Super Crispy Grilled Cheese Sandwich

There's nothing quite like a grilled cheese sandwich: salty, melted cheeses and crisp, buttery pan-fried bread. But, put the sandwich down on your plate long enough to grab a bowl of warm tomato soup, and the bread will lose its crunch (the heat trapped between the sandwich and the plate, "steams" the sandwich, making it soggy). Before you give up on a super crispy grilled cheese sandwich (and before you attempt to balance the sandwich upright in order to avoid "steaming" it), try this one easy trick: swap your butter for olive oil.

Olive oil has a higher smoke point than butter does. That means it can withstand slightly higher temperatures without burning. It also means your grilled cheese sandwich can stay in the pan a little longer, getting nice and crispy while the cheese melts.

First, take two thick slices of chewy artisan bread and brush them with olive oil. Then, place them oil-side down in a hot pan and top them with grated cheese before covering the pan and allowing the cheeses to melt.  When the cheese begins to melt, remove the lid, sandwich the two pieces of bread, and continue cooking them until golden brown and crisp on both sides.

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Kristie Collado is The Daily Meal's Cook Editor. Follow her on Twitter @KColladoCook.