Heaven on Earth - Cheese on Toast!!!

Ok as a child raised in the South I experienced the wonderful world of cheese toast. Our Mom often made it when we had tomato soup on cold winter days, well cold for central Alabama. The cheese on toast that we experienced was yellow processed Kraft American on Sunbeam bread, and we loved it. It was all we knew so that wonderful crispy brown cheese was perfection. Well like a lot of culinary discoveries this awakening came when I married my dear husband. He is from Scotland and lived most of his years in the UK. So when he introduced us to real cheese toast, Oh My Goodness!!

Traditional British cheese on toast is a national institution. What can be simpler and tastier, hunks of crusty square bread topped with mature sharp Cheddar cheese, and Worcestershire sauce! This is such an obsession that there is even a Cheese on Toast Day celebrated in the UK – the last Thursday in April has been set aside for this comforting treat. When creating your cheese on toast you can use a British cheddar, but if you can’t find a mature farmhouse white cheddar you can use a sharp cheddar from the US, such as Cabot Vermont Sharp. For bread our family likes a loaf that we get at our local Russian bakery it is very similar to square slice bread from Scotland. There is nothing like this Cheese on Toast, yummy!! This is a very different experience when compared to the Kraft processed American slice on Sunbeam that I was served as a kid…thanks goodness for culinary discoveries.


Ingredients

• 4 slices crusty bread (thick or thin slices that is your choice)

• 4 ounces mature British Cheddar or an American Sharp Cheddar, sliced

• 2-3 dashes Worcestershire (Lea & Perrins) sauce per slice

Directions

Preheat the oven on Broil.

Toast the slices in the toaster.

Place the toast slices on a cookie sheet.

Top each slice with the cheese, laying the slices of cheese as close as possible to the edges of the toast.

Sprinkle with Worcestershire sauce to taste.

Then pop the cheese on toast under the broiler.

Cook for 2-3 minutes or until golden and bubbling.

Serve immediately with Branston pickle, chutney, relish, pickled beets and/or pickled onions.

Additional notes: You can also top with a thin slice of tomato.

Serves 2 to 4