A new twist on an old classic

Last night M made delicious tomato soup. I pared it with the ultimate grilled cheese.

Ingredients (per sandwich)

• 1 cup of sharp white cheddar and fontinella cheese (shredded)
• chopped chili peppers
  
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• a dash cumin
  
• 2 slices of bread (don't skimp, get something thick and fresh)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400.
   
2. In a bowl, so soften butter. I used about 2 tablespoons per sandwich.
   
3. Mix cheese with butter, I used about a cup of loosely packed, fresh grated cheese per sandwich.
4. Add chili peppers and cumin to the butter and cheese mixture.
   
5. Spread more butter on the outside of all slices of bread. I used Brummel and Brown for this.
   
6. Spread the butter, cheese, chili pepper and cumin mixture on the sandwiches.
   
7. Bake at 400 for about 10 minutes. I recommend flipping the sandwiches about half way through. Use a baking stone if you have one.
8. To finish, I bumped the oven to broil at 475 -- about 2 more minutes per side.

I think baking/broiling was key. I'm not sure I can ever go back to pan frying my sandwiches.

In addition to adding chili peppers, I've also made grilled cheese sandwiches with:

• a slice of tomato (obviously)
• pickles (is that weird?)
• mayo (not normally my thing, but surprisingly tasty)

What do you usually put on yours?