Monday, August 3, 2009

SAY CHEESE FOR GRILLED CHEESE!

We have a WINNER for our first Mystery Lovers Kitchen contest! Carol Noreen, from Wisconsin, has won the $25 gift certificate to Williams- Sonoma. Congratulations, Carol! To all our fans, we hope you'll continue to be fans, read the blog, and send us your comments. Sign up for this week's contest. There's always another chance to WIN!

Now...for today's blog from Avery:

Charlotte Bessette, the cheese monger in The Cheese Shop Mysteries, the first of which will come out from Berkley Prime Crime next year, loves bread and cheese.

For a quick bite, she’ll throw together a piece of good crusty French bread, swathe the bread in her favorite jam (try Dalmatia Fig), and add a slice of her favorite cheese. Easy and delicious.

However, on days when she has a little more time and she’s willing to go for the guilty pleasure, she’ll make grilled cheese. Not just any grilled cheese, mind you--you know the kind I mean, with one little slice of American cheese. No, she makes a crunchy sandwich made with three different kinds of cheese and coated in grated Parmesan. Charlotte will tell you, and so will I, that it is melt-in-your-mouth scrumptious. Add a side of fresh fruit and you have a feast for your eyes as well as your stomach. This meal also makes a great dinner for kids!

Here’s how Charlotte does it.

GRILLED CHEESE FOR ADULTS AND KIDS

Heat stove-top griddle.

Ingredients:

2 slices of your favorite bread
Butter
Garlic powder
Paprika
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 oz. American cheese
1 oz. favorite cheddar (Charlotte uses Collier’s Welsh Cheddar)
1 oz. of Taleggio

Directions:

Butter the bread.
Press grated parmesan onto the butter.
Sprinkle with garlic and paprika, to taste.
Lay each side down on the hot griddle. [This is the trick, getting both pieces of bread heated at the same time. *Note* Turn the griddle to low when you put bread on.]
Place 1 oz. slice of American cheese and 1 oz. of favorite cheddar on one slice. Place 1 oz. of Taleggio on the other slice.
Let all melt on low for 2-3 minutes. Lift one bread and cheese and place face down on the other side.
Let melt as a put-together sandwich another minute, flip sandwich and melt for one more minute.

Crunchy and melt in your mouth yummy!

For more about Charlotte’s favorite cheeses, take a look at my website: http://www.averyaames.com/. Every month, I’ll be featuring a cheese of the month. This month, it’s all about Taleggio!

Final Reminder: Don't forget to enter to win our weekly Mystery Lovers' Kitchen contest. The prize is a $25 gift certificate to the Williams-Sonoma kitchenware and gourmet food store. Just sign in to this blog and leave a comment or send an "Enter me!" e-mail with your first name and state to MysteryLoversKitchen@gmail.com We announce the winners right here every week.
Best to all!

7 comments:

  1. Congratulations, Carol--our first winner-woo-hoo!

    I'm looking forward to this grilled cheese recipe--I know my kids will, too!

    Elizabeth/Riley

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  2. Grilled cheese is my favorite comfort food, but I've always stuck to cheddar or grilled ham and cheddar. This recipe gives me ideas for a lot more variety. Thanks!

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  3. Grilled cheese is one of my favorites. Thanks for the recipe.

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  4. Patricia, Rose and Riley. So glad I could give you um (pardon the pun) "food for thought." As you can tell, I adore grilled cheese. Enjoy.

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  5. That grilled cheese recipe sounds intriguing; I'll have to give it a try.

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  6. I am off to the store to purchase the ingredients this afternoon for the Grilled Cheese. It really sounds yummy.

    Thanks for the receipe and Ladies keep them coming.

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  7. Avery,
    Is Charlotte going to talk about some of those extremely unusual cheeses we see in the gormet section of our supermarkets? I hope so, as I'm not a cheddar fan.
    Patg

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