Grilled Cheese Sandwich

I love grilled cheese sandwiches. I have studied the America's Test Kitchen study on them and discovered a method that I follow religiously to get a nicely melted inside and a crispy but not burned outside. Sometimes, though, I do feel that they need something more to make them perfect. Maybe the cheese I use isn't strong enough, maybe I should add mustard. All these possibilities that I rarely try because even though my sandwiches aren't perfect, they are pretty darn good.

I bought a new Donna Hay book the other day and in the soup chapter was an intriguing recipe for toasted cheese sandwiches using cheddar cheese, sour cream and Dijon mustard. The whole idea of putting sour cream on a cheese sandwich was quite intriguing to me so I had to give it a try the next day.

It's really easy and after the first try you don't even have to measure, just add stuff until you get a nice colour and consistency.

I used some Brumby's ciabatta and brushed the outside with melted butter (ATK tip #1) rather than spreading it with butter because it's not as messy and it's easier to evenly coat the bread. I cooked it over a relatively low heat (ATK tip #2) so that the heat had a chance to really get in and melt the cheese without overtoasting/burning the bread.

It was awesome. Easily the best grilled cheese sandwich I've ever had. The sour cream melts with the cheese into an oozy gooey inside and the mustard gives it that little bit of extra kick that the mildness of the cheese needs. It was creamy and decadent, but I used low fat cheese and low fat sour cream so it most certainly wasn't as bad as it could have been.

Toasted Cheese Sandwiches
adapted from Donna Hay Modern Classics Book 1, p36

1 1/3 cups grated cheddar cheese
1/3 cup sour cream
2 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
sea salt and cracked black pepper
4 slices bread
melted butter

Mix the cheese, sour cream, mustard, salt and pepper in a bowl. Spread onto half of the bread slices and top with the other half of the bread slices. Brush the outside with melted butter. Cook the sandwiches in a non stick frying pan over a medium-low heat until the bread is crisp and golden brown (this can take 5-10 minutes each side), flipping back to the first side to reheat and crisp, about 15 seconds.