It was one of those perfectly self-indulgent Los Angeles media moments: We were prepping fresh chevre and basil at the end of a long row of cooking stations for the Grilled Cheese Invitational while a graduate student in broadcast journalism followed our every butter burn and sandwich flip with his handheld camera.
“Do you guys feel pumped?” he asked at one point sticking a clip-on microphone on one of our aprons. “What if you don’t manage to sweep the dessert category?” he said, pinching a sore spot (it was the one category we had failed to place in the year before).
As it turns out, we didn’t. It also turns out we didn’t mind. The 4th 2nd Annual Grilled Cheese Invitational was a massive success and a shit ton of fun. It was the year the event was so fawned over that the promoters refused to announce the address, and 500 cheese addicts still showed up at the Union Pacific Railway-adjacent warehouse space on the edge of Downtown Los Angeles. It was also the year they added a new top honor dubbed the “Judges Award.”

Two panelists in lab coats circled the tables trying every one of the 50-60 sandwiches. In the end our two savory sandwiches won us the Judges Award distinction, though our dessert sammy got criminally passed over. Our journalism student buddy got his perfect closing scene though: us on stage accepting our trophy and cursing the cheese heads for being afraid of gooey goat and veiny blue stiltons.
All in all, a great contest. So, while we wait for this Geraldo of Cheese to send us his final documentary on the nights’ events, we submit to you vegans (sorry dudes!) and cheegans a whiff of our competing recipes this year.
The photos come courtesy of our friend Michele whose own report on the Invitational is even more Oscar-winning.

Recipes

The Italian Stallion

4 slices potato bread
2 Tbs. butter
4 Tbs. hard-aged Pecorino cheese
4 oz. Taleggio cheese
1. Prepare your cheeses once up to room temperature, grating the Pecorino into a fine dusting and slicing the Taleggio into 1-inch slabs. Place the Taleggio onto a slice of bread until the surface is entirely covered and top with the other slice.
2. Now crank your large skillet to high heat and once hot toss in a pad of butter, swirling it around the pan. Then dust the grated Pecorino around the buttered pan to create a cheese crust and immediately set your prepared sandwich in the pan.
3. Use a heavy saucepan to press the sandwich down. Let grill for 1-2 minutes or until golden brown. Flip sammy and repeat cheese and butter crusting method. Once Taleggio is oozing remove from het, slice in half and eat.

Pepper Jacked

2 Tbs. Szechuan, Telicherry, and white pepper
1/4 cup water
1/4 sugar
4 slices Brioche or Texas Toast
2 Tbs. butter
4 oz. Monterey Jack
4 oz. hard-aged Jack
1/2 cup roasted green chile
1. Prepare a pepper syrup by combining pepper, water and sugar in a small saucepan on medium heat. Once sugar dissolves and mixture turns light brown, remove and let cool for an hour.
2. Once syrup has chilled out, assembles sandwiches. Grate your cheeses and combine with green chilis. Plop a huge handful of cheese and chili on the bread.
3. Butter the pan and cook sandwich on high heat. Use pressing method above. Flip and repeat. Once slightly browned on each side, glaze with pepper syrup and let cook 1 minute without the saucepan press. Serve and eat.

Strawberry Shortcake

4 Tbs. butter
1 cup sugar
1 basket of strawberries
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 slices “English Muffin Bread”
1 Tbs. Butter
4 oz. fresh chevre
1 cup fresh basil
4 oz. Mascarpone cheese
1. Prepare the strawberry-balsamic jam: Thinly slice the strawberries and add butter and strawberries (save 2 for garnish) to a large pan on medium heat. Toss for 1-2 minutes before adding sugar and vinegar. Let it cook down for 10 minutes or until strawberries break down. Taste and add sugar accordingly.
2. If needed, make a slurry (with 1 Tbs. corn starch and 2 Tbs. water) and add in drips to thicken the jam. Finish with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, remove and cool.
3. Once jam is ready, prepare sandwich by cutting the chevre into thin circles using dental floss rather than a knife. Stack chevre on bread slice, top with jam and add top piece of bread.
4. Butter your pan, add sandwich and use pressing method above. Flip and repeat. Remove once golden brown and cut in half. Slather the slices with Mascarpone like cake frosting. Top with thinly chiffonaded basil and sliced strawberries.