuits or bagels. Also good for warm banana bread. Waffles and pancakes would love this butter, too!!!

What about an Asian butter?

Add a couple of dashes of soy sauce, diced chives (scallions would be too big), some crushed red pepper, a few toasted sesame seeds and freshly grated ginger. Broil fish with this butter. Try it over grilled chicken!!!  

Use your imagination. Come up with your own flavors and get creative...even with butter!!!

Recipe Card (for steak/savory butter):
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon chopped chives
1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley
2 medium-small garlic gloves, finely minced
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon chipotle dry rub (use crushed red pepper flakes, too)
pinch table salt
pinch freshly ground black pepper