Wednesday, February 01, 2017

patience and grilled cheese.

Talk to any of the people that know me well, and they can assure you, with extreme sincerity, that I have NO  very little patience.  I know this, and try to work around it, with limited success.

Well, sometimes I need a nudge, I guess.  When I lived in my apartment, I had a lovely stove (cough), with two settings.  Flames of Hell, or off.  And, I later found out, this was one of the better stoves in the complex...

But anyway, I learned, more or less, to make grilled cheese sandwiches on this monster.

Most of the time, they even came out looking not too much like charcoal.  I was cooking for myself, so, meh, get out a butter knife, few scrapes, dinner.

Then I was married, and didn't think I wanted to treat Husband to Continually Blackened Sandwiches.

I don't know why, but I could not get my temp right.  It was a struggle, and several times, I really had some blackened messes.  Husband was a trooper, and I always tried to get the really bad ones on my plate.

But still, the problem remained.

So, Christmas before last, Husband bought me some super-duper-mega-woo pans.  Non-stick, glass vented lids, the whole "WE ARE A CHEF NOW" deal.  And in the instructions, it mentioned that the coating didn't take high heat (as in, don't put it on max and let it sit there.)

Huh.

Okay, so I decided to try a sandwich.  Put it on medium heat... And wait.  Is it ready?  Hmm.

Now?  Not really.

Can I flip the silly thing... No. Hmm.

Finally, I see a crisp, golden brown. NOT charcoal, hey, presto, I can flip it without grimacing, and get the other side, after what seemed an age or three, to golden, not crappy.

This is nice!  Husband noticed, too.  So, I tried to remember what I did for the next time.

IT WORKED!  It doesn't need to be on "Butane Flamethrower" to make the sandwich!

Then I tried making my sandwich with Gouda.

Um.  I think I may have created a monster.  A more patient monster, but a monster, nonetheless.

10 comments:

Sharon said...

Ha Ha, a stove can make or break a cook, can't it? Glad you have a better one now. Reminds me when my oven went crazy and I 'baked' cakes in about 10 minutes, but had to throw the middle away. Gooey Burnt.

stephen Hayes said...

More of our food would be burnt if I didn't keep a watchful eye when Mrs. C. is cooking. She does so many things at one time that sometimes things get---toasty.

messymimi said...

Excellent pans on a great stove can work magic. Try your grilled cheese with mayonnaise and fresh sliced tomatoes. Trust me.

MunirGhiasuddin said...

Patience really pays, right. All I do is put a slice of cheese on top of a slice of bread and put in the toaster oven - -- - no wonder no one likes my grilled cheese sandwiches.

Cperz said...

Flames of Hell stove...that doesn't sound good. While you might be less than patient, you must make up for it by being overly kind. The fact you took the burnt (or more burnt) sandwich so your husband didn't have it, is very sweet.

I have a wonderful stove and great pans but my husband feels the need to cook on HIGH in every instance. I try never to complain about how things that shouldn't be crispy ARE, and try to appreciate that he is trying to help.

Cat said...

Sounds a bit like a movie I watched, the kids were supposed to make dinner, I believe a chicken. They realised they were late, and the one came up with the bright I idea that it was so much for 30 minutes or some such, so double the heat for half the time... ish... Yes, the memories of that stove will not be soon forgotten... Unfortunately...

Cat

Cat said...

Yes, that is a deadly sin of cooking. That was one that Mom drilled into my rather daydreaming head is to watch what I am cooking, so I didn't end up with a fire or something... (Thanks, Mom.)

Cat

Cat said...

I have heard of this one, will have to do that when the next season's tomatoes come in... :)

Cat

Cat said...

Hey, I ate college food, if it didn't move, smell funny, or I couldn't remember when it was last brought in the house, it was food. Husband is still revolted by my eating cold pizza for breakfast... Yours sounds fine, to me!

Cat

Cat said...

No, it made for some interesting meals. And pots and pans with blackened exteriors. I don't know if it was kindness, or just that I was so used to it. He wasn't.

Yes, I have found that I tended to cook things a little higher than I should have in some cases. A friend of mine has said she has a husband that's gone through about three sets of pans because of high heat... Oops...

Cat