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Cheese Toast Sandwiches
3/4 cup grated cheese 1 tablespoon cream 1/2 teaspoon salt A little cayenne rounds of bread 1/3 cup butter Put the cheese in a bowl with the cream and seasonings, adding more cream if necessary to form a paste. Spread between the slices of bread, and press closely together. Saute on both sides in the butter melted in the blazer of the chafing dish.
A chafing-dish grilled cheese, built as a spread rather than as slices of cheese laid in a sandwich. The paste is the point: it melts evenly and will not slide out.
- The blazerThe blazer is the upper pan of a chafing dish, set directly over the flame rather than over the hot-water bath. A heavy skillet over medium heat does the same job; a chafing dish runs cooler and slower than a modern burner, so watch the first side closely.
- Cheese"Grated cheese" is unspecified here; a firm cheese such as Cheddar or a dry factory cheese is the likeliest reading. Three-quarters of a cup grated is about 3 oz. Avoid pre-shredded cheese, which is coated with starch and resists forming a smooth paste.
- CreamA tablespoon is a starting point, not a measure. Add cream a few drops at a time until the mixture is spreadable but stiff enough to hold its shape - too loose and it weeps into the bread and out the sides.
- SaltHalf a teaspoon of salt against 3 oz of cheese and a third cup of butter is heavy by current taste. A pinch is closer to right; taste the paste before spreading.
- ButterA third of a cup is over 5 tablespoons, enough that the bread effectively fries. Use half, added in two batches so the second side gets fresh fat, and pour off any that scorches.
- HeatMedium, not high. The cheese paste has to soften through before the outside colours; bread that browns in under two minutes a side will come out with a cool centre. Cover the pan for the first minute if the cheese is slow to melt.
- Bread"Rounds of bread" most likely means slices cut into circles with a cutter. Ordinary square slices work; press the edges firmly and trim after cooking rather than before.
- YieldThe recipe gives no yield; roughly enough paste for a few small rounds, or about two standard sandwiches. As written this suits a light supper or late evening dish rather than a main course.
Chafing-dish cookery was popular in American households from the 1890s into the early decades of the twentieth century, and this recipe belongs to it: the blazer sat over a spirit lamp on the table, so the cook could work in front of guests without a trip to the kitchen. Cheese dishes were a chafing-dish staple - rarebits, fondues, creamed cheese on toast - because they needed only gentle heat and a few minutes, and they suited the late-evening supper the equipment was often used for. Cayenne was a common seasoning for hot cheese dishes of the period.