$10,000 grand prize: best grilled cheese

[Gifted Gourmet]

The contest

It sounds pretty cheesy, but the search for the Greatest Grilled Cheese Sandwich in America is underway.

Folks at DuPont, the creators of Teflon, are looking for the best grilled cheese, and they're throwing a lot of cheddar at the person who has it: A $10,000 grand prize.

The search is sliced between six categories: Gourmet Grilled Cheese; Kids' Favorite; Most Original; Best Culturally Influenced; Best Regionally Inspired; and Low Carb.

Each category winner gets a vacation destination to a place like Disney World or Napa Valley, while the Grand Prize winner also gets $10,000.

The best sandwiches will be selected by cookbook author Laura Werlin, who wrote "Great Grilled Cheese: 50 Innovative Recipes for Stovetop, Grill and Sandwich Maker." She says all it takes to come up with a good grilled cheese sandwich is imagination -- and no microwaves.

Grillers can enter at teflon.com/grilledcheese.

I have long since discarded my dreams of finding the perfect sidedish for KFC ... mostly because it was so narrow in scope .. and had to be served in a small styrofoam container ... my culinary "genius" comes with a higher tab than a paltry $5,000 ...

now this grilled cheese contest is more like it! And the variations within the categories they are offering is much more to my liking: Gourmet Grilled Cheese; Kids' Favorite; Most Original; Best Culturally Influenced; Best Regionally Inspired; and Low Carb.

What kind of an exquisite grilled cheese sandwich would you enter into this Teflon competition??

Regionally inspired? Now I have to go through all of my southern cookbooks (only 1 actually!) and look for something distinctly regional: barbecued cheese sandwiches? Cheese and pepper jelly? Biscuits and cheese? ah, Cheese Juleps!!

[andiesenji]

My favorite is made with my own Asiago cheese bread, buttered, and between the slices of bread is a slice of buttery Colby, a slice of tomato, a slice of Jack cheese, several Peppadews, and a slice of Wisconsin brick cheese.

Which reminds me, I have to order some more brick. I am down to my last 2 ounces.

[cakewalk]

I can't believe they have a separate category for low carb.

My favorite grilled cheese sandwich is from Amy's Bread in NY. Every once in a while on a Saturday or Sunday I'll go to the one on 9th Avenue and have one for brunch. They are so good. NY Cheddar, tomato, onion, bit of some kind of pepper for a little heat, cilantro, and it's on Amy's WW bread. Mmmmm. A few weeks ago I had one and they inadvertently left it on the grill a little too long. They apologized all over the place and said they'd throw it out and make another one, etc. I took one look and it and said, give me that sandwhich! All nice and browned and extra crusty on the edges. Next time I get one I'm gonna ask them to burn it a little.

[Pickles]

No one makes a grilled cheese sammich like my Mom. Rye bread, buttered, and Cabot cheddar cheese, thinly sliced and piled on. Non-stick pan with a bit of veg oil in it. That's it. And I CANNOT make them like she does. I leave them to her to make for me when I visit her. They're ambrosia to me.

[enrevanche]

Wow. It is too bad, for so many reasons, that the Oak Park Pharmacy in Raleigh, NC (and its lunchcounter within) has shuffled off this mortal coil. Mrs. Craig and Mrs. Mills, the estimable Southern ladies who presided over it, would win Best Grilled Cheese (regional) hands down, for their Grilled Pimento Cheese with fresh tomato and pickles.

Edited to add: They also did a mean Cherry Smash.

Edited July 10, 2004 by enrevanche (log)

[Chris Cognac]

Swiss on sour dough bread, with butter spread on top, then dried onion flakes and Mrs Dash garlic and herb, the parmesan...then cooked till its golden brown, gooey and crispy...mmmm!

[agbaber]

Iron kids bread, non-pasteurized-processed american cheese, butter in pan, weight on sandwich, eat with tomato soup.

[Anna N]

Open-faced with old, old cheddar and topped with crispy bacon.

[zilla369]

There's a long thread from last fall about all our thoughts on grilled cheese here

[Gifted Gourmet]

There's a long thread from last fall about all our thoughts on grilled cheese here

Thanks for finding it, Zilla! Still, any one of those posters might have a perfect grilled cheese sandwich worthy of the $10,000!

[chemprof]

Wow. It is too bad, for so many reasons, that the Oak Park Pharmacy in Raleigh, NC (and its lunchcounter within) has shuffled off this mortal coil. Mrs. Craig and Mrs. Mills, the estimable Southern ladies who presided over it, would win Best Grilled Cheese (regional) hands down, for their Grilled Pimento Cheese with fresh tomato and pickles.

ooohhh, grilled pimento cheeese! Especially from a counter (Buie's Pharmacy in Winston-Salem, also lost to history). My favorite!!

I do think a well executed grilled pimento cheese could win the best regionally inspired.

