Grilled cheese sandwiches are just about my favorite food (next to pizza...and cinnamon rolls...oh, and pie), so it's no surprise that I like to mess with them. I will eat them any which way....even with American Cheese on them (generally not my favorite food).
Not only do I love grilled cheese sandwiches, but I'm one of those people who like food in miniature. Small food, if you will. Mini pastries, tiny tarts, desserts in shot glasses, bite sized mac 'n cheese....and, of course, sliders. You probably think sliders are so two years ago. Indeed, I've seen many, many recipes for various sliders, mostly little burgers. And they are good. Very good. I got to thinking, though, that I hadn't seen any grilled cheese sliders. Wouldn't they be tasty? I even figured out how I was going to make them. Then, I googled. They've been done. The best I saw were from Panini Kathy. Sigh. Will I ever have an original thought again? Oh, well--my method is different. :)
I found a rye baguette at the store---love it!
So, these are really easy. Just buy yourself one of those really good baguettes....most grocery stores carry them. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Then slice the baguette up into 1/2" slices and put them on a baking pan lined with parchment or a silpat. Now take a couple of tablespoons of olive oil (use a flavored one, if you want) and brush it on each piece of bread, then turn over every other piece so that half of the pieces have the oil on the bottom. Open up a bag of your favorite shredded cheese (or shred your own if you are so inclined--you could even chop up some brie) and put about a tablespoon on top of the halves of bread that you turned over. Don't worry if it spills over--that's why we have the silpat. Now top each cheese covered piece of bread with the other piece of bread (leave the oiled side on top). Bake the sliders for 10 minutes, turn them over, and bake for an additional 5 minutes.
This time, I decided to fancy up my cheese. I mixed together 4 oz of softened cream cheese with a couple tablespoons of minced onion, a teaspoon of Italian seasoning, a dash each of garlic salt and cayenne pepper, and a cup of shredded cheese.
My cheese concoction made it a little less messy--the cheese didn't spill over the sides. The only downside was that I didn't have the crunchy cheese that gets left on the pan--love that stuff! Oh, and it didn't run down the side of the sandwich. Cheese encrusted sandwiches have a certain eye appeal, no?
I cut these slices a little too thick, but it all worked out in the end.
What kind of cheese do you like on your grilled cheese sandwich?