INGREDIENT: Cheese

Never know which cheese to use for your quesadillas, paninis, mac n cheese, grilled cheese, etc etc? I found this great list of types of melting cheeses to help you with that exact problem. (and with the previous post)

 Stretchy and stringy melters —

These are the cheeses we love on pizza, in panini, and stuffed into croquettes. They stay pretty much where we put them, without running all over the place, and they can form extremely long strings when pulled.

• Mozzarella(aged and fresh)
• Queso Oaxaca
• Scamorza
• Provolone
• String cheese
• Fresh cheddar cheese curds

Smooth and flowing melters —
This category claims the largest number of cheeses. Some are viscous when melted, while others have little body. These cheeses are great for making toasted sandwiches; topping soups or vegetable tarts; stuffing into vegetables; adding richness to baked pasta dishes; and folding into biscuit, scone, and bread dough. They also blend smoothly into other dishes, such as polenta, mashed potatoes, risotto, and soufflés

• Asiago 
• Cheddar 
• Emmentaler
• Fontina 
• Gruyère 
• Havarti
• Monterey Jack 
• Muenster
• Gouda 
• Blue cheeses(they melt around the mold)
• Soft-ripened cheeses like Brie and Camembert (the rind will not melt)
• Parmigiano-Reggiano

Nonmelters —
These cheeses can actually be grilled, fried, or baked; though they may soften when heated, they won’t lose their shape and flow. There are a few possible reasons that some cheeses don’t melt: The cheese might be extremely high in salt. Or it might be low or high in acid, or it might contain high levels of whey proteins (during the cheese-making process, whey is removed from most cheese).

• Halloumi 
• Fresh Mexican cheeses such as queso blanco, queso fresco, ranchero, cotija
• Indian paneer 
• Cottage cheese 
• Ricotta 
• Fresh goat cheese 
• Feta 

RECIPE: Grilled Cheese

If you're thinking, "HAH! grilled cheese!? That's the easiest thing ever... you put cheese on bread and put it in the toaster," you probably never had a decent grilled cheese in your life. Seriously. 

My mom used to do this for school because it was the easiest thing the could make for my lunch, and I was ok with this... until I made REAL grilled cheese (my dog was especially happy about this because he was the only one who ate them after I refused to)

Now grilled cheese is one of the most basic types of food, which translates in the culinary world to the biggest opportunity for creativity. There is no exact recipe, perfect type of cheese, bread, or ingredient. Allow this to get your creativity flowing and adding whatever random ingredient that pops into your head, or even what you have lying around the kitchen. Yet, there IS a definite technique that you definitely should use when making a grilled cheese:

MY USUAL RECIPE:

-Sliced Wheat Bread

-2+ types of cheeses of whatever I have in the fridge, usually: mozzarella, fresh mozzarella, gouda, cheddar, jack, or brie

-avocado, grilled onions and eggplant

METHOD:

1. Butter one side of your bread using room temperature butter. This allows the butter to spread more easily and make sure your bread gets golden and delicious. 

2. Add: ________, ___________, _____________, __________  on the NON-buttered side.

3. Add room-temperature SHREDDED cheese. By using shredded rather than sliced, your cheese melts easier which means your sandwich will be all gooey and delicious before your bread burns

4. Place the sandwich on the non-stick pan on medium heat. Make sure your pan is large enough for your grilled cheese, if not, it will be heated unevenly. 

5. After every flip, press down on your sandwich with a spatula to spread around all the cheese and make your bread toastier

6. OPTIONAL: To make sure the cheese is fully melted, I cut my sandwich in half on the pan and allow it to heat/melt for a little while longer.

SUGGESTIONS:

Here are some other additions to your grilled cheese: avocado, tomato, sliced meats, fresh herbs, fig, bacon, onions (fresh or grilled), jalapeño, arugula, eggplant, apples, mushrooms, ETC.


Enjoy!