Back in 2001, I took my one and only trip to Europe. I was traveling with 2 of my sisters and one sister’s boyfriend. We spent the majority of our time in and around Paris, and flew over to London for a weekend. Looking back, I am amazed at how much we crammed into the short time that we were there.
One of the days while in France, we had rented a car and headed up to Normandy to see the D-Day beaches. On our way, we stopped in a little town called Bayeux, and this quickly because my favorite stop in France. As cool as I thought it was to see Notre Dame in Paris, there was a cathedral in Bayeux that I thought was just as beautiful, and not busy with people. We were traveling in February, so it wasn’t prime tourist season by any means, but parts of Paris were still busy, while it was so calm and quiet in this small town.
I wasn’t into food back then like I am now, so the trip definitely was not centered around food. In fact, we mainly survived on panini and crepes bought on the street. I can only remember going to a few restaurants. One of these restaurants was in Bayeux, and I won’t ever forget that meal. It wasn’t a fancy restaurant, and we were mostly scared of ordering anything too French, so my sisters and I each ordered a grilled cheese sandwich and my sister’s boyfriend ordered some sausages. We had a really good laugh when the sausages came out and they were just a couple of good old American hot dogs!! But those grilled cheese sandwiches – simply the best I have ever had in my life. I wish I would have thought to take a picture or try to figure out what was in them, but I just sat there and savored every bite. I can still talk about those sandwiches with my sisters today!
Ever since, I have been trying to find a grilled cheese that was that good. I haven’t succeeded yet. But this one came pretty close!! Grilled cheese sandwiches have been one of my cravings through this pregnancy. At the beginning, I think I ate one every day!! So when I came across this recipe, I knew I wanted to try it. I was hoping it would taste like that one in Bayeux, but no luck there. But I did find a recipe that I’ll definitely make again – especially through the rest of my pregnancy!!
The ultimate grilled cheese sandwich.
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cups grated cheddar cheese
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 2 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- sea salt and freshly ground pepper
- 8 slices of bread
- butter
Instructions
- Combine the cheese, sour cream, mustard, salt and pepper. Spread onto 4 slices of bread, top with 4 more slices, and then spread a little butter over the outsides of the sandwiches. Cook in a non-stick skillet over medium heat until golden and crisp.
- -------------------
- source: Modern Classics: Book 1
That sounds like a wonderful grilled cheese. Even though I’m not pregnant I crave them all the time!
Oh, I LOVE grilled cheese and I’ve never thought about the combination of sour cream, mustard and cheese in the recipe. Yum. This will be a definite must-try!
It’s amazing something so simple can be so delicious. Oh that cheesy goodness and that grilled bread. I want one right now.
My husband loves toasted cheese sandwiches. We always called them grilled cheese growing up but I’ve adopted “toasted cheese” to appease my husband. I’m definitely going to have to try this recipe!
My friend went to Normandy this last winter – probably around Febraury/March. He brought back a ton of pictures and they were amazing to see. I’d love to visit Normandy sometime.
Oh my. That looks soooo gooood.
Hmmm…it never occured to me to actually combine grated cheese with other ingredients, but what a fantastic idea! I can see why you’re craving these, hormones notwithstanding!
The French sure know their way around a grilled cheese. It’s no secret that their fabulous bread and local cheeses help make them memorable. Looks like ideal preggers food. All the best with the rest of your pregnancy!
OH MY GOSH!! You toooo???
Grilled cheese sandwiches are acutally technically my favorite food EVER! I spend a lot of time fighting with servers at restraunts to just give me the stupid grilled cheese sandwich off the kids menu!
But the first part of this pregnancy I ate one EVERYDAY! it was what I called my “after school snack” even though it was technically after work. It was the first thing I did when I walked in the door!!
I totally have to try this.. looks good!
oh man.. now i realllly want a grilled cheese..and all i have a crappy leftovers for lunch today..
Nothing beats a grilled cheese sandwich. I’ve experimented a lot with different sliced cheeses, but never with shredded cheese. The mustard and sour cream sound like fabulous additions too.
Oh that drippy cheese looks nice and sour cream even…I really need to try this. WOW!
Oh, I could have this kind of sandwich everyday and be a very happy girl! Looks and sounds fantastic!
This looks wonderful! Sometimes the best taste in the world is a good grilled cheese!
I know how you feel. No matter how much you try you can never recreate things quite how you remeber them.
Still I would be happy with this cheese sandwich. It looks so inviting. That dripping cheese…
yum, grilled cheese – i haven’t had a simple grilled cheese in so long, and i can’t imagine why! i’ve never seen a grilled cheese sandwich with sour cream in it – it looks delicious! i’ll have to try this for a quick lunch sometime soon!
