Into glory. Charred Chile Cheese.
We’re going to get right to it. That photo is bugging me. It just doesn’t do justice to the good we have happening here.
Close your eyes. Well, read this, then close ‘em. Think of a sandwich*. A warm hero roll with seeds or without, however your dental preference dictates. Garlicky, oniony, beef cooked crispy at its edges and with just this side of too much salt. Ballpark mustard and a gentle bite from raw red onions in there. On top, mayo, pickles, hot sauce, maybe pickled peppers if you’re looking to double up, and shredded iceberg. And in between, binding the two sides of our McDLT (hands up if you’re old enough to remember a McDLT), poblano-studded, rapturously oozy cheese.
I wanted a photo that lived up to the description. Maybe one never could. If it’s possible, I didn’t take it.
YOU MIGHT WANT TO MAKE THIS
*I wouldn’t presume to call this sandwich a Chopped Cheese (two different explainers there for your higher education and reading pleasure), as my experience with said legend is limited to eating precisely one in my lifetime. I’m not an authority and this sandwich does not wholly honour its tradition. It is not exactly a Philly Cheesesteak. Nor is that cheese really Pimento Cheese, which is historically cold, and unsurprisingly involves pimentos. It’s not potted cheese either—which is an exceptional method to use up odd ends of cheese, in case you’ve not met.
That said, this sandwich and that cheese, is owed everything to my knowledge of everything above, so therein the credit lies, and here we are.
CHARRED CHILE CHEESE (Makes 1 1/2 cups ish, more than enough for 4 hefty sandwiches. You’re welcome for the leftovers.)
Over a gas flame or in a heavy bottomed dry skillet over medium-high heat, or under a broiler, char 1 poblano pepper and 2 jalapeño peppers on all sides. Tuck them into a bowl to cool and then stem, seed and chop them finely with maybe 5 pickled jalapeños. Scrape into a medium bowl that already contains 30 g| 1/4 cup room temp cream cheese and a few dashes of garlic powder. Mashy mash all that together. Grate 227 g | 8 oz mixed mild melting cheeses on top (lean on cheddar, Monterey Jack, Havarti, etc etc.), followed by 2 tablespoons mayo. Fold to bring together in glory, adding stingy splashes of the jalapeño pickling liquid if needed. The aim is the quietest squelch, not soggy cheese. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
Those needs may include, but are not limited to: the sandwich below (and above), burgers, spread cold on crackers, on hot biscuits or cornbread, on savoury waffles with sausage alongside, and a couple of over-easy eggs on the plate, into pasta at whatever temp you find it, molten over grilled broccolini perched on a split baked potato … you get it.
A NOT PHOTOGENIC SANDWICH (Well, four of them.)
Brown 454 g | 1 lb medium fat ground beef, as you do. Once it is sizzling, and I mean sizzling, not steaming in its juices—wait for those to cook off, for the meat to start catching at the bottom of the pan (which is best to be a heavy-bottomed one), then come back here. Season as you go. Ok. Into that crumbled beef tip in 1 medium onion, finely diced, and 2 minced garlic cloves. Season again. When the onions are translucent and the meat is crackling and rustling in the pan, hit it with a not-to-subtle splash of Worcestershire sauce (this could be a favourite barbecue or steak sauce too). Let that cook off, stirring, then kill the heat. Scoot the meat to one side of the pan. In that space, spoon in two-thirds of the Charred Chile Cheese (about 1 cup). Let that relax while you sort out the rest.
Split four hero/submarine/hoagie rolls down their middle. You could toast these on another pan slicked with sheen of the beef drippings if you’d like. I am too lazy to dirty another pan. On the base of the bun I suggest a smear of ballpark/yellow mustard and red onion half moons cut whisper-thin. Then on the top half, the thinnest spread of mayo, just enough to allow a scattering of shredded iceberg lettuce to stick.
Divide the beef between the four bottoms, then spoon the slouching Charred Chile Cheese over your achievement. Adorn with pickles of your choosing, rain with hot sauce, decisively press down the be-lettuced top. The press is key. Shut your eyes and eat.
Another recipe: Speaking of such sandwiches, my Bombay Masala Chile Cheese Toasties over on Epicurious.
THINGS I WOULD TEXT IF I HAD YOUR NUMBER
The continuing Farmer Protests in India.
Riz Ahmed and the importance of “interrogating our own ideas of what progress looks like” and “looking for opportunities to bring all of [oneself] to things.”
I May Destroy You’s Golden Globes Snub Raises a Larger Question: Whose Stories Are Seen as Universal?
Applications are open for CJF Black Journalism Fellowship Program.
Cicely Tyson on Rejection, Her Mother and Choosing the Right Roles.
Janaya Future Khan’s Sunday Sermons.