Chauhan Nishma - Grill my cheese: from Slumdog Grillionaire to Justin Brieber: 50 of the greatest toasted cheese sandwiches ever!

Contents

We are two friends who love cheese. There is NOTHING better than melted cheese oozing out of golden buttery bread.

Food has always been a huge part of our lives, but it wasnt until we moved in together that we really developed a passion for creating delicious cheese toasties. In May 2013, we decided to follow our hearts (and our stomachs) and open Grill My Cheese.

Our friends and family got the goods of our experiments and after some great feedback from them, we decided to hit the streets. We began our journey at a council-run market in West London. After a horrific first day trading (tears, tantrums and failing equipment) we discovered people were excited by our menu and genuinely wanted to eat our food. We were thrilled! Street food was the ideal platform for us to get started on our journey and although it hasnt been plain sailing, we wouldnt change it. So this is us, still learning, still eating and having an amazing time as we go along (as cheesy as that may sound).

This book is all about trying new ideas. Although there is always a place for a standard white bread toastie, we knew we could do better. Taking inspiration from classic combinations and the foods we love, we make them our own, creating sandwiches like the Slumdog Grillionaire. This is based on both our mums recipes with our own special twist our take on a Bombay sandwich.

We also love sweet and salty combinations. One of our favourites is the PB&J but dont forget to give the Doughnut Grilled Cheese a go, too.

We set out to make people happy with our food. Theres no better feeling than when someone comes up to us and says it was the best toastie theyve ever had. We are so excited to be able to share our recipes with you in this book and hope you feel the same when you try them at home.

Nisha Patel & Nishma Chauhan

DO IT YOUR WHEY

There is no such thing as the perfect toastie. Everyone has their own version, and we hope these recipes will give you the inspiration to create your ideal toastie.

MORE IS MORE

Spending a little more on your ingredients will make a big difference to your grilled cheese. There is always a time and place for the nostalgic white bread toastie. Its a comforting classic. That being said, you deserve better.

BUTTER ME UP

Buttering the outside of your bread is a MUST to ensure a golden buttery crust. We recommend using a small amount of unsalted butter.

CHEESE ME BABY

Melty, Stretchy, Cheesy this is what you want from your grilled cheese. Experiment with different cheeses.

GRATE EXPECTATIONS

Without getting too scientific (not really), cheese melts quicker when its grated. Ultimately, resulting in a perfect cook, especially when you add more ingredients.

MIX IT UP

Hams, jams and pickles most things taste better with cheese. Play around with different flavour combinations and dont be afraid to try new things. Some of our best sandwiches have come from having fun with flavours.

CHEASON IT

All our sauces and chutneys work great with grilled cheese, either inside or as dips.

GRILLING ME SOFTLY

Cook on a medium heat to ensure your sandwich is golden on the outside and fully melted to gooey perfection.

HALLOUITS NOT-MI

There are very few donts to making a grilled cheese. The main one is using hard cheeses that dont melt, such as halloumi and paneer. Cottage cheese is also a no no. We do use some non-melty cheeses in some of our sandwiches, such as ricotta and cream cheese. These add texture and richness.

BRIE-LIEVE IT

Grilled cheese is simple and honest. Dont take it too seriously, it should always be made with love.

When it comes down to it, the humble cheese toastie is made using three vital ingredients, bread being one of them. There needs to be enough texture to withstand the mounds of melted cheese and all the crispy bits.

Our personal favourite. We find sourdough the best type of bread for a grilled cheese sandwich its slightly sour flavour cuts through some of the richness of the cheese, and its firm and slightly waxy consistency makes it sturdy enough to hold all your components together. The fantastic air pockets also mean loads of cheesy crispy bits post grilling. There are many sourdoughs you can use and even mixed flour sourdoughs (which are more likely to come in a friendlier shaped loaf). We recommend you buy your loaves sliced, and would suggest a medium thickness of about 12mm ( inch) as an optimum.

Sometimes, there is nothing better than white bread for a cheese toastie. Growing up on generic supermarket white sliced is something we all remember and it does bring you back to the nostalgic toasties of your younger years. Fortunately, we now live in a time where great bread is more accessible. If you must (and sometimes you really must) use white bread, then a farmhouse loaf is that little bit more special than a generic supermarket brand. The soft doughy yieldyness of the bread really soaks up all the cheese and gives you a great crisp and crunchy toastie. We recommend a thick slice for these recipes. Granary and wholemeal also work well.

Most supermarket bloomers will be very similar to farmhouse loaves, the only difference being that they are free-formed, meaning they are allowed to prove without a tin. However, if you get a good bakery bloomer, then you will get something slightly different a denser loaf with a thicker crust. This makes it a great bread for toasties and sandwiches, as, like with sourdough, there is enough sturdiness to hold the components. The bloomer is also given a longer proving time, sometimes overnight, and, as with sourdough this results in a much more flavourful bread and a beautiful, pillowy white interior. A bloomer works well with all the recipes in this book, unless otherwise stated.

More traditionally used in cafs up and down the country, the ciabatta works as a good foundation for most of these toastie recipes. There are many variations of ciabatta throughout Italy, some with a dense crumb and some with more air pockets. The ciabatta that is most commonly used outside Italy, however, is a spongy soft bread, slightly chewy, which crisps up once toasted.