The Out-of-Towner

One of my good friends and fellow grilled cheese enthusiasts, Christian Torres, came and visited the city last week.  Torres is an amazing photographer who resides in Atlanta, Georgia... AND he just so happened to make a nifty exchange with me.  I agreed to make him lots of GC's if he agreed to use his photography skills to make my blog look a little prettier.  He agreed and these are the lip-smacking results!

We got really creative when we were thinking of new concoctions. After hours days of debating we finally settled on the following ingredients:

- 2 slices of french bread
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 handful of shredded gruyere
- 1 handful of shredded swiss
- a few fresh basil leaves
- however much calabrese salami you like :)




This one begins like most of the other sammie's on my site... Gather ingredients and sprinkle half of the cheese on one slice of bread.  Remember to try and center it around the middle so it won't ooze out and burn the cheese.

Next, place the salami on top of the cheese. Oh and don't be shy, feel free to stack it as high as you like!

After that, it's basil time! Go ahead and evenly space out the basil on top of the salami.

 Ok, now sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the pile.  Remember to keep that cheese centered because this is turning into a big boy.

Done?? K, now put his top hat on.  Isn't that a good lookin'?

Now here's the tricky part:  Because this is so big you're going to want to be really careful when transfering this pup to the the skillet.  If you're confident enough, go ahead and heat the skillet to medium and drizzle some olive oil in the pan.  You'll also want to use a weight if you have one on hand to try and smush the sammie and help it all stick together.

 If any of the cheese falls out, don't worry, just scoop it up with your spatula to avoid that nasty burnt taste. Once it starts to heat up, put the press on top of this baby and wait a few minutes until it turns golden brown on the bottom.

Hot and crusty like the one below? Flip it over and try to equal out the color.  If not, you can put the press back on top to lend a helping hand.

After it's nice and golden on both sides, take the GC off the stove top and slice it immediately! You're going to want to do this because gruyere and swiss are firmer cheeses. Unlike softer cheeses like brie or tallegio, once these cheeses melt, they create a glue rather than a cheesey ooze.

Also, if you're a dipper like I am,  try this sammie with some yellow mustard and enjoy!

So if you end up making this delicious GC and/or enjoy these badass photo's you should really check out Christian's blog.  You can find it at http://tuckedintanktop.blogspot.com.  Thanks again Torres! You da bombbbbbbb <3

xoxo,

GCS