Prominent in the 1950s as a comfort food item, the grilled cheese sandwich made a comeback in different renditions in the 2000s. And one of those renditions is the cheesy dream formula.
There cannot be anything better than a crunchy, rich, mushy sandwich — ideally with some tomato soup — to warm you up on a cold day or just to be eaten as a delicious, quick snack. Here’s the recipe!
Health Benefits
As much as we long to hear that a cheesy dish is ‘healthy’, it is tragically not the situation here. Grilled cheese sandwiches such as the cheesy dreams are high in calories, saturated fat and sometimes sodium too.
They usually lack nutritional value, but all things considered, you can modify the recipe to make your grilled cheese sandwich somewhat healthy. You can make your cheesy dreams healthy by using whole-grain bread, similar to whole-wheat. This way you’ll get more fiber than you would with refined white bread.
Watch out the amount of cheese you utilize so you don’t incidentally go overboard. Remember to utilize the leanest possible layer of butter to limit your calorie intake.
Ingredients
slices crusty bread (thick slices): 4
cheese, sliced (medium or old): 8 ounces
slices bacon: 4
How To Make Cheese Dream
- Chop each of the bacon slices into 2 portions and sauté under a broiler or George Foreman grill. Once done, thump on a paper towel to get rid of fat.
- On each side of bread, dispense butter or margarine; include slices of cheese, and season with 2 pieces of prepared bacon.
- Transfer cheese dreams onto a baking sheet & put under the broiler for about 2 minutes or until you can see the cheese has melted (watch vigilantly).
- Once done, dish up and devour!
Trivia
- Made with essential fixings (bread, butter, and cheese) cheese dreams are said to have begun as "the cheese dream" amid the Great Depression. They were a decent and inexpensive choice for treating loved ones on a Sunday brunch or dinner
- A 1932 San Jose news story, "Cheese Dream New Favorite Sandwich," proposed the idea of sprinkling the cheese "in moderation" with a touch of mustard, cayenne, "and a little minced red sweet pepper". The story also suggested presenting the sandwich with "exceptionally hot, rich tomato sauce."
- The sandwiches may have originated before the Depression (the 1930s), but regardless of that, a 1918 Good Housekeeping issue has a reference of the cheese dreams and describes it as a lunch get-together dish, ‘our teahouse companion’.
- Cheese dreams were promoted in 1957 as a 55 penny luncheonette Lenten special in Daytona Beach, Florida's Sunday News Journal. In 1960, the Milwaukee Journal prescribed getting ready Cheese Dreams in the oven with scrambled fried eggs and ham.