Waffle Iron Grilled Cheese

Summer is for simple sandwiches made with fresh tomatoes from the garden and hunks of mozzarella cheese. I love those sandwiches,but my garden looks like a scraggly jungle and the high today is 58 degrees. Luckily fall weather provides the setting for a sandwich I find even more irresistible--grilled cheese.

The grilled cheese sandwich and I go way back. It was a staple throughout my childhood, and I actually can't recall ever eating a grilled cheese I didn't like. I even loved the cheap, baked, greasy numbers that accompanied the watery tomato soup in cafeteria lunches. It's just pretty darn difficult to make melted cheese and grilled, buttered bread taste bad.

Over the years, I've experimented  with many different varieties of grilled cheese. I've tried cheeses mild and sharp, soft and hard, spicy and tame. I've tried it with sliced cheese, shredded cheese, and multiple cheeses layered on top of each other. I've added grilled mushrooms, herbs, pesto, lettuce, tomato, bacon, sliced chicken.

Needless to say, I didn't think any life changing developments were coming my way in the grilled cheese department. That is, until I was introduced to the Waffle Iron Grilled Cheese. Whoever thought of this is a genius. The waffle iron grills both sides of the sandwich at once, compresses it in the same way a panini press does, and makes use of an appliance that I thought had only one purpose! Plus the waffle squares just take the grilled cheese to a new level of fun!

What follows is not so much a recipe but a strong suggestion. Make your next grilled cheese in a waffle iron. You'll be rewarded with a gooey, warm, perfectly grilled (and waffled) sandwich! Oh, and if you're already planning to add bacon to your grilled cheese, we should probably be friends.

Waffle Iron Grilled Cheese
 Yield: 1 grilled sandwich
Recipe by bakeeatrepeat.blogspot.com

Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon butter or margarine (I recommend butter...it's just better!)
2 slices bread of your choice (My favorite is sourdough!)
Cheese, lots of it (you can use shredded or slices...I adjust the amount based on the thickness of the bread)
Add ins***

Directions:
1. Plug in your waffle iron and set to medium high heat.
2. Prepare your cheese and other topping and set them next to the waffle iron on a plate. Preparation is key for this process!
2. Butter one side of each piece of bread.
3. Place one slice of bread in the waffle iron, buttered side down. Layer with cheese and toppings then top with the second slice of bread, buttered side up.
4. Press top lid of waffle iron down and compress the sandwich. Grill until browned and slightly crispy...about 5 minutes.

Tip: If you're making more than one sandwich, wrap each sandwich in foil after grilled. It'll stay nice and toasty!

***Some ideas to get you started: BLT grilled cheese, barbecue chicken and pepper jack grilled cheese, mushroom and swiss grilled cheese, sharp white cheddar grilled cheese, brie and pear grilled cheese. The grilled cheese pictured has swiss and cheddar cheese with a slice of lettuce.