There is nothing like a good grilled cheese sandwich and it doesn’t matter if the weather is hot or cold, they always seem to hit the spot. Never tried this version before but you know I will as soon as I can!
Eating paninis and crepes in Europe doesn’t sound to shabby. Your grilled cheese version looks pretty good…..so does your new camera. Have fun with it!
I’m curious about what those French cheese sandwiches tasted like! You should eat plenty of these, great way to get that extra calcium you need right now
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In college, I loooved eating grilled cheese sandwiches with tomatoes and pickles…so good! You’ll have to try it, it’s simple but good…but only if you’re a pickle fan like I am
. I like the mustard idea in these, though, especially dijon!
I don’t know where I found you but I really like your blog. I have my own little food blog and I like your style.
That sounds incredible. I’ll try it for Sunday lunch. It sounds perfect right after church.
Oh my, Was blog hopping and came through to here. That sandwich certainly caught my attention-especially the dripping cheese! Sour cream and mustard huh? A good tip!
What a great memory to go along with your grilled cheese quest! This recipe sounds great! I’ve grated the cheese before, but not combined with the mustard. My son loves grilled cheese sandwiches made with havarti, muenster, cheddar, and freshly ground black pepper. I’ll have to make this version for him! I’ll sample the first bite … hmmm … guess I better make 2 sandwiches!
looks like the perfect cheese sammich from where i’m sitting! oddly enough, most of my travel memories somehow involve food…
What a great story. Sometimes the simple things really are the best!
The cheese sandwich looks awesome. I can see how it would give you cravings for more. The picture looks beautiful by the way.
Toasted cheese sandwich is just one of the things that I crave for at time. And with boiled eggs chopped and pushed in between the slices, its delicious!
Oh, YUM. I just bought some kind of expensive block Cheddar for grilled cheese plans this week, so I don’t think I’ll do this one for that blog post, but I will try it later in the week. I love the gooey-ness.
grilled cheese are always a classic and Congrats on your new camera
Looks great. The new camera seems to really be working!
Thanks for coming by my blog to check it out. I will be back to yours for sure.
I had an experience much the same as yours with pizza in Italy. I wasn’t into food at all back 4 years ago when my wife and I went for our honeymoon.
Joe
This is an exciting take on grilled cheese! I recently fell in love again with dijon mustard, and this sounds like a great way to incorporate it into a sandwich.
MMM, I loved toasted cheese sammiches. Especially French ones.
one of my favorite sandwiches! yum
That cheese sanwhich sounds really good for breakfast as I type this!
That’s funny… I wasn’t quite as into food when I was in France either. Now…forget it. I’d gain 10 pounds on the trip!
I love a fab grilled cheese too. This looks like an interesting one with the addition of sc. Have you ever tried to grill cheddar and cream cheese on a sandwich? That’s pretty darn decadent and good too!!
Whoohoo toasted cheese sandwich – I just love all the stringy cheese when you bite into it mmmmm
Rosie x
Just look at that gooey melted cheesy goodness!
That is so funny! When I was pregnant last yr with my twins all I wanted were grilled cheese sandwhiches. I made 2 a day for myself every day. The best snack in the world!
Mmm grilled cheese sandwiches. What I’ve discovered to be an incredibly delicious grilled cheese sandwich is when you fill the sandwich with too much cheese so that it oozes out, and when it does it cooks in the pan and becomes a little crispy and mmm so good.
What a wonderful idea – can’t wait to try it!
Maybe try it with Gruyere cheese instead of cheddar?
mmm…that looks so good! sounds easy to make but they look so professional!
Your French sandwich sounds like a croque madame, (croque monsieur, if with ham) – very good and similar to the recipe you found. some fanicier versions have bechamel sauce (white cheese) and are brioiled. Lokk up some recipes on line for a treat!
This recipe looks amazing! Thank you for sharing.
I've included it in my Top 25 recipe posts on Twitter because its such a winner!!
http://www.theinternetchef.biz
Thank you again for the beautiful post.
Love,
Bridge x
It sounds like you had a variation of croque-monsieur of which there are endless variations especially in Normandy and the sauce is often Bechamel or Mornay sauce even McDonalds France has a Croque-McDo which is a grilled ham and cheese.Although this sandwich usually has ham I have read of Normandy variations without ham.
this is by far one of the best foodgawker recipes i've tried…and i've tried a lot! thanks for sharing
Is it maybe something like this? http://www.easy-french-food.com/grilled-cheese-sandwich-recipe.html
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Oh wow, Im definately going to try this. I’ve seen the whole mayo and mustard routeing, but never sour cream.
French food is amazing. To be honest, I prefered their snackfoods to crepe suzette, garlic snails and frogs legs.
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