Grillin' Cheese

What was the first thing you were ever good at cooking?  If the answer is “nothing”, then I don’t believe you, because as said in the brilliant movie Ratatouille “anyone can cook!”  For me, my gourmet debut was grilled cheese.

I started grilling cheese probably around the age of 8 or 9.  By 8th grade, I was a master.  I made a grilled cheese for anybody that walked in the door.  My parents had this awesome Circulon grill skillet that made beautiful marks on my creations.

My obsession for gooey dairy enveloped in buttery bread was profound; my father, in his speech to me at our father daughter banquet in 8th grade said that he imagined me opening up a piano bar/grilled cheese restaurant in Kathmandu.  The concept was a bit like the set-up in Casablanca but instead of having Ingrid Bergman walk into the bar and ask for some sort of gin cocktail, I would have some lost hippie stoner from the 70s who had escaped to Nepal in revolt of society hungrily walk in with the munchies and be instantly cured by my delicious creation.  I would then play him some Chopin on the piano and everybody would be happy.

Somehow the dream fizzled, and now I’m marrying an engineer and I live in Cleveland.  But my sense of adventure isn’t lost!  Nor is my sense of grilled cheese, which has only grown more acute with my semi-permanent inhabitance of the kitchen. 

The most important part of grilling cheese is the cheese.  I hate to be a hater, but I hate American cheese.  This processed crap should not touch your beautiful lips, and instead I recommend cheddar, gouda, edam, or really anything else. 

Different cheeses have different properties.  A study at The University of Wisconsin determined the “softening points” of various cheeses using the UW “Meltmeter”[1].  They determined that the higher the fat content of the cheese, and the greater the age of the cheese (hence having less moisture) the lower the melting temperatures.   Thus, the best cheese to pick would be something very old and fatty.  Old and fatty.  Yum.

The one benefit of American cheese is that since it is mostly oil, it melts fairly easily whereas another cheese might need to get a bit hotter, especially if your grilled cheese sandwich has special additions.  I propose two methods to the non-melting cheese conundrum (especially if you put other things in the sandwich): one, put the cheese in the microwave for about 30 seconds before putting it on the bread, and two, use my old world adaptation for a Panini press.

I love kitchen equipment and I have quite a bit.  Besides a waffle maker and toaster though, I try to avoid buying appliances that only serve one purpose, such as a Panini press.  The brilliant thing is that you can make your own.  All you need is a cast iron pan and a brick covered in foil.  If you’re lucky to be like me and your apartment building is crumbling, there might be a brick hanging out in the parking lot. 

Panini sandwich with gouda, avocado and turkey

Makes 2 sandwiches
1 tbsp butter softened
4 slices whole wheat bread
Gouda cheese, sliced
Shaved smoked turkey
Mayo (optional)
Tomato/chile relish (from previous post), salsa, or sriracha
Avocado sliced thinly

Preheat stove on high and heat cast iron pan with brick in it until smoking about 5 minutes.  Butter the outsides of both pieces of bread.  Add cheese to microwave for about 20 seconds.  Assemble sandwich.  In sauté pan large enough to fit cast iron pan inside, turn on heat to medium high, add sandwich, cover with tin foil and then cover with hot cast iron pan and brick.  Press down.  Cook on one side 3-4 minutes or until sizzling, flip sandwich and cook covered with cast iron pan for about 2 more minutes.  Slice and enjoy!

1. K. MUTHUKUMARAPPAN, et al.  Estimating Softening Point of Cheeses.  1999 J Dairy Sci 82:2280–2286

a fortifying post--why cast iron is good for you

For my birthday this year, I proclaimed to my family "No more kitchen supplies!". It seems that when you develop a hobby, be it cooking, or knitting, or biking, then all of the sudden, that's all you get for Christmas, birthdays, or any other celebration. No longer is the longed for sweater, a good novel, or a funny DVD. Well thankfully, my sister didn't listen to my birthday demand, and in the mail (thank god for free shipping from Amazon) came a brand new cast iron pan. And bless her soul! Cast iron is genius.

If you don't have a cast iron pan, I strongly recommend that you get one. They are extremely affordable, they cook very evenly, you can put them in the oven without the handle melting off, and if you take care of them they will last forever. They do require a little more maintenance than your regular kitchen utensil. You have to season them which means initially scrubbing the pan with hot soap and water, heating the pan, and smoking hot oil into layers, but this makes a natural non-stick layer. There are many methods for seasoning and this and this are good instructional videos.

When my pan had gotten a little out-of-control sticky, I went on a search of how to re-season it. I stumbled upon resources mentioning that cast iron cooking can contribute to iron intake because elemental iron leaches into the food that we cook. They go even further to suggest that cast iron could be part of the treatment for anemia. Fascinating. Time to scour the evidence. Unfortunately, a lot of the original papers that discuss the amount of iron in different foods from cast iron cooking are from the 80s and not available online. It would seem a little overkill to go to the library and find the original articles for a blog that five people read (but thank you if you are one of them). Even so, the abstracts suggest that cast iron does contribute significantly to the iron concentrations in various foods (1,2).

Interestingly though, are more recent studies that use cast iron as an attempted treatment to prevent iron deficient anemia in underdeveloped countries, since anemia is endemic in many parts of the world. A study completed in Ethiopia in the 1990s distributed cast iron or aluminum pots to families of children with iron deficiency anemia and measured the difference in hemoglobin concentrations after 12 months(everybody in the study also took oral iron supplements) (3). They also measured the amount of iron available in Ethiopian foods cooked in various vessels. The findings showed a significant difference in hemoglobin concentrations in those children that received cast iron-cooked food versus aluminum or clay. Vegetables and meat best extracted iron from the food into a digestible form. Beans for some reason, did not do as good of a job. Similar experiments repeated in other countries have yielded similar results, showing an excellent and easy way to combat low blood counts (4,5)

Fortunately, we do not live with the daily threats of malaria, hookworm and starvation. Even so, iron deficient anemia is prominent in our population especially in women of menstrual age, pregnant women, and those that do not get enough through their diet. In attempts to perfuse your vital organs with rich, red blood built with the powerful iron element, I leave you with this recipe. (Caution: do not eat steak with butter everyday. That is NOT good for your blood)

New York Strip Steaks with Balsamic Glaze

2 thick NY strip steaks
1 tbsp butter
1 medium shallot
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat your oven to 400 F
2. Preheat your cast iron pan to a medium-high/high heat
3. dry your steaks on a paper towel (the drier they are, the better sear you will get)
4. salt and pepper steaks generously on both sides
5. put half of the butter in the preheated pan and allow to melt
6. add steaks to pan
5. put steaks in pan; cook for about 4 minutes on each side
6. put steaks in oven for 2-5 minutes depending on how done you would like them
7. take steaks out of oven (be careful because the handle is very very hot) and put on a plate to rest, put the pan back on the stove over medium heat
8. with the pan drippings, put other half of butter (or if it too greasy for you already don't) and then saute shallot until transluscent
9. deglaze pan with balsamic vinegar. If the sauce is too dry add a bit of sherry or water
10. pour over steaks and serve

bibliography:

1.Burroughs, AL.; Chan, JJ. “Iron content of some Mexican-American foods. Effect of cooking in iron, glass, or aluminum utensils.” Journal of the American Dietetic Association, v. 60 issue 2, 1972, p. 123-6.

2.Brittin, HC.; Nossaman, CE. “Iron content of food cooked in iron utensils.” Journal of the American Dietetic Association, v. 86 issue 7, 1986, p. 897-901.

3. Adish, A., Esrey, S., Gyorkos, T., Jean-Baptiste, J., & Rojhani, A. (1999). Effect of consumption of food cooked in iron pots on iron status and growth of young children: a randomised trial. The Lancet, 353(9154), 712-6.

4. Borigato, E., & Martinez, F. (1998). Iron nutritional status is improved in Brazilian preterm infants fed food cooked in iron pots. The Journal of nutrition, 128(5), 855-9.

5. Geerligs, P., Brabin, B., Mkumbwa, A., Broadhead, R., & Cuevas, L. (2003). The effect on haemoglobin of the use of iron cooking pots in rural Malawian households in an area with high malaria prevalence: a randomized trial. Tropical Medicine and International Health, 8(4), 310-5.