A chef has revealed his method for creating the "best" grilled cheese sandwich "on earth", and it largely comes down to the preparation process and quality ingredients - including the addition of one popular condiment.
The recipe and technique
Chefs Jack Croft and Will Murray are the creators and directors of the sustainable, high-profile London restaurants Fallow, Roe and FOWL. On YouTube, Will recently documented his research into crafting the ultimate grilled cheese sandwich, developing his own recipe after testing "some of the world's most iconic grilled cheese sandwiches" from London to Paris.
Alongside the essential components of bread and cheese, the chef put together a béchamel sauce and incorporated 30g of mayonnaise into the sandwich for added depth. The dish requires the following ingredients: 1 large white tin loaf, 100g clarified butter, 30g flour, 30g butter, 300ml whole milk, 150g Red Leicester, 100g Gruyere, and 30g mayonnaise.
Preparation steps
Demonstrating on YouTube after sampling a range of restaurants' grilled cheese sandwiches, Will explained: "We've come up with our own technique. Get a good loaf of white bread. And then I'm just going to top and tail it and take all the sides off." He used "a closed tin white loaf" and noted that, despite other popular versions of grilled cheese sandwiches being prepared with brown bread, for him, "it has to be a white bread".
Having trimmed the crusts from every side of the loaf, the chef began slicing it into "half an inch thick" portions - cutting lengthways along the loaf rather than horizontally in the conventional manner. The chef was "left with six slices" which he "spread out on a baking tray" and baked on "160°C for 10 minutes until just crisp".
Making the béchamel
Will proceeded to prepare a béchamel sauce by melting butter and flour together in a saucepan over a "medium heat" and "whisking continuously for one minute" until achieving "a golden roux". He then "slowly" whisked in the milk, allowing the béchamel to thicken before taking it off the heat and incorporating the grated red Leicester cheese, whisking "until you're left with a silky, full homogenised cheese sauce".
The sauce was seasoned with salt, then "transferred to a tray and put in the fridge to chill". Once it had cooled, Will used "a spatula to scrape the contents into a mixing bowl before whisking vigorously until it loosened slightly and looked smooth", then folded the grated Gruyere throughout.
Assembly and final cooking
Next came the assembly of the grilled cheese - he laid out the toasted bread and spread "50g of the bechamel mix on all but one of the pieces." The slices were subsequently stacked "one on top of the other, topping with the final slice without bechamel", with all sides trimmed before being "portioned width-ways into four". This is where the mayonnaise became essential - all sides of "each portion" were brushed with it.
To complete the "ultimate" sandwich, Will heated two tablespoons of clarified butter in a pan and fried each portion "until golden brown", turning them over to repeat the process on the other side. Once finished, the portions were moved to a baking tray, "brushed with more clarified butter" before being baked "in the oven for 10 mins or until the cheese has started to run out".