How about grilled cheese and bacon? I ate way to many in college. My arteries are probably pretty well closed up.

Anne

[marlena spieler]

Is this a good place to shamelessly plug my forthcoming new book,

Grilled Cheese: Fifty Ways to Make you Melt! (Chronicle books)?

due out in the autumn.

marlena

[Gifted Gourmet]

Is this a good place to shamelessly plug my forthcoming new book,

Grilled Cheese: Fifty Ways to Make you Melt! (Chronicle books)?

due out in the autumn.

marlena

Perhaps you will sign copies for those of us who are not living within the vicinity??

Look forward to reading, and salivating, over every recipe, Marlena! Thanks for the "heads up"!

[marlena spieler]

Is this a good place to shamelessly plug my forthcoming new book,

Grilled Cheese: Fifty Ways to Make you Melt! (Chronicle books)?

due out in the autumn. 

marlena

Perhaps you will sign copies for those of us who are not living within the vicinity??

Look forward to reading, and salivating, over every recipe, Marlena! Thanks for the "heads up"!

You bet, Gifted.......

I'll sign copies of the book, and even make you a grilled cheese sandwich wherever you are!

seriously: i had so much fun writing this homage to melted cheese and crisp bread.....though we settled on fifty ways to make you melt, for space considerations, we could have easily done a hundred recipes......i could write a book of the recipes left over from the manuscript.

thanks for........the salivation, and welcoming words.......

x marlena

[enrevanche]

seriously: i had so much fun writing this homage to melted cheese and crisp bread.....though we settled on fifty ways to make you melt, for space considerations, we could have easily done a hundred recipes......i could write a book of the recipes left over from the manuscript.

Marlena,

I will happily buy your book when it comes out; nothing in the world quite like a good grilled cheese.

As for the "leftover" recipes, unless there are some legal constraints there, I bet you anything that The Powers That Be at eGullet would happily host an e-book of surplus grilled cheese recipes. Paging the Fat Guy...

[joiei]

grilled cheese sandwichs from a counter, especially if it was pimento cheese, reminds me of the Byrom's Pharmacy in Milton, Florida. yummy with a nehi grape.

[fifi]

Very cool, Marlena!

I can hardly wait.

My latest fave is Butterkase (sp?) on sourdough. Last time I made it I had odd thoughts about sprinkling on some caraway seeds before closing it up. I have no idea where that idea came from. It just sounded good at the time.

Grilled pimento cheese is making me hungry. However, the accompanying beverage has to be a cherry coke... with crunchy ice.

[FrankieShots]

Pare and slice eggplant into 3/8" rounds. Do the flour, egg and breadcumb thing and brown both sides lightly in oil. Layer slices of Fontina, grate a little Reggio, top with a few anchovies (or slices of prosciutto...optional) and add some roasted peppers to half of the eggplant slices. Cover each with the remaining slices and place in oven till cheese melts. Eat as is or stuff a loaf of Italian bread with them...

[Gifted Gourmet]

without the bread, this might be entered in the contest for the $10,000 under their category of "low carb", no??

[FrankieShots]

I guess it would qualify for low carb if you leave off the flour and breadcrumbs, but then it would probably be an oily mess as unbreaded eggplant sops up oil like a sponge...Probably could mist the slices with evoo and do the whole thing in the oven, though...Definitely won't taste the same...

[marlena spieler]

despite the fact that i don't count it as grilled cheese without some form of bread, i do a fab grilled mozarella sandwiched inbetween eggplant?

grill the eggplant on the barbie, or brown in a pan.

Sprinkle with chopped garlic all around, then take one slice of eggplant and top it with a slice of fresh milky mozzarella di buffala, a thin slice of ripe ripe ripe tomato, a sprinkle of salt, a leaf of sweet fragrant basil, then another piece of fried/bbqed eggplant. Smash down so it holds together or seal with a big toothpick or skewer.

Heat in a pan or over bbq (pan saves the cheese drippings which are delish, you'll want to save them. on the bbq the cheese melts onto the coals and dissappear into a puff of smoke).

When cheese inside melts gently to a soft squooshy sigh,

its ready to eat.

yum.

[Daniel]

I am a big fan of truffle butter gruyere.

[morda]

I can't believe they have a separate category for low carb.

2 kraft singles (extra calcium cos that's supposed to help with weight loss as well) sandwiching pimento cheese. The singles don't melt right anyway. eat with fork.

[marlena spieler]

I am a big fan of truffle butter gruyere.

Me, too, Daniel! I like truffle butter comte too.........

isn't the combination of truffle and gruyere/comte divine? I always loved the pairing of truffle and goat cheese and then......then i sampled a black truffle on a plate of comte cheese at paris' l'arpege restaurant. it was such a mindblowing combination that I extended it to my grilled cheese sandwich making repertoire.

mmmmmmmm.

[stephenc]

Wonderbread, kraft singles, and PICKLES.

I win.