Here's How To Make The Grilled Cheese From Chef
Before Jon Favreau released "Chef" in 2014, the grilled cheese sandwich was the ultimate comfort food — something that was made for us by mothers and grandmothers, and which we learned to make for ourselves when we wanted a snack in between meals or when we were too lazy to cook. But the movie was a game-changer for the comfort food classic.
In case you missed "Chef," here's a recap: Jon Favreau fires up a flat top grill, pours on a bit of oil (olive?), and proceeds to throw down two slices of white bread — we hear the bread sizzle before he deftly piles on the thinly sliced cheese. He checks the bread for doneness (and we know the toast is ready because we hear the crunch as Favreau butters the slice), then flips one slice on top of the other. We also know the sandwich is perfect because we hear it crackle when it's sliced in half, still hot from the grill. The scene is just over a minute long, but it has the power to leave us (and the more than 2 million other people who have watched the clip) wondering, "How did he do that?"
The secret to Chef's grilled cheese sandwich has been revealed
The secret to the world's sexiest grilled cheese sandwich was revealed on Netflix's "The Chef Show." The series, which featured Favreau and food truck legend Roy Choi, spent a good part of episode one explaining how the epic sandwich was made. Choi starts by throwing down butter on the flat top grill and then laying two slices of sourdough bread on it. He then adds white cheddar, yellow cheddar, Gruyere, and Parmesan cheese on one slice of bread. The open-faced sandwich is then topped with the second slice of bread and flipped several times to ensure it is evenly browned before it is taken off the grill, cut diagonally, and served (via Newsweek).
There are a few tips to ensure your masterpiece ends up being as close to "as seen on 'Chef'" as possible: First, add room-temperature butter onto one side of each slice of bread before laying it on to the hot griddle. Next, cook the bread slices separately for about two minutes until the bread is crisp and golden, and the cheese is just starting to melt, which is a cue for you to top the cheese with the second slice of bread. When both sides are equally crisp and the cheese is melty and gooey, the sandwich is telling you it's ready to be eaten (via Baking Steel). Oh, and if you really want to see an Instagram-worthy cheese ooze, don't forget to cut the sandwich diagonally.