Dallas chefs dish on their favorite at-home grilled cheese sandwich recipes. Go ahead, give them a try in your kitchen.
Erin McKool, recipe developer and chef-owner at Start:
“Our family loves pulling out our panini press for grilled cheese sandwiches. Our daughter is a vegetarian, so a favorite when she’s in town is a panini with sourdough bread brushed with olive oil and dusted with smoky sea salt; sharp white cheddar; Jarlsberg; thinly sliced green apples; and homemade pesto made from the enormous basil plant taking over our backyard herb garden. Even our nine-year-old loves this sandwich! As a welcome to the cooler weather, we paired it last week with Start’s new vegan butternut squash bisque.”
Scott Gottlich, chef at 18th & Vine BBQ:
“When it’s really cold outside and kids are involved (more of a snack for me), Mrs. Baird’s bread with butter and American cheese—two slices, no exceptions. When I am feeling nostalgic but more cheffy, a nice sourdough, croissant, or challah with cheddar bacon and a thinly sliced seeded tomato. Cooked in the pan with butter, too. If I am feeling “Italian,” then sourdough, if just [feeling] ‘decadent,’ then challah and french croissant.”
Andrea Meyer, chef-owner at Bisous Bisous Patisserie:
“Italian grilled cheese made with my good friend Jennifer’s tomato jam, using Lemley’s tomatoes. Good baguette, pesto, smoked mozzarella, and tomato jam. Plenty of butter on that baguette, too!”
Melody Bishop, chef at Lark on the Park:
“I love making a grown up version of grilled cheese. I start with nice artisanal bread. Like Village Bakery’s pain au levain or Empire Bakery’s sourdough. Put a little homemade aioli on the bread and use some young, soft asiago for the gooey factor. Then Gruyère or even Fontina for a nice sharp flavor. I also add sliced tomatoes and jalapeños to cut through the richness of the cheese and add a little spice. Butter the outside of the bread and toast in a pan over low heat until nicely brown, crispy and gooey. Lucky for me, we serve something similar at Lark so I can eat it all the time!”
Suki Otsuki, chef at Mudhen Meat and Greens:
“I actually really enjoy making grilled cheese at home, it’s my favorite decadent meal. Really, it boils down to a couple of different yummy cheeses, I like one sharp and a couple gooey, and a nice sourdough bread. I usually put thick-cut bacon on them as well. But my biggest secret is this fig jam I got from a friend of my family, Bubba’s backyard ‘flimflam’ fig jam. Once you are lucky enough to be gifted a jar, he will refill it for life.”
Brian C. Luscher, chef-owner at The Grape and Luscher’s Red Hots:
“I am a bit of a purist. I like a country white bread that toasts super crunchy, but sometimes a brioche, challah, pain au lait for richness. Lotsa butter, from edge to edge, a light sprinkle of kosher salt over the butter. This is the key move. American cheese by itself or in any other combination, but American cheese is a necessity. Maybe add griddled tomatoes, crisp bacon, or ham. Cut diagonally from corner to corner.”
Diane Fourton, co-owner of Pecan Lodge
“My favorite grilled cheese is with Cambozola on sourdough. But now I can never have it again. It’s like a bad breakup and I’m the crazy ex-girlfriend. Thanks, gluten.”
Peter Barlow, chef de Cuisine at Flora Street Cafe:
“The secret to any good grilled cheese in my household is purity! I’m straight to the punch, it’s because the whole point is something innocent and badass with what’s sort of always in the fridge. You need a cast iron skillet, cultured or European butter (a lot of it), American Kraft singles (a lot of them), cheap-ass white bread, no toppings—nothing. Dripping with cheese and a buttery crunch of the toast.”
Danyele McPherson, chef at HG Sply Co., Standard Service, Remedy:
“When it comes to grilled cheese, I’m old-school. I still like it how my mom made it when I was a kid, white bread slathered in butter and American cheese with tomato soup on the side for dunking. When she was feeling fancy (which I think was code for we’re out of American cheese), she made it with provolone. The combo of both cheeses is next level. You get the creamy nostalgia of the American cheese plus the stringy pull of the provolone. Griddle that on salted buttered sourdough, don’t forget the tomato soup, and you’ve got a winner every time.”
Graham Dodds, chef at Wayward Sons:
“Bread is a soft bread that toasts well and with great flavor – the sourdough boule from Empire. Cut it on the thick side, an inch (or a little less if you aren’t as bread obsessed as I am). Butter the bread first. We make our own butter at Wayward to I’ll use that, but I also love Lucky Layla’s butter. Soft young cheeses combined with aged cheese is such a good combo. We use latte da’s goat tallegio at Wayward so I’d bring that home to make it. I love sheep’s milk cheeses too, petit basque is one of my favorites that is widely available. It melts well, too. This would scream for a bowl of tomato soup to dip it in.”
