Okay – I’ve been known to do the impossible – partly because I am ‘impossible’. For example, I found a way to make microwaved poached eggs – after years of experimentation.

And now you see, what ‘everybody’ might think is grilled cheese on toast. Except that it isn’t.

This is not a recommendation to eat cheese. Tough if you don’t like cheese of any type or you’re allergic to cheese, or it nauseates you – I couldn’t give a flying flamingo – just move on swiftly!

I was intruded upon as below. Ignore and move to the next section if you wish.

How it happened

Riggghht! As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, it isn’t grilled cheese. Yes there is cheese. Yes that is toast. But it is not ‘grilled cheese on toast’. But it is 99% the same taste and texture.

So the story goes that over the last 3 months I’ve been working on how to get what we know as ‘grilled cheese’ onto toast, without grilling the cheese.

I realised that grilling is mainly to melt the cheese. Did I say ‘mainly’? Just checking. Yes I did!

So – I tried microwaving cheese on a plate and then scooping it onto the toast. That didn’t work well, because loads of cheese would get stuck to the plate and the shape of the cheese would not remain square. I  needed a solution to both of those.

So – I put it in my processor. What’s that? Jeeez. I have to explain this again! It is called the unconscious. Yes – it is those parts of the brain where people – being their own pop-psychologist – think that nothing happens, except that I know different.

Then Bingo! The solution arrived suddenly as if from ‘out of the blue’. I was in the kitchen and there it was – three words – greaseproof baking paper! And actually I knew it would work before I actually set it to work.

I just cut a piece of greaseproof paper, to about 2 cm larger all round the bread. I then sliced the cheese – three slices  arranged to be roughly square. I put them on the paper and into the microwave on a medium setting for about 50 seconds.  [If you’re doing this remember to press the ‘start button’ on the microwave! ??] Then after the cheese was melted, I just held the paper close to one edge of the bread, angled it, and it slid nicely onto the bread. No mess and it retained the squarish shape.

It looked no different and tasted the same as if it was grilled.

Advantages:

1. 50 seconds compared to about 5 min for the grill to get to temperature and then melt the cheese.
2. Energy saving – no need to spend on heating a grill and running up my electricity bill.

Disadvantage:

1. There is no crispiness of slightly burnt cheese that some people like.
2. Toast may get a bit cold if you toast before microwaving the cheese.

Solving disadvantages

1. Blow torch the melted cheese for 10 seconds or whatever works for you, to get the right burnt or crispy texture/taste.
2. To avoid toast going cold, do the toast to complete just before the cheese is melted on the greaseproof paper.

Disclaimer & Guidance