Weekend food porn.... old world style grilled cheese

Grilled cheese was comfort food to me as I grew up. Fast, easy, and tasty.... Mom could whip one up in minutes. By the age of seven, so could I, and Mom was happy with that. It stopped me from cracking open eggs to make scrambled egg sandwiches, with all the mess that entailed.

Naturally, being me..... the plain old grilled cheese could not be left alone. Traditionally made with buttered white bread and whatever 'American' cheese was on sale, it left so much room for more flavor. Not that toasted bread with melted cheese could possibly be bad.... but it could be.... better.

Enter last nights supper....

Start with really good Swiss cheese. The kind you can smell from six feet away, and are drawn to like a moth to a candle. The kind with a waxy coating, and an unpronounceable name. Add in some truly spicy pepperjack brick cheese. With little chunks of jalapeno pepper embedded in the smooth cream-filled Monterey Jack.

Butter melting in a hot cast iron pan, lay in a slice of fresh pumpernickel bread. Real pumpernickel, rich and dark and heady with old world bready goodness. Build the sandwich right in the pan, layering Swiss and Pepperjack cheese on the sizzling bread. A few grinds of fresh black pepper complete the flavors, as the top bread is laid in place.

On flipping, as the sandwich is suspended over the pan, add another pat of butter before laying the grilled cheese right on the rapidly melting butter. Allow to sizzle and toast till the cheese begins to well up around the edges of the bread.

Serve with a small dish of strong horseradish mustard, and crispy pickles if you have them.

Hmm........ comfort food, brimming over with flavor.