Inside-Out Grilled Cheese

In my humble opinion, this crispy, crunchy, cheesy masterpiece is the ultimate grilled cheese sandwich. Make sure you follow some basic rules for this to work properly. Use a nice sharp cheddar and be sure to use a quality non-stick pan over medium to medium-low heat.

This is a cross between two other grille cheese recipes, one by Alton Brown and the other by Chef John.

Ingredients

• 2 slices sourdough or hearty country bread
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 40 grams (~1.5 ounces) extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 40 grams (~1.5 ounces) Gruyere cheese, grated
• ½ teaspoon dry mustard
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika (optional, depends on what you’re pairing with the grilled cheese)

Directions

1. Grate your cheeses; then combine the cheeses, mustard, paprika (if using) and pepper in small bowl.
2. Melt 1 ½ tablespoons of the butter in a nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Place bread slices in the skillet on top of the melted butter.
3. Spread about 75% of the cheese mixture on one slice of bread; place the other slice of bread, butter-side up, on top of the cheese. Spread half of remaining cheese on top of the sandwich.
4. Melt remaining ½ tablespoon butter in the skillet next to the sandwich. Flip the sandwich (carefully) onto the melted butter so that the cheese-side is facing down. Spread remaining cheese on top of the sandwich. Cook sandwich until cheese on the bottom is crispy and caramelized, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip sandwich once more and cook until cheese is crispy and caramelized on the other side, another 3 to 4 minutes.