The fewer the ingredients, the more important the quality of each ingredient is, and I can think of no simpler a recipe than grilled cheese. Since you could justify almost any cheese, let’s talk grilled.
Sorry, bread. Let’s talk bread.
Cuban bread is the best bread for grilled cheese, hands down. It’s rich and hearty on its own, and made to be toasted. It’s got pretty good crumb to hold the cheese, right up until you press it flat if you’re making it right.
Don’t let me constrain you though. As far as I’m concerned, Cuban bread is the best all-round bread. I already said it was made to be toasted, so put some garlic and butter on it under a broiler for garlic bread that’ll outshine Ragu on pasta night. Or leave it plain and serve warmed alongside butter at a steak dinner. Or make a sandwich other than grilled cheese – you’re not living a full life if you make Cuban bread and don’t have at least one sandwich with ham, Swiss cheese, and pickles.
A full disclaimer – my recipe here is mostly based on Andrew Rea’s, with a couple notes from Joshua Weissman. (As is much of my cooking knowledge.) You can find their recipes in Andrew’s Basics with Babish, and Joshua’s Cuban sandwich video.
Ingredients
- Bread Flour – 480g
- Yeast – 7g
- Sugar – 7g
- Water – 300g (1 and 1/4 cups)
- Lard – 55g
- Salt – 12g
- Cornmeal (Recommended)
Lard?
This is the odd ingredient out, and the counterproof to my wife’s claim that dough is dough is dough. Lard is what makes Cuban bread so toastable and rich – it carries its own fat for the Maillard reaction, and for your taste buds!
Equipment
- Stand Mixer (Recommended)
- Mixing Bowl
- Mixing Utensil
- Scale
- Flat Surface
- Oven with Two Racks
- Baking Sheet
- Lame or razor
- Oven-proof container (such as a steel pan)
- Coverings (damp towels or plastic wrap)
Process
A quick note: the order of ingredients is critical here. Salt and lard can both inhibit gluten development, so it’s important you add them after you’ve got good development. This has the unfortunate effect of making you mix grease into a ball of tough dough, but it’s worth it (and why I recommend a stand mixer).
- Mix flour, sugar, and yeast.
- Add water slowly.
- As the dough thickens, add the lard.
- Knead the dough.
- Rest the dough covered for about two hours, until the top starts to bubble.
- Punch the dough down and divide into two pieces.
- For each piece, flatten it on a working surface and spread it out to about the size of a sheet of printer paper. I like to use a stone countertop that’s been thoroughly cleaned, and I prefer a bench scraper to dusting with flour – flour can make the next step harder.
- Roll the dough up along its long side, and form into a torpedo shape. Roll it back and forth to taper its ends.
- Dust a baking sheet with cornmeal and transfer both loaves onto the baking sheet. Rest, covered, for an hour.
- Near the end of the resting, preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Score the bread end-to-end with your sharp edge. (I use a safety razor.)
- Add an oven-safe container of water, such as a stainless steel pan, to the lower rack of the oven.
- Bake for 20 minutes, until the crust turns golden brown and let rest before enjoying
Everett4God