The World's Best Lunch

Some people might say that Peanut Butter & Jelly is the best lunch. Others might vote for chicken noodle soup. In summer, millions could ask for nothing better than a Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato. My submission to the World's Best Lunch competition would have to be a perfectly grilled cheese sandwich.

So plain, so pedestrian, so completely delicious and satisfying.

It's harder to achieve than you might think. The pan must be hot enough to brown the bread but not so hot that it burns the butter before the cheese melts, and not so cool that the bread is still pale when the cheese reaches that perfectly divine stage of ooziness.

The ingredients matter, too. Oh, sure, you could just slap a couple of slices of Velveeta between two planks of Wonder Bread and grease the pan with margarine, but the resulting sandwich would be an insult to real grilled cheese. Instead, you should choose a firm bread, a bread with strong shoulders, but not too thick. The cheese can be just about any kind that gets melty and stringy in heat. The butter should be sweet.

Now, it doesn't seem so plain and pedestrian, does it? There is magic in a grilled cheese sandwich, lunch magic.