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Everything you need for a US snack
Photo:
Sebastian Maas
Last week I wanted to serve my wife and myself a real luxury meal.
With a lot of excitement, I fried oyster mushrooms and generously poured white wine in a fine herbal sauce, into which a lot of time and money had already flowed.
Here a little lemon juice, there a little more melted butter ... The pretentious looking result tasted like Schuh.
Unfortunately, my fine experiment was not enjoyable.
Because I had invested all the fresh ingredients in the star kitchen fail, only bread and cheese remained to satisfy our appetite.
And to be honest: I prefer the station wagon anyway.
Especially when I give her US treatment.
“Grilled cheese” is the standard dish there for self-sufficient key children, overnight students and overburdened weekend dads who want to make up for a few points with their offspring after the divorce.
Often the grilled cheese bread is served with a tomato soup.
The tradition supposedly originated in American school canteens after the Second World War, which somehow had to get a few vitamins into the children despite the lack of money.
The acidity of the tomatoes also provides a suitable counterweight to the cheese, which is heavy in the stomach.
The recipe falls under the “You can't go wrong” category and only takes about 15 minutes from start to finish.
Even if you want to cook the tomato soup with canned tomatoes yourself.
Professionals also know: "Grilled Cheese" is best when you mix mild cheeses with intense cheeses and add a few flavor bombs to the bread.
In our case, these are pickled jalapeños and finely chopped shallots.
You need that for two people
4 thick slices of bread (sourdough bread is best, but regular white or mixed bread is also possible)
about 300 g of mixed cheese
some butter / margarine
1 shallot
a couple of jalapeño slices from the glass
For the soup:
1 can of tomatoes (whole or in pieces)
50 ml of cream
Salt, pepper, sugar
If available: a hand blender
How long does it take?
Not more than 15 minutes
What does this cost?
Of course, this depends a lot on the amount and type of cheese used.
But you shouldn't land more than 2.50 euros per person.
It's that easy to make grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup
Halve the shallot.
Cut one half into thin slices and finely dice the other half.
Fry the cubes briefly in a saucepan with a butter flake, then add the canned tomatoes.
Season with salt and pepper and simmer covered for ten minutes over medium heat.
If you have more time, you can let the tomatoes boil down for up to an hour on a low heat.
The taste will then get better and better.
Meanwhile, worrying about which cheese it should be today: a mixture of Gouda, Gruyère, mozzarella and Cheddar cheese?
American sliced cheese and Danish cave cheese?
Feta and Raclette Cheese?
(The answer is always "yes".)
Place the cheese of your choice on two slices of bread.
Also spread the flavor bombs on it - today jalapeños and shallots.
Onions of all kinds are always excellent in "Grilled Cheese" because the juices that emerge are distributed evenly in the sandwich thanks to the gentle warmth of the cheese bed, without tasting too hot later.
Olives, sundried tomatoes, rocket, baby spinach or braised mushrooms also go well.
Close the sandwiches with the empty pane and brush the top outside with butter.
Carefully place on the butter side in a hot pan or grill pan, then brush the second side with butter.
You don't need any more fat.
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Brown the sandwiches on both sides for about four minutes over medium heat, press on every now and then with a spatula and test whether everything has melted in the middle.
If a lot of cheese comes out, the sandwich is ready.
Turn off the heat and briefly turn to the soup again.
If you have a hand blender, you can use it to refine the tomato mixture.
Otherwise a potato masher will do the same, then of course it won't be so fine.
Add the cream (and if mozzarella ends up on the sandwich: the whey / "mozzarella water") and bring to the boil again.
Season to taste with salt and pepper, sometimes even a pinch of sugar helps.
Halve the sandwiches and stack them on a plate, serve with the soup in a small bowl.
You don't need cutlery, just dip the cheese sandwich into the soup.
Goes well with silly sitcoms or Nickelodeon comics from the nineties.
Did you recreate the recipe? Or do you know great dishes that cost little money? Write to me - or send me a picture of it!
