Great Grilled Cheese: 50 Innovative Recipes for Stovetop, Grill, and Sandwich Maker

by Laura Werlin, Maren Caruso (Photographer)

Brie and apricot jam on a baguette; spinach and goat cheese on a croissant; blue cheese and fresh figs on crusty Italian bread: this is not your mother's grilled cheese sandwich. In "Great Grilled Cheese, cheese expert and award-winning cookbook author Laura Werlin presents 50 scrumptious grilled cheese and panini recipes that range from the traditional to the contemporary. In addition to the more inventive combinations, including grilled cheese for dessert, there's always room at the table for the classics: grilled American on white, or apple, ham, and cheddar on sourdough.
Werlin discusses techniques, nonstick versus cast-iron pan, whether to cover during cooking, how to use the ultrapopular panini machine. Maren Caruso's tantalizing photographs perfectly convey the appeal of creamy melted cheese pressed between two slices of crisp, buttery bread. For cheese aficionados, parents whose kids insist on grilled cheese at every meal, and the kid in all of us who craves comfort food, "Great Grilled Cheese will satisfy everyone's cheese dreams.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction

136 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2004

About the author

Laura Werlin is a highly respected authority on cheese. As the author of four books on the subject, each of which have been honored with an award, including a James Beard, IACP, and the World Gourmand Award for Best Cheese Book for her classic, Great Grilled Cheese, Werlin is frequently invited to lead professionaland consumer-level seminars and classes at events, including the prestigious Food & Wine magazine Classic at Aspen, the Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta, and The Cheese School of San Francisco. She is also often asked to judge food and wine competitions across the country, including the American Cheese Society annual cheese competition and most recently the Grilled Cheese Invitational in Los Angeles."

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, I'll admit it. I still love grilled cheese sandwiches. The kind I had in my childhood consisted of plentifully buttered white bread and two American cheese slices grilled and smashed flat in a cast iron skillet. I could eat them every day.

When I came across this book, I was excited and only slightly skeptical. Could someone make a grilled cheese better than my childhood version? Yes and no. What author Werlin does with this book is fantastic and fun. She describes different types of cheeses, how they melt, what combinations work well together, etc. She also details the different types of bread and how to use them to make a winning sandwich. If someone isn't sure exactly how to cook a grilled cheese, she gives detailed instructions and options.

The recipes are great and creative and definitely worth testing out. There's everything from Four Cheese Italian on Ciabatta to Grilled Ham and Cheese to Grilled Caprese. These new takes on my old favorite are fun, but I'll always have a special place in my heart for my simple, super-flat grilled cheese.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun specialty cookbook. as a long-time lover of grilled cheese, I had to at least skim through it to see what ideas it had to offer. the recipes range from the basic American cheese version to sandwiches with three different cheeses and every other food under the sun squeezed in for good measure. includes an introduction with tips on how to make a good basic grilled cheese, and a grilled cheese dessert section at the end. great for someone who loves to cook and wants some creative alternatives for a lunch/dinner staple.

[Heather Faye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked up a couple tips and tricks but I'm enough of a purist that most of the sandwiches just sounded icky.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can't go wrong with grilled cheese, and this book covers it all from the simple to gourmet. I like that it gives you frying pan, sandwich maker and gas grill cooking methods. And it has pictures that look so yummy.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I first saw this in the bookstore, I thought a book of nothing but grilled cheese sounded ridiculous. So I borrowed from the library out of curiosity. Turns out there are some variations on grilled cheese in here I would not have thought of on my own but now really want to try.

[Rose Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who doesn't love a nice grilled-cheese sandwich? This book has more ideas and combinations than you can shake a stick at.

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of the recipes sounded so good. You can't go wrong with grilled cheese, no matter how fancy.

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 3 out of 5]

too obvious

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not that innovative.