Cheesy Toast

I made this one weeknight when cooking wasn’t really something I wanted to do and comfort food was what I craved. We enjoyed it with some leftover fruit salad. It hit the spot.

This easy-peasy recipe is a ripoff, with some modification, from Jamie Oliver. A link to his recipe is in the notes below.

Cheesy Toast
Servings: 2-4
Prep time: 5 minutes
Total time: 15

Ingredients:

• 4 slices good bread, around 1″ thick
• 2 egg yolks
• 5 1/2 oz. sour cream
• 1 tsp. sweet paprika
• 1 heaping tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded smoked cheddar cheese
• pinch kosher salt
• several grinds of black pepper
• 4 Tbsp. red pepper jelly or jam
• Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

1. Combine egg yolks, sour cream, paprika and mustard in a bowl. Mix well.
2. Add shredded cheeses, salt and pepper. Fold in until cheese is well coated.
3. Place oven rack within 4″ of the broiler element and heat broiler for 5 minutes.
4. Place bread on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Place under the broiler until lightly browned. This was approx. 2 minutes for me; I rotated the pan once halfway through.
5. Flip the toast over and return to the oven. Again lightly toast the bread.
6. Transfer baking sheet to a cooling rack. Carefully spread 1 tablespoon of jam on each slice of toast. Spread 1/4 of the cheese mixture over each slice of jammed toast. Your goal should be to cover all of the edges of the toast. This should help prevent burnt edges.
7. Return the baking sheet under the broiler. Cook until the desired level of brownness is achieved. For me this was approx. 3 minutes, maybe 3 and a half.
8. Again transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack. Use a paring knife to cut a crosshatch pattern across each cheesy toast. Dose each cheesy toast with Worcestershire to taste.

Notes:
Ted had bought a loaf of cheese bread earlier in the week so we cut thick slices from it for a double cheesy taste treat. I used Hot Pepper Jelly for 2 of the toasts and (when I ran out of the first) a locally made red pepper jelly for the other two. Cabot Sharp Cheddar provided half the cheese. The smoke cheddar is from Smith’s Country Cheese in Winchendon (MA).

Here’s a link to Jamie Oliver’s recipe. You can watch him make his version of the recipe on his YouTube channel.