Grilled Cheese with Garlic Gold Classic Balsamic Vinaigrette

We had grilled cheese this afternoon. I'd been waiting for my son to get home on spring break from UNC Chapel Hill to break out the halloom cheese. He's heard me and his brother raving about this cheese and has seen the photos here on Barbecue Master.

For anyone who has not tried grilled cheese, I must say that you are missing out. I'd rank grilled cheese right up with high quality chocolate. Yes. It is that good. I'm not even a huge cheese freak. I've never been one to just sit and eat plain cheese. I'd go with crackers with cheese. But . . . not with cheese on the grill. It just melts in my mouth, and I could eat tons of this stuff.

When grilling cheese, you want to marinate or brush it will oil or an oil based product. My favorite oil for grilled cheese is Garlic Gold. The last time I grilled cheese, I used Garlic Gold Oil. This time, I had a sample bottle they sent of their Garlic Gold Classic Balsamic Vinaigrette. Both worked great.

If you're not familiar with the Garlic Gold company, they have a ranch called Seven Oaks Ranch where they grow organic products like their garlic and then create and sell hand crafted garlic nuggets, oils, and vinaigrettes. I fell in love from the first taste, and the company keeps in touch. You really couldn't ask for nicer people, and I like to support great people making great products.

Getting the cheese ready was as simple as pouring some of the Garlic Gold Classic Balsamic Vinaigrette over the cheese. That's as easy a recipe as they come. Since the Garlic Gold oils and vinaigrettes are flavor infused, there's no need to add anything else. You don't, after all, want to overpower the cheese, and the Garlic Gold products are subtle but terrific.

I heated up the Char Broil Urban Grill which is a small two burner gas grill that is perfect for my small family. It is important to heat the grates well. So, I put the grill on high and put the lid down. When the temperature gauge hit about 600 degrees F, I opened the lid.

After the grill was good and hot, I opened the lid and waited about 5 minutes. You do want the grates hot but don't want a whole lot of heat otherwise. This is cheese after all, so don't go with high grill heat like a steak, or you will have a mess. A couple of my friends had this happen. I'm sure they just had too much heat going with the barbecue cheese. I've never had a fail on grilled cheese (knock on wood).

Grilled cheese can also be done over charcoal, and that adds a nice smoked flavor. In that case, do the same as with gas but offset the charcoal. The grate gets hot, but you have the space with no direct heat to actually grill off the cheese.

When the cheese starts to look melty (begins to droop slightly between the grates), it's time to turn the cheese. I just use grill tongs. The cheese holds together just fine.

Grilling cheese only takes a few minutes. I think I went around 6 minutes today with the lid closed part of the time due to the low temperatures outside. Brrrr. On warmer days, I may or may not close the lid. I don't leave the lid closed for long (maybe a minute), because I don't want to melt the cheese through the grates. So, this is a really simple grilled dish but one that you want to watch close.

My son from college thought the grilled cheese was fabulous, and he's going to pick up more at Whole Foods in Chapel Hill. I can't buy grilling cheese around here. I'm hoping Harris Teeter will start carrying it, because we sure do love it.

Grilled Cheese - Yanni Blew Away the Barbecue Master with This Yummy High Melt Temp Cheese

Wow! This Yanni Grilling Cheese is Really GREAT!

I decided to grill a pack of Yanni Grilling Cheese this evening. My son has been off to the National Boy Scout Jamboree in Washington, DC, so I wanted to have an extra special grilled meal this evening to welcome him home.

The Karoun Dairies, Inc. out of California had asked if I'd like to try out a free sample of the cheese. I am often asked about cheese for grilling, and there really are not many companies out there making cheese that will withstand the heat on a grill.

The Yanni Grilling Cheese is a semi-firm white cheese and has kind of a buttery taste. It's made from all natural California milk. No growth hormones or BGH/rBST.



You can eat the Yanni cheese right from the refrigerator, fry it in a skillet, or put it on the grill. No surprise. I put mine on the grill.

Before grilling the Yanni cheese, I rubbed it with Garlic Gold Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette. That's a natural olive oil with seasonings, and it's really tasty - one of my favorite grilling marinades.



I had the grill running close 400 degrees F when I put the Yanni cheese on. The temperature would have been a bit lower though (but not much), since I had to open the grill lid to put the cheese in.

After about 4 or 5 minutes I checked the cheese. It had nice grill lines and was soft but not melting all over the grill. It was easy to flip with tongs. The Yanni Grilling Cheese also, at this point, smelled really good.

With another 4 or 5 minutes, I pulled the cheese off the grill. It came off clean but was soft to the touch with the tongs.



When my son saw the Yanni Grilling Cheese, he asked if it was Greek cheese. He'd been to Greece this summer and said he had some cheese that looked similar to the Yanni cheese I'd just grilled. I told him that it was marketed as being great for Mediterranean dishes with the high melting point.

I like cheese, but I'm more likely to eat a little on a cracker and don't really go wild over cheese. My son - now he's the cheese fanatic. But, he had a kidney stone last year (age 16), so he has to watch milk products. I try to get him special cheese when he splurges. He loves the smoked gouda at Harris Teeter. There's also handmade cheese in the mountains here in North Carolina, but I have to drive up there to get it. Then, there's Yanni where you can check the map and find locations across the U.S.

My son tried the cheese. I asked him how it compared to the cheese in Greece. He is the thoughtful type. He paused for a bit. He said, "That cheese in Greece was really great, but this is better. Maybe it's the grilling. This is really super cheese."

I must say this is the best cheese I've eaten. I skipped the crackers for a change. Yanni cheese was so tasty that I did not want to water down that flavor with anything else. Oh no. I'm going to be spoiled now.

That's OK. A special treat like Yanni cheese is worth it - for sure.

*Note - The next thing I want to try is Yanni cheese on my Fire Wire bendable skewers. I need to decide what to put on there with the cheese. Hum. Maybe some lamb and tomatoes. Any other suggestions?