Toasties -10 Top Tips to the Perfect Toasty

10 Top Tips to the Perfect Toasty

 I remember watching sesame street on the telly when my kids were small and the only thing the puppets seemed to have for lunch was a grilled cheese sandwich along with a bowl of tinned tomato soup.

Have you tried that combination?

It’s definitely a winner, but i think toasties can be much more than a quick kiddies meal if done right.

 Here are my top ten tips to making the perfect cheese toasties and other things that might add a little bit more oomph for your mouth. 

1)     Machine of frying pan?

I’ve had, and made, toasties both from a toasty maker (one of those things that cuts the bread in to triangles) and in a frying pan.

I’m a fan of both for very different reasons.

The toasty machine is perfect for a quick lunch in a rush.

Bread that is crisp on the outside with enough cheese on the inside so when melted, leaves behind those brown burnt lacy edges ready to be picked off when the machine is cold enough to be touched.

Chefs perks.

My preference fo a more thought about toasty is heavy frying pan every time, but ultimately, its’s up to you which you chose.

2)    Soft inside crispy outside

This is what it’s all about, hot runny cheese and crispy, slightly greasy bread.

It’s just so right it can’t be wrong!

The perfect combination of heat distribution goes into making this happen, making a bit of cheese and a slice of bread become a comfort food that is fit for lunch or a dinner.

Crisp and golden and beautiful plate by Linda Bloomfield

 3)    Bread

By changing up the bread, it’s possible to make a toasty into posh nosh worthy, and seen, at the very best restaurants and cafes.

Think about bread as the receptacle for what’s inside.

 Depending on the occasion, a quick lunch just for me, or an addition to some great home-made soup for the lovely Mr G and friends for dinner, determines the sort of bread I’ll be using.

Great with a handmade sourdough, a rustic mixed grain, a soft sliced tiger bread or an everyday loaf usually used for toast and butter, get the proportions right and you’re on to a winner.

This Sough-dough bread by Green Truffle is perfect

Try these for a new take:

• Seeded Tin Loaf

• Ciabatta

• Cottage Loaf

• Cuban Bread

• French Baguette

• Ficelle

• Fougasse

4)    Cheese

 Let’s talk cheese, well some of them anyway

Once the bread is chosen, the cheese is the other thing that makes a toasty.

Cheese can elevate the humble cooked sandwich into something really special. From something that kids love to something worthy of a top menu.

Now I’m a lover of a really great mature cheddar, it melts really well at the same time, it gives a good punch of flavour for its buck, but cheese doesn’t have to have a strong flavour to make it good.

 Adding other things that complement the cheese and bread to enhance the cheese means that its ok to use a milder cheese.

 Try These Cheeses:

• Camembert

• Old Roan Wensleydale

• Evenlode Cheese

• St James

• Truffle Baron Bigod

• Renegade Monk

• Ogleshield

Duckett’s Caerphilly

• Smoked Cheese

• Gouda

A good brie is fabulous melted with some pickled red pepper

5)    Butter or mayonnaise?

Not just for the inside, but a layer of something fatty spread on the outside of the slices helps the heat make a nice golden crust.

Something to sink your teeth into.

To butter or to mayonnaise, the answer to that is up to you and your preference.

If I’m cooking it in a heavy bottomed pan, then I add butter to the outside, if I’m using a toasty machine, then I use nothing at all.

The use of mayonnaise seems to be an American way of making a toasty, but it works well, so give it a try

 6)    Condiments

Depending on the cheese used, the addition of a good condiment snaps the taste into action.

I have a list of go to flavour combinations I’d like to share with you:

Flavour Combinations

• Cranberry & Brie

• Branston & Mature Cheddar

• Caramelised Onion & Camembert

• Piccalilli & Wensleydale

• Mustard & Cheddar

Add some pickles radish

7)    Fill it up

Of course, there’s no need to say this, but just in case, here it is.

Obviously, if the toasty is being cooked in an electric toasty maker, there is only so much that can be put inside before it all comes back outside when being cooked, but not so much if making in a heavy bottomed pan.

 The tip I have so I get as much filling as possible (I’m never one for less is more when it comes to filling a sandwich of any kind) is to use a weight to flatten it while cooking.

Sitting a heavy saucepan or even a brick wrapped in foil on top of the sandwich while cooing, helps the inside stay inside.

8)    Add something else!

Other than a condiment, what does this mean?

My first choice is to make a cheese toasty into a cheese and ham toasty, and then I add some spicy pickle, butter the outside and cook it in a heavy bottomed pan.

Perfect bite every time.

 Or try adding crispy bacon to some brie before toasting.

Or cheese and onion, cooked sausage and gouda or maybe slices of teriyaki chicken.

Or my very favourite is a mix of smoked cheese, sharp cheddar , ham and a couple of sun-dried tomatoes to give it a tangy edge.

Ham and sun bushed tomatoes and two kinds of cheese

  9) What can go wrong?

 Let’s be honest here, making a great toasty isn’t rocket science and it’s never going to change the world, however, if I’m making one, I like to do my best,.

I’d like to be in one piece and of course, I like it to have the perfect mouthfeel and flavour.

• Be patient – Don’t be in a rush to have the cheese melt inside the bread. Melty cheese is what it’s all about

• Room Temperature – Having the cheese at room temperature makes it easier for it to melt at an even rate before the outside over cooks. Experiment with flavours – Challenge your tastebuds with the fillings and the bread

•     Use them for a main meal- Not just for snacks, but great for a casual supper 

• Use more than one cheese

10) Everything else

•     Cooking a lot - If you’re cooking for a lot of people, make a lot of toasties all at once in the oven.

Use a sheet tray to lay out as many as you need and cook at 180c.

•   Grate it – Grating the cheese helps it melt at an even pace.

•   Make your own pickles – Making your own quick pickles will give your toasty an edge. Take a look at this recipe for pickles radishes.

• Stale bread – Don’t let the fact that you’ve not any fresh bread put you off making something tasty. Bread that’s a few days old is perfect for toasting and can give crispier results.

•   Use more than one cheese – If you have them, use more than one flavour of cheese.

• Add some veggies – Add some char grilled vegetables along with the cheese to make it posher, tastes fabulous with mozzarella.

•    Cayenne Pepper – If you’ve nothing else, a sprinkling of cayenne pepper mixed in with the grated cheese makes it perfect.

•   Chives – Chopped fresh chive with the cheese is a stunning way to elevate to too.

Recipe

• 1 Tablespoon Butter

•     2 Slices bread

•  Cheese

How It’s Done

•   Heat a pan over medium heat.

• Completely butter one side of each slice of bread.

•    Place one slice of bread in the pan, buttered side down, sprinkle on the cheese and top with the remaining slice of bread, buttered side up

• Turn the heat down a notch and cook until golden brown

•     Flip and cook until golden brown on the other side,

Brown and crisp with just a little bit of cheese around the edges