I have a love/hate relationship with grilled cheese. I love eating it. That’s as about as far as the love goes. But making it. . . well, that’s the part of the journey I’ve hated. Every time I loaded my sandwich into my frying pan, somehow the heat ended up too high. I was left scrambling trying to flip my grilled cheese over. My feeble attempts were often too slow. Black smoke wafted off my frying pan. The smoke detector screamed its cacophonous wail. I was like a deer caught in headlights, not sure what I should do first – try salvaging my sandwich or drag a chair into the kitchen so I could reset the smoke detector. Tossing my frying pan and burnt grilled cheese on a cold burner, I opted for turning off the smoke detector, lest I alarm my neighbors.
It’s been a while since I sent a smoke detector screaming like a banshee (give it time – tomorrow’s another day). Even if I get the heat under control, there’s still that awful issue of flipping the sandwich in the pan. My sandwich always fell apart. That’s until I started using Red Copper Flipwich. Now I build my sandwich inside the Flipwich, lock the handles, and occasionally check each side. It’s so much easier than sending my sandwich over the edge of the frying pan, wasting all those expensive fillings. Plus, when it’s time to clean up, I’m not struggling to scrape off burnt cheese. Thanks to Flipwich’s nonstick copper-infused ceramic surface, a few seconds under my faucet and any mess
The one thing I love about grilled cheese is it’s adaptable into just about any type of diet. And you can beef up your sandwich to make it a hearty meal. Add tomato, bacon, and jalapeños. Pair with your favorite soup. The filling possibilities are endless.
Thanks to my Red Copper Flipwich, I make a pretty mean vegan grilled cheese with tomato and tempeh bacon. The secret is to slice the tomato paper thin. The tomato adds the perfect amount of acid to cut the heaviness of the cheese. (Make sure you sharpen your knife so it can handle cutting tomatoes this thin.) It’s super-filling with the right amount of goo-to-crunch ratio. And it’s easy to convert to traditional cheese, tomato, and bacon sandwich.
One of my favorite grilled cheese sandwiches I created is listed below. To make it vegan, simply substitute the 4 slices of cheese with 2 handfuls of Daiya shreds and the slice of bacon with slices of tempeh bacon. In my experience, the shreds melt to gooey perfection, while the slices sorta stay solid in the middle and melt around the edges. For the tempeh bacon, cook according to package directions and set aside.
Are you ready for Grilled Cheese Day on April 12th?
Ingredients Per Sandwich
- 2 slices of standard loaf-sized bread
- 4 slice of cheddar slices
- 4 slices of tomato, sliced paper thin
- 2 slices of cooked bacon
- Enough butter or butter alternative to lightly coat
bread, softened enough for spreading
Directions
- Open your Flipwich to prepare your sandwich. You’ll be building your grilled cheese inside the Flipwich, so do not apply heat yet.
- Take one slice of bread and lightly butter one side with the softened butter or butter substitute. Place it in your Flipwich, buttered side facing the grill pan.
- Place two slices of cheese on the slice of bread in the Flipwich.
- Add tomato slices, spreading them out to cover the cheese.
- Place the two slices of bacon on top of the tomato, so the long sides of the bacon and bread match.
- Add remaining slices of bread on top of bacon.
- Take the remaining slice of bread and lightly butter one side. Place the slice on top of your sandwich, butter side up to face the Flipwich’s grill pan.
- Close the Flipwich and lock the handles. Place on the burner.
- Heat sandwich at medium heat, flipping every few minutes. Periodically open the Flipwich to check doneness. The sandwich should be golden brown and crisp on the outside.
- Remove from heat and allow to sit in the pan with the lid open for a minute before removing.
- Slide your sandwich out of the Flipwich onto your plate.
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