Ina Garten and Martha Stewart's grown-up grilled cheeses are both delicious but the easiest to make has the edge
- I made both Martha Stewart and Ina Garten's recipes for a fancy grilled cheese to see which was better.
- Stewart's felt more like a choose-your-own-adventure journey whereas Garten's laid out specific ingredients right down to cheese brands.
- I think Stewart's recipe is great for people who are already comfortable in the kitchen.
- Garten's is better for the more timid home cook, in my opinion.
Let me start by declaring with absolute conviction that there is no age limit for eating a grilled cheese sandwich.
That said, home-cooking gurus Martha Stewart and Ina Garten have both developed elevated recipes for the ever-classic sandwich. Their respective Grown-Up Grilled Cheese and Ultimate Grilled Cheese recipes encourage swapping white bread for a heartier sourdough and American cheese for Gruyère, fontina, Parmigiano-Reggiano, or a handmade combination.
While the "Barefoot Contessa" star's recipe is extremely precise, Stewart's leaves a lot of room for creativity. Because of all the wiggle room and optional ingredients — Stewart recommends greasing the bread with either butter or mayonnaise and suggests fruit preserves or Dijon mustard inside — I made two versions of Stewart's recipe and followed Garten's to a T for a total of three sandwiches.
I came away from the experiment with three different grilled cheese recipes in my repertoire and an extremely full belly.
I channeled both my inner child and my adult-ish palate to tackle Ina Garten and Martha Stewart's elevated grilled cheese recipes.
The kitchen gurus have both developed adult-approved recipes for the kid-favorite grilled cheese sandwich.
Garten's recipe is precise and calls for brand-specific ingredients like Cabot Extra Sharp Cheddar while Stewart's is more of a list of suggestions — she leaves the fillings, cheeses, and bread type up to the home cook.
Though each recipe is unique, both recommend using sourdough bread, which happens to be my favorite.
For my first attempt at Stewart's recipe, I leaned into my sweet tooth and chose fig preserves and pear as fillings.
The last note on her list of six ingredients is an eclectic collection of filling options — she names foods like bacon, oil-packed sardines, red onion, avocado, jalapeño, Peppadew peppers, pear, and more. Though the curious cook in me wanted to try as many as possible in one sandwich just to see what happens, I had to consider the flavors so I picked one.
Fruit preserves are an optional ingredient listed separately in the recipe. I chose a fig jam, which I knew would taste great with some sliced pear.
Stewart leaves the bread-greasing component up to the cook as well, giving a choice between mayonnaise and butter. Considering the flavors I chose for this sandwich, I thought butter would complement them best.
I followed her step-by-step instructions and assembled this sweet, jammy, sandwich.
First, I generously spread softened butter on one side of each of the slices of bread. I was careful not to miss a single spot. Then, I flipped the slices and did the same with the fig jam.
I cut my block of Gruyère cheese and laid it down on one of the bread slices before topping that layer with pieces of pear.
I would have normally topped the pear with one more layer of cheese, but I was here to follow Stewart's recipe, which said to just close up the sandwich and place it on a dry pan.
I had to resist the urge to squash this sandwich in the pan with my spatula.
I cooked the sandwich pear-side down first hoping the Gruyére would melt onto the non-cheese side of the bread. It worked and I got an all-around melty sandwich.
Stewart's instructions said to flip the sandwich "once the cheese starts to melt and the bread on the bottom is golden brown." So I listened for the sizzling of the buttered bread to get louder, lifted the sandwich with my spatula, and flipped it once I saw the bread had a beautiful, golden color.
After flipping, I turned down the heat from medium to low so that the bread didn't burn before the cheese was fully melted. This wasn't something Stewart mentioned in her recipe, but I'm glad I went with my gut.
The recipe specifically said not to smush down the sandwich, so I had to be patient and just let it do its thing. That was hard, but I pushed through and I'm so glad I did.
The gooey sandwich was even better than I had hoped it would be.
My bread both soaked up the butter and held onto its integrity to form a crispy, buttery vessel for the sweet flavors of the sandwich.
The combination of flavors and textures felt extremely elevated — I would be thrilled if I got this in a restaurant with lightly-dressed mixed greens on the side.
While this certainly wasn't reminiscent of the grilled cheese sandwiches of my childhood, my grown-up taste buds loved every bite. And though the fig and pear satisfied my sweet tooth more than it did my savory craving, the sweetness wasn't overwhelming.
For my second Martha Stewart sandwich, I used Dijon mustard, tomato, and bacon.
I decided to make a second sandwich with the other ingredients suggested in Stewart's recipe.
For this one, I went a more savory route and included tomato and bacon — things my mom would sometimes use to make my grilled cheese sandwiches a little more interesting.
I also used mayonnaise and Dijon mustard instead of butter and fig jam, respectively.
I chose mayo for the bread this time because I was using fillings that reminded me of a deli sandwich.
After covering both slices of bread with mayo on one side and Dijon on the other, I layered the Gruyère, bacon — which I cooked in a pan — and tomato between them.
I didn't see much of a visual difference between using mayo and butter to grease the bread.
