What is a patty melt? A traditional patty melt consists of cheddar or Swiss cheese and original hamburger patty, stuffed in between two slices of rye bread. (However, you may substitute sourdough for rye nowadays.) Since patty melt is a toasted or pressed sandwich, it is also considered as a form of Panini or another variety of grilled cheese. You may also note that a patty melt use bread instead of buns, usually used on hamburgers; nevertheless Americans prefer their patty melts between buns to give it an American twist.
Here are the steps in making an outlandish patty melt, traditional style:
- First, prepare the following cooking tools and ingredients. Make sure that they are good quality ingredients only. Good quality ingredients expose you to quality flavors.
- Onions (ratio to sandwich: quarter is to one)
- Ground beef (lean beef is much preferable)
- Butter (or olive oil for health conscious eaters)
- Swiss cheese
- Rye bread (or sourdough will be okay, too)
- Worcestershire sauce
- Salt
- Pepper
- Iron-cast skillets (or ordinary skillets will do)
- Stove
- Spatula
- You are then, ready to do these simple and stress-free steps:
- Put two season cast iron skillets over the stove. Preheat (in medium level) one of the skillets.
- Prepare onion rings. Refer to the advised ratio: a quarter of an onion is to one sandwich.
- Soften two tablespoons of butter on the preheated skillet. (Or if you’re using olive oil, simply put oil into the pan.)
- Put the onion rings into the skillet and continuously stir them until they are thoroughly exposed to butter (or oil). When you are convinced that they are okay, let them be for about 10 minutes, this time without stirring.
- After 10 minutes, stir them again with the other side exposed to the heat. Adjust temperature to low heat. Mix until they are caramelized. This may take up to 15 minutes.
- For the patty itself, put one quarter pound (or 113g) of ground beef into a bowl. (One quarter pound is just one patty melt.)
- Season ground beef with salt, pepper and a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce. Blend them together.
- Look for a rectangular shaped mould or a Tupperware will do. Grease it with oil and mould patty. Be reminded that the mould or Tupperware that you should use should be in proportion to the bread slices that you will use.
- Heat the other skillet into high heat. Add two tablespoons of butter or oil when the skillet is already hot.
- Put the molded patty into the skillet and leave it be for estimated 2 minutes.
- Using a spatula, flip the patty onto the other side after 2 minutes.
- Place onto plate when cooked.
- For the third part, one of the skillets. Be sure not to leave any crumb or morsel of burnt bits as they will greatly affect the quality of your patty melt sandwich.
- Arranged