285. Grilled cheese flying saucer, aka Toas-Tite sandwich - Recipe

Red Leicester and Herb Ricotta Grilled Cheese Toas-Tite Sandwich

Did you know that April is National Grilled Cheese Month?

As far as I know, we don't have Grilled Cheese Month in Canada, but I am all for celebrating Grilled Cheese.

Kathy of Panini Happy gave an invitation to bloggers to enter The Grilled Cheese Pagaent - " to showcase your best grilled cheese sandwiches in a little “pageant” of sorts (can you tell I’ve been watching “Toddlers & Tiaras” on TLC this season?!). It’s not a beauty pageant per se, because as well all know the best tasting stuff often isn’t the prettiest. I’m talking about a taste pageant - whatever type of grilled cheese you like the most, let’s see it!"

And then there is a grand prize - one participant, selected at random, will receive a copy of Tom Colicchio’s (of Top Chef fame) delicious new sandwich cookbook, ‘wichcraft: Craft a sandwich into a meal–and a meal into a sandwich."

Way to go! Nothing short of a pageant does justice to grilled cheese! Brilliant! I'm joining the celebration!

Do you know what this contraption is? How many of you remember using it? Does it bring back wonderful memories?

It is a Toas-Tite sandwich maker that I love. I read a post on the Toas-Tite in Confessions of an Apron Queen and that jogged my memory to take out my Toas-Tite to make some delicious sandwiches which we called Flying Saucers and others called UFOs.

When I googled I discovered many people share my fondness for the Toas-Tite.

Mine is a well-traveled Toas-Tite. It traveled across the Pacific Ocean twice! From the US to Hong Kong and then back to North America, when my parents emigrated to Canada. My Mom chucked out a lot of stuff when she made the big move but she brought the Toas-Tite over. I begged her and wore her down until she gave it to me.

Jujube's fondness for the Toas-Tite inspired her to write an Ode to the Toas-Tite:

Oh, cheese-filled flying bread saucer,
With your pinched outer seams
Holding back the tide of goo—
I love you.

My sentiments exactly! See "the tide of goo" that is Ricotta and Double Gloucester:


Kids love to use the Toas-Tite. Use a good-quality cheese. Real cheese. What is the point of eating a grilled cheese sandwich except to enjoy the hot, melted cheese?

I used Red Leicester, Double Gloucester, mild Cheddar and Ricotta but use your favourite cheese. I chopped some flat-leafed parsley and combined it with Ricotta to make herb Ricotta. These sandwiches are so easy to make:


Ingredients:

Cheese, grated
Sandwich bread
Butter
Mustard, optional
Salt and Pepper

Method:

1. Open the Toas-Tite. Optional: Spread some butter on the inside of the disks. This only needs to be done once.
   
2. Butter the bread and place a slice of bread, buttered- side down on one disk.
   
3. Put your filling on the bread and top with the other piece of bread, buttered-side up.
4. Close the Toas-Tite and clamp the handles together.
5. Take a knife to cut off the bits of bread on the outside of the disks.
6. Put the Toas-Tite on the stove burner and toast it until the bread is golden brown. Turn over and toast the other side. The flying saucers can be made over a camp fire.
   
7. Take the flying saucer out of the contraption and enjoy all the cheesy goodness!

I made a batch of these sandwiches using different combinations of fillings:

These flying saucers shouldn't be cut in half but I wanted to show the melting cheese. The crimped bread keeps the cheese under control. This is a very neat and tidy way to eat a grilled cheese sandwich. Hold the saucer in both hands and eat it like a burger. Take a bite and then hold the saucer upright to hold back "the tide of goo".

Double Gloucester and mild Cheddar

Red Leicester and roasted potatoes

Mild Chedder, ham and tomato

Those three grilled cheese sandwiches auditioned for the pagaent. They were very good but the winning sandwich I am sending to the finals is:

Red Leicester and herb Ricotta