Grilled cheese for lunch is great, but it can be a lot of work if you follow my How-To from a previous post. Some days, I take a shortcut and have an open-faced broiled cheese. Much quicker, however not as satisfying.
A properly broiled cheese sandwich
Some parts are the same, still using sourdough bread, but usually a single slice. I still want two cheeses, but they are alternated on the bread, not a double layer. Sadly there is no butter. Just place the bread under the broiler to toast to the shade of brown you prefer. Then flip the bread over, add the cheese, and return to let the broiler turn that solid chunk of cheese into a mass of ooey, gooey, melty cheese.
Yesterday, I had the bread broiling, the cheese cut, so I decided to read a few posts that landed in my inbox on my iPad. I began reading Megannora’s post My Mother, the Trendsetter! (read it if you haven’t). I was engrossed in her post, but still kept an eye on my bread while it browned. I grabbed the cookie sheet in the nick of time, bread was perfectly browned. Quickly laid my cheese out and popped it back under the broiler so I could finish the post while it melted the cheese. (If you are sharp thinker, you should be thinking uh-oh, you skipped a step.)
Cheese melted, post read, I’m waiting for the cheese to cool, and thinking about my comment. Still thinking of my comment, I tear the bread in half (it was really long), take a bite, and recoiled a bit. Where’s the crunch from the toasted bread? This is . . . soggy! I flip the bread over and it is as white as the canvas from yesterday.
Quickly I realized that I pulled the bread out, piled on the cheese, and did not flip the bread over. Now what? I turned the broiler back on, laid cheese side down, and toasted the white side . Yes, I know my cheese will melt onto the pan, but I can scrape it up and slather it on my double toasted bread. Which is what I did.
So what did I learn from this? Pay attention!
Cheese disaster! But still tasty. 🙂
elsie tries writing 
Making grilled cheese takes patience, agreed. My mind always wanders, & then, burned. Love this, Elsie. I think I wrote a post years ago about the art of making grilled cheese. They may be simple, but oh so good, if you’re patient!
Ooops! I have made several cooking uh-ohs while reading on the job. 😉
I read your last grilled cheese post and I still haven’t had one! Now again . . . My mouth is watering and I ate dinner already!
Elsie, I wanted to stop by and personally thank you for the comments you are leaving me. I find encouragement and comfort in your words. There are so many slicers this year but maybe picking a couple to frequent helps build relationships. I might have a slice here. Broiling grilled cheese is tricky and I love your solution, creativity wins.
Now I’m hungry! I loved your description of your process. So fun to read! Try brushing a little olive oil on that bread and toast it a bit before the cheese. Not the same as butter but pretty tasty too 🙂
Oh my goodness. I love the care you put into your grilled cheese though. Simple things can be so meaningful to us when we give them our time and love!
So…you are human! Wait ’till you get to be my age and just completely forget you are cooking something and burn it! I can’t tell you how many things I’ve done that too in the past year. And I used to roll my eyes whenever my poor, aging mother burned out dinner. Lesson learned.
Love your grilled cheese posts and your writing.
Yum, I love grilled cheese on toast. You always have the ingredients in the fridge and you feel like you are out for lunch when you have it. Have you tried putting BBQ sauce on it before you melt the cheese? SOoooooooo good. Thanks for the yummy ‘slice’ Elsie. 🙂
Congrats on winning the books! Maybe that will make up for the burnt break 😉
Yum, can’t remember if I commented on the previous cheese sandwich post, but I did read it. I was sure you were going to burn this, so one side untoasted wasn’t nearly as bad. Love your creative solution. Wish I could drop in for a chat and some toast.
Glad it all turned out ok in the end. I read the trendsetter post…I got pretty caught up in it too! So much so that I was late to pick my students up from the library! You are not alone, my friend.
Congrats for winning the commenting contest! And, thanks to the first grilled cheese post, I’m STILL craving a grilled cheese. This one didn’t do anything to help that craving. 😉
All for the sake of a good read…
Both the properly grilled AND improperly grilled cheese sandwiches look delicious. I love grilled cheese sandwiches – it’s such a comfort food! I like them with tomato soup.
Congrats on winning the comment challenge!
I’m still thinking of those gorgeous pictures of a delectable cheese sandwich from days ago (even as I eat my salad) – your not-quite-done sandwich of today still sounds better than what I brought along to eat 😦
Your grilled cheese posts always know how to make me hungry– especially as I’m sitting in class waiting for my lunch break. Sometimes a small mess is worth it when the finished product is so delicious!
Good thing it’s almost time for lunch. Now I know what I’m going to have. We do seemed to get so involved that we put all else aside. Thank goodness the sandwich was edible and you read a good slice.
Well, at least you found a way to salvage it…even if it might not have been the same. Your posts are making me hungry! Love how your brought in the ‘canvas’ from yesterday.
It is so easy to get distracted: that is why I don’t multitask. Kathy can do several things at once and usually all goes well. Me.. no way (it must be a guy thing). Anyway, glad your sandwich was still good in the end.
Congrats on winning the weekend commenting challenge.
Sorry Elsie!
Not sorry here. That’s what a great story will do. I must thank you for giving me my slice for today.
I put a nice pot roast in the crockpot recently, completely forgetting that I had unplugged the crockpot to plug in my stand mixer the day before…….
You do pay attention. It’s the fact of multi-tasking that gets us into trouble. Twice now I have seen your delicious grilled cheese. I think I will make one for lunch.
As long as it tastes good, that’s all that matters, right? I’m not usually one for food how-to’s, too depressing for my restrictions, but this one was good. Its definitely a slice of life and how the best of intentions sometimes burn us. Is that too deep for cheese? Hahahaha! Anyways. I liked it.
Even though I hadn’t read your previous post, I was able to get involved in this one. We are all guilty of being impatient, of trying to do more than one thing at a time, and losing focus. I enjoyed how you directly addressed the reader a couple of times, it made me feel like I was in the kitchen with you.
This sounds absolutely delicious. Thanks for including the photos. I can completely relate to your kitchen mishap…
LOL This happens to me more times than I care to admit, Elsie. I start reading anything and forget about what I’m supposed to be doing! Glad that while your sandwich wasn’t perfect, it was still edible.
Thanks for sharing! I often make the mistake of forgetting to plug in my toaster oven… I think all is well because the timer works even when it is not plugged in and then after waiting realize it was all for nothing.
There is nothing better than a grilled cheese sandwich! I have some arugula growing in my garden. I love adding a couple of sprigs of it to my cheesy treat!