Grilled Cheese - My Way

One of my favorite things on this earth is a grilled cheese sandwich. The warmth, the melty cheese, the buttery bread...man oh man, do I love grilled cheese. I've experimented with all kinds of breads and cheeses, but the combo that I'm sharing today is one of my all time favorites. I drew some inspiration from Cuban Sandwiches in the form of pickles and pressed bread. I know this may seem odd to some of the grilled cheese traditionalists out there, but let me just tell you, it is seriously good.

Ok, our ingredients are 1/2 a baguette, cheddar cheese, pickles, mayo and butter.



First, split your baguette completely in half.



Then, put butter on one side and mayo on the other. You're going to have to trust me on this one...you know I wouldn't lead you astray.



Lay your cheese on top of the mayo....



now pop it into the microwave for 30 seconds to get the cheese started and to melt the butter. Add the pickles on top of the cheese. Yummmmm, pickles!



Now folks, whip out your George Foreman grill (it's for more than just meat). If you want to show off and you have a panini press, go ahead and use that...but I think the Foreman gives me some street cred. Word. Oh, and if you don't have street cred or a George Foreman grill, just put your sandwich in a large skillet and press down with a smaller skillet to flatten it.



The weight of the Foreman will compress the baguette into a nice, toasty, flat sandwich. After about 3 minutes, take a peek at your sandwich to see if it's sufficiently pressed.



I like to rotate mine 90 degrees to make sure that it's pressed evenly on all sides.



After a couple of minutes, it's done.



In all honesty, I could eat this on a daily basis for at least 18 weeks. The pickles give a nice contrast to the creamy cheddar cheese and the baguette is simply delighful with it's flaky crust. You can't taste the mayo, but it adds to the overall creaminess. Simply delish. Now go out and expand your grilled cheese boundaries, I promise you won't regret it.