Remember This?

A Grilled Cheese Mix... RAOR!

A Grilled Cheese Time Was Had By All

Last night, the masterminds behind the Grilled Cheese Invitational got together and celebrated the new Spoons category with Spoons sandwiches and wine... lots of wine. Turns out that white wine goes very well with olive bread and cave-aged gruyere cheese. Please make a note of it.

After literally two hours of arguing about what the categories meant and what the new category addition would mean for the other three categories, we have reached a consensus:

SPOONS IS ANY KIND OF BREAD (INCLUDING OLIVE BREAD) AND ANY KIND OF CHEESE (EXCEPT HEAD CHEESE, WHICH IS CHEESE IN NAME ONLY).

Please make a note of it. Anything baked into the bread does not count as an extra ingredient unless you go all crazy. There will be Grilled Cheese Officials on hand to determine if breads and ingredients are acceptable.

The Grilled Cheese Invitational is also seeking sponsorship for alcoholic beverages. If you know of any wine or beer company who would be interested in sponsoring the most popular grilled cheese event in the world, please email me at normal@hellonormal.com.

Stay tuned for all new rules on the Grilled Cheese Invitational site, as well as a fuller profile of the Spoons category right here on the only Official Grilled Cheese Blog. :-D

YouTube Grilled Cheese Bonanza

This woman is creepy and weird. But informative! Who knew you could make a Grilled Cheese Sandwich in the microwave?

(um. this is an abomination)

Voila: we has press release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE...

March 26, 2008

"THE 1ST 6TH ANNUAL GRILLED CHEESE INVITATIONAL MELTS CHEESY GOODNESS ON LOS ANGELES, APRIL 19, 2008!"

(Los Angeles, CA) The 1st 6th Annual National Grilled Cheese Invitational have opened their electronic floodgates and are now accepting registration for competition in this year's Grilled Cheese Invitational.

"The 1st 6th Annual Grilled Cheese Invitational will be mankind's greatest achievement since the invention of fire!" says Tim Walker, the event's founder and organizer. "This year we will have more cheese than ever before. More competitors, more sammiches, more everything!"

At The Grilled Cheese Invitational, amateur and professional chefs compete side by side in four categories to determine just who is a grilled cheese champion. Each competitor must prepare at least 20 samples of their sammich for the judges.

Who are these judges? YOU! Yes, anyone with a passion for the cheese is welcome to attend this event and judge sammiches. Judging is easy and is done using standardized ballots and a patented, computerized database that scientifically tabulates the results to determine the winners. So put a sammich in your face and tell the world what you think with a bread-muffled cry! MPFF!

Due to the absolutely overwhelming response to last year's competition, the organizers have selected a NEW LOCATION for this year's invitational that will allow for more people to attend the cheesening. As with previous Invitationals, the location will not be announced until the week of the event. To find out the super-secret location the very second it is announced, send an email to grilledcheeseinvitational-subscribe@yahoogroups.com (NOTE: We will not Spam™ you, this is a cheese announce list only!).

New for 2008, the organizers of the GCI have created an additional category of competition, SPOONS, which will live between the Missionary category and the Kama Sutra category.

Sammiches must be entered into one of the following approved categories:
The Missionary Position: White bread, orange cheese (Cheddar or American) and butter or margarine only.
Spoons: Any kind of bread, any kind of butter and any kind of cheese (or combination of cheeses) but no additional ingredients.
The Kama Sutra: Any kind of bread, any kind of butter, and any kind of cheese (or blend of cheeses) plus additional ingredients.
The Honey Pot: Any kind of bread, any kind of butter, any kind of cheese (or blend of cheeses), and any additional ingredients, but a sandwich that is sweet in flavor, or would best be served as dessert.

Think YOU have what it takes to deliver a full body blow to the Nationals? Register your sammich today (space is limited):
http://www.grilledcheeseinvitational.com/upcomingcheese.html

As the clear winners are determined (again, automagic computer system), the Grilled Cheese Invitational will award 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place trophies in each category. Imagine YOU going home with a one-of-a-kind gilded cheese trophy! In addition to the serious winners, two Spaz Awards will be awarded to the sammiches that are the biggest Spazzes, executive judge awards and mountains of grilled cheese for everybody!

On April 19th, we will part the mighty mountain of fresh loaves, wade knee-deep in the melted cheese and swim eye-high in the butterfat, but only a few, only the proud, the cheesiest, will earn the sacred right to hold a glimmering, golden trophy aloft for all to see and scream to the malignant heavens above: "I am a f@#king grilled cheese champion™!"

Got questions about the event? Of course you do! Send 'em to hotcheeseygoodness@grilledcheeseinvitational.com.

Yours in bread, butter cheese... and victory!

The Grilled Cheese Invitational

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Created by Tim Walker in 2003, the Grilled Cheese Invitational found its humble roots in a warehouse in downtown Los Angeles as a competition between friends. Since then, the Invitational has grown into a national movement dedicated to perfecting the art of grilled cheese.


For Media questions, contact:

Danielle Farrar
PO Box 7048
Burbank, CA 91510
danielle@grilledcheeseinvitational.com

The Popularity of Grilled Cheese Sandwiches in the Blogosphere

In my hunting around for information about Grilled Cheese, I found this, which is the progressive mention of Grilled Cheese in the blogosphere.

How to Make a Brooklyn Style Grilled Cheese Sandwich

This man uses more margarine than I've ever seen. How is it? You'll just have to find out!

(I love the toaster oven twist... I'll have to try this at home! NOTE: toaster ovens can not be used in competition)

The Kama Sutra Grilled Cheese Sandwich: Exotic and Experimental

The most popular category of Grilled Cheese Sandwich at the Invitationals has always been the "Kama Sutra." This is the wild and daring Anything Goes category that you dream of in your strangest cheese fantasies.

This is where your swiss, romano and asiago, with sauteed mushrooms and asparagus, on fancy home-made sourdough bread --Perhaps you might even flirt with a little prosciutto, eh?-- sandwich belongs... fancy, crazy, delicious! As long as the internal ingredients are at least 60% cheese, it's a grilled cheese sandwich.

The Kama Sutra category is not only the most liberal, but also the most popular. So you must keep in mind that the competition is fierce and professional. If you intend to compete in this category, plan carefully and start training RIGHT AWAY. You could be up against as many as 50 professional chefs, so you better get it right!

No pressure. Just stay calm and start training immediately. Because this is serious as a heart attack... except not a cheese-induced heart attack, because everyone knows that cheese is good for you!

New Category: Spoons?

You decide!

The Missionary Grilled Cheese Sandwich: The TRUE Chef's Category

"I'm making a smoked cheddar sandwich on whole wheat bread. What category would I compete in?"

This is a question as old as the Invitational itself, my friends. If you're wondering which category you should enter when it comes to the Nationals (omg! April 19th!), make sure you pick the right category before you register... in fact, you may want to pick it before you start training!

So, take the example sandwich above (the one people ask me all the time)... This would be a Kama Sutra sandwich. Why? Because the cheddar is smoked and the bread is not white. I know! You whine! You complain! But remember, just like in the position it was named for, the Missionary Grilled Cheese category requires standard ingredients. The only way to win is culinary expertise!

This category requires only three ingredients: Cheddar (plain, not flavored) or American (like Kraft Singles), butter (or margarine, but not mayonnaise), and white bread (not potato white, but real white bread). Any old grilled cheese hack can whip out masterful ingredients and make a pretty good sandwich (maybe not prize-winning, but still good), but it takes the perfect preparation, browning, and presentation to win the Missionary category.

Here are some tips:
1. Grating is great! I've found that grating your cheddar for your sandwich helps even melting, even in the center!
2. Butter and fry both sides I always butter both sides of the toast, let it set in the pan to get crispy and brown, and then flip, putting the cheese between the newly-fried, crispy fronts. Then grill the outside as usual. This makes the sandwich extra textured (and extra fatty, which is always a plus for Grilled Cheese)
3. Let it leak I like a little crispy, leaked cheese around the edges of my sandwiches. I dated someone who thought this was an abomination (needless to say, that relationship didn't last long). Give it a try and see if it works for you! (If it doesn't, we've got no chance together, buddy)
4. Remember Mom Mom used to cut them in cute little triangles, remember? Presentation counts! Consider a traditional 45 degree cut, not a 90 degree one. The 90 degree is more modern, but I think most people still favor the 45.
5. Even browning: difficult, but worth it This one takes practice... try to get a nice even brown on your white bread. It should be golden, not dirty.

You can't register for Nationals yet (I know, I know... the anticipation is killing us too!), but you CAN get started training for your perfect sandwich!