Celebrate National Grilled Cheese Day at home with this DIY beauty
Today (April 12) is National Grill Cheese Day. Well, it is in the United States, not here, but we do so love a grilled cheese sarnie - so why not eh?
With that in mind, we called up our pals at Northern Quarter grilled cheese institution, Northern Soul, to ask if they had anything planned.
Course they have.
They're giving away 100 free grilled cheese sandwiches from 10.30am today from their Church Street shack on a first-come-first-served basis. Nice work. And they'll be carrying on the celebrations into the summer, with plans to open a new, bigger shop on Piccadilly Approach in a few months time.
In the meantime, for those unable to get into the city centre to pick up a freebie, we asked Northern Soul owner Dan Place how to knock together our own DIY Northern Soul sandwich at home...
STEP 1 - KIT & INGREDIENTS
- You're going to need two frying pans and one spatula - that's it.
- Now grab two slices of firm white bread. By the way, slightly stale bread works even better.
- And some good quality softened butter.
- Now cheese. Whatever floats your boat, or is in the fridge, though we'd recommend a mix of grated mature cheddar and mozzarella (for the all important #CHEESEPULL).
- Filling. This can be absolutely anything you have in or fancy trying. From a bit of brie and truffle to Tuesday night's leftover Chicken Tikka Masala - it really doesn't matter. This is the beauty of the grilled cheese.
- Oh, and you'll need a drink - ours is a bottle of Modelo beer please.
STEP 2 - GET COOKING
- Start by buttering the outside of the bread (you need to butter the outside to get that amazing, buttery, golden crunch).
- Blend your cheeses together and spread two generous handfuls on the none buttered side of the bread. Be sure to level this off so you get an even melt. (You can add your filling at this point, or add later).
- Place the other piece of bread on top, butter side up.
- Stick your frying pan on a med/high heat (drop a little knob of butter in, if it sizzles it's ready).
- Put the sandwich into the pan, applying a little pressure, and leave for one to two minutes until golden.
- Using your spatular, flip the sandwich over and place the second frying pan on top (this can also be heated) to trap in the heat as the other side gets nice and golden.
- To see if its ready, have a peek inside, you're looking for that all important ooooooozy cheese. If some cheese hasn't melted, return to the hob, turn it off and cook in the residual heat until perfectly melty.
- Now, you can either add your filling at this point or, as mentioned earlier, stick it in with the cheese. Depends on the filling and how you like it. You might want to cook the filling separately. Whatever.
- We like to serve ours with a homemade slaw and juicy dill pickle.
- Now get it down your neck - and remember to send us your best #CHEESEPULLS for a chance to win one of our new t-shirts and a free grilled cheese at our place).
Happy National Grilled Cheese Day. Keep it Cheesy...
Northern Soul x