Aside from the lack of an audible sizzle here, I was unable to tell the difference between the sandwich made with mayo and the sandwich made with butter. They both browned to the same degree and had a simultaneously crunchy exterior and softer interior.
Again, starting the sandwich cheese-side up allowed it to drip somewhat through the bacon and tomato onto the other piece of bread.
I noticed I'd cut my cheese slices a bit thicker than I did for my first sandwich, though, so they took a little longer to melt.
This savory version satisfied my craving for grilled cheese but also my craving for nostalgia.
While equally as delicious as the fig and pear combination, this sandwich brought me back to lunches I had growing up.
I really liked how the sliced Gruyère melted again, and I thought the juxtaposition of soft tomato against crunchy bacon was exciting. I also absolutely loved the pop of flavor and spice that the Dijon mustard added.
If you're in the mood for something easy, sophisticated, and savory, this is the sandwich to make.
Ina Garten's recipe was the more complicated of the two.
The Barefoot Contessa's recipe called for a total of 10 ingredients (including salt and pepper, which were not a part of Stewart's recipe).
I needed thick-cut bacon cooked in the oven, Dijon, salted butter, three different kinds of cheese freshly grated, mayo, and a heated panini maker.
Though there was a lot going on here, there was barely any room for guesswork like there was in Stewart's recipe. I didn't have to do any extra thinking in terms of building a flavor profile, which was a bit of a relief.
The first thing I had to do was cook the bacon.
Garten's instructions said to roast the bacon on a wire rack over a baking sheet in a 400-degree oven, but I don't have a wire rack. To avoid cooking it on my not-clean-enough-for-direct-contact oven rack, I used a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (a trick I learned through experimentation that keeps bacon moist as it roasts).
I kept a close eye on the meat and pulled it out once visibly brown in most places and once the thin ends started to curl; I wanted more of a meaty bacon texture for this sandwich than an ultra-crunchy one.
Next, I made Garten's cheesy, mustardy spread.
As per her instructions, I combined freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, mayo, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper in a bowl.
I stuck to the ratios the cooking goddess listed with the exception of the Dijon mustard. If you're as much a fan of the dark-yellow spread as I am, I recommend adding an extra teaspoon so that more of the flavor comes through in your finished sandwich.
After making the spread, I grated and combined the two other kinds of cheese.
The chef says to use a food processor fitted with a large grating blade, but that's not a tool I have in my kitchen. Instead, I used a box grater which worked perfectly.
I was sure to be precise when assembling this sandwich.
I spread both slices of sourdough with salted butter, then flipped them over to slather the other sides with the cheese spread I made, heeding Garten's warning to not miss any of the edges.
Then, I carefully placed my one-inch pieces of bacon on top of the cheese spread and covered them with the Gruyère and cheddar mixture before topping my simple-looking masterpiece with the other slice of bread.
I didn't have a panini press so I had to make my own.
Garten says to use a panini press, but that's not something I have in my house.
Knowing that both sides of a panini press get hot, I didn't want to just use a cold plate and can to weigh the sandwich down. Instead, I heated a smaller skillet on the stove, and once it was really hot, I sat it on top of the buttered bread and weighed it down with a large can of tomatoes so there was at least some heat source flattening both sides of the sandwich.
I'm not going to lie, I was proud of myself for thinking to heat the pan and highly recommend this trick for anyone else without a panini press.
Garten's recipe required a lot of work for a good grilled cheese sandwich.
While the sandwich was delicious, I don't think I'd make it again just because of how laborious the process was. In my opinion, the work didn't pay off.
That said, I would give it another try with sliced cheese rather than grated. I lost out on the flavors of each cheese by shredding and combining the cheddar with the Gruyère. Both have so much to offer in terms of flavor complexity, but I wasn't able to taste either of them in this sandwich.
I did love the meaty texture of the thick-cut bacon, though, and would recommend using the same parchment-covered pan method I went with.
I thought this sandwich was the most similar to a childhood grilled cheese out of the three I made. So if you're looking for pure nostalgia, and you're someone who needs a strict recipe to follow, this one is for you.
Both Garten and Stewart have recipes for grilled cheese sandwiches good enough for even the most pretentious adult eater, in my opinion.
Overall, I found the Barefoot Contessa's sandwich to be more oily inside than either of Stewart's sandwiches. I think that's because of the added cheddar cheese and mayo-based spread.
Garten's Ultimate Grilled Cheese most closely resembled a grilled cheese I'd eat as a child, so if that's what you're looking for from a more elevated recipe, I'd highly recommend it.
But, if you're looking to shake things up and play with your ingredients and flavor profiles, I'd suggest giving into your culinary creativity and trying out a few different versions of Stewart's Grown-Up Grilled Cheese recipe. It's simple enough that you can create multiple while seizing the opportunity to get fancy with fillings.
Either way, I must admit, it would take a lot to get me to turn down any grilled cheese sandwich.
- Read more:
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- I made Gordon Ramsay's iconic scrambled eggs and it's the only way I'll eat them from now on
- Kristin Cavallari's easy sheet-pan nacho recipe is a healthy spin on a game-day favorite
- I made scrambled eggs using English, French, and American methods and was shocked by how different they all tasted
This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author(s).
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