Bachelor Cooking: An Artisan Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Okay, let’s start with the ingredients. This should be simple.

• Two slices of bread
• Two slices of cheese
• Butter
• A hot pan

Yesterday, my plan was to purchase all these ingredients at the newly-opened Albany Farmer’s Market. Unfortunately, the “Farmer’s Market” did not contain anything that even remotely looked like a true farmer’s market. There were no booths that sold fresh farm cheese, or freshly baked breads. Heck, I couldn’t even find someone who was selling eggs that were in the hen’s ass 2 hours earlier.

Honestly, that “Farmer’s Market” looked more like a craft fair. I mean, if I wanted to buy three different types of maple syrup, then that was great. But other than that … I went in at noon and left at noon-15. And even then, I felt like I hung around ten minutes too long.

Okay, I give. I’ll just drive down to the Honest Weight Co-Op and buy my groceries. And while I’m there, I’ll purchase the fixings for a grilled cheese sandwich.

Revised ingredients:

• One loaf of artisan sourdough bread, sliced
• One brick of Vermont-based cheddar cheese in a brick
• One jar of artisan mayonnaise
• A package of Saratoga-brand potato chips

Okay. Let’s head home and make this.

I slathered mayonnaise on two pieces of sourdough bread – applying the condiment on the sides that would touch the hot pan. I turned on my hot non-stick pan and set the heat to low.

Next up – I took the cheddar cheese – which was previously wrapped in a cellophane brick – and used the cheese grater to peel off cheese shavings.

I placed one slice of sourdough bread, mayonnaise-side down, onto the non-stick pan, and added the shaved cheese on top. Then I placed the other slice of sourdough bread, mayonnaise-slathered-side up, on top of the cheese. Waited a few minutes, flipped the sandwich over. Waited a few more minutes, then removed the sandwich from the pan, sliced it, and put it on a plate. Added some chips as a garnish.

And I got this for my efforts.

From what I understand, the mayonnaise helps brown the bread with a more even color, as opposed to butter. And the shaved cheese melts more evenly than buying processed American cheese in the little individual wrappers. And using sourdough bread gives the sandwich a mixture of crunch and chew that white bread doesn’t normally provide.

Then again, this is Bachelor Cooking, so whatever you want to make for yourself … go right ahead.

All I’m saying is … this could have come from a Farmer’s Market… had I actually gone to a farmer’s market that really WAS a farmer’s market. Just sayin’ is all…