Sorta OT: Smash-Grilled Cheese

Botch

Saw this on an older Adam Ragusea video, thought I'd give it a try.  His local hangout makes a grilled-cheese on a brioche bun, smashed down with a heavy weight.  Brioche is quite sweet, so it really browns nicely in the hot butter.  
Adam did a few variations, and I made his "sorta-Cuban" for lunch today; buttered inside of bottom bun, slice of cheddar, dill pickle slices, two slices of Black Forest ham, slice of pepperjack, then Kewpie inside the top bun (Dumbsh*t forgot the mustard, I'll remember tomorrow):
 

 
Get the pan hot, melt a pat of butter, add sammich and press down with a brick; 3 minutes first side, flip, return brick, and 2 minutes on the second side:
 

 
Add a bowl of home-made tomato soup and a pickle, not a bad lunch on a rainy day.  
 

 
Sandwich was great, I'll probably make grilled-cheese this way from now on (even though the damn brioche buns were $4.99/four).  
Thanks for looking.

 
https://youtu.be/WpXPyPyTA90?si=AUqBKhiKXsZwkxz5
 

Ozzie_Isaac

looks good, but I cannot get Neil DeGrasse Tyson out of my head.  That is “mashed” not “smashed”.  Smashed implies quick strike and not steady pressing.

GrateEggspectations

Great looking cook. I like the wrapped brick. Style points earned, right there. Years ago, I bought a cast iron press that works in the same fashion. You can even heat it up in the pan before pressing it into service (*groan*). Great for sandwiches.

No kimchi on this one?

shtgunal3

Great looking sammich! I love a good grilled sandwich. Never thought of using brioche. Gonna have to try it. Thanks for posting.

Legume

This totally belongs in the cannabis thread.

Ozzie_Isaac

@Botch you might enjoy this video, it is the genesis of my joke above

https://youtu.be/pfWxrU0Y-fU?si=mG9CpJyvgBWhV46R

Stormbringer

Looks really good, kinda reminds me of Cuban sandwiches. Cubanos, I think.

lkapigian

Bombdiggity!

Ozzie_Isaac

Finally watched the entire Adam Ragusea video, some kiler ideas in there!  I am a big fan of fried cheese edges.  Those crispy bits are amazing.

What are your thoughts on Adam's newer content?  He seems to have gone of the rails a bit and veering into self-importance/guru type stuff that I find off-putting.  I stopped listening to his podcasts months ago because of that.

Ozzie_Isaac

No brioche buns, just cheap hamburger buns, but still pretty tasty Cubano.

Botch

^^^ I learned the first morning, and again today at noon, that this technique requires you to be judicious with the amount of ingredients and spare with the slippery condiments (mayo, butter, mustard etc); they like to slip sideways once the brick/plate hits.  Looks like you nailed it.  

Botch

Ozzie_Isaac said:

 
What are your thoughts on Adam's newer content?  He seems to have gone of the rails a bit and veering into self-importance/guru type stuff that I find off-putting.  I stopped listening to his podcasts months ago because of that.

I've only watched his ewetubes, didn't know he had a podcast so I can't comment on that.
I know he did "semi-retire" a couple months back, wasn't going to stop but decided he could just do a vid when he felt like it, not stick to a regular schedule (once a week? I don't know for sure).  I hadn't noticed a change in tone, but the only non-food video I watched was about his half-terrarium/half-aquarium setup, full of weirdo fish and tiny crabs that would eventually crawl out and invade his greenhouse (must have a very tolerant wife).  I can't keep a plastic plant alive so that kinda thing fascinates me.  

HeavyG

Botch said:

^^^ I learned the first morning, and again today at noon, that this technique requires you to be judicious with the amount of ingredients and spare with the slippery condiments (mayo, butter, mustard etc); they like to slip sideways once the brick/plate hits.  Looks like you nailed it.  

If things are prone to going sideways (so to speak) then wrap of the sandwich in foil or parchment will keep things in line when the squishing begins.

Botch

I did make a good discovery over the last couple days: when you flip the sammich to brown the other side, you don't need to put the brick back on; in fact, it's detrimental.  
Putting the brick on at first flattens the bottom, and presses it into the butter, but it also flattens the top.  Once you flip it, the cheese is mostly melted, and any mayo/mustard/ham inside is also heated/loosened up, and unless the bun was pressed perfectly flat (hasn't happened yet) the brick slowly slides the layers apart, you can actually watch it happen.  For today's lunch I flipped the sandwich but left the brick off; the sandwich was already as flat as it was going to get, and I was able to push it around the edges of the pan, to pick up all the extra butter.  The sandwich was perfectly centered when I removed it; rawk!  
 
I'm really enjoying this process, and love the taste of the browned brioche; today I bought these from amazoid (on sale for $17!) so I can just wash them, and not waste so much foil.  The brick can retire.  
 

Ozzie_Isaac

Botch said:

I did make a good discovery over the last couple days: when you flip the sammich to brown the other side, you don't need to put the brick back on; in fact, it's detrimental.  
Putting the brick on at first flattens the bottom, and presses it into the butter, but it also flattens the top.  Once you flip it, the cheese is mostly melted, and any mayo/mustard/ham inside is also heated/loosened up, and unless the bun was pressed perfectly flat (hasn't happened yet) the brick slowly slides the layers apart, you can actually watch it happen.  For today's lunch I flipped the sandwich but left the brick off; the sandwich was already as flat as it was going to get, and I was able to push it around the edges of the pan, to pick up all the extra butter.  The sandwich was perfectly centered when I removed it; rawk!  
 
I'm really enjoying this process, and love the taste of the browned brioche; today I bought these from amazoid (on sale for $17!) so I can just wash them, and not waste so much foil.  The brick can retire.  
 

I use the rectangular one, I wash it, but I still use parchment paper under it.  Keeps it cleaner and food doesn’t stick then.

Botch

Ozzie_Isaac said:
I use the rectangular one, I wash it, but I still use parchment paper under it.  Keeps it cleaner and food doesn’t stick then.

I was almost wondering if you could set the weight in your frypan as it was preheating, to warm it up at the same time, precluding the need to flip at all (I would probably have to use my CI skillet instead of my t-Fal...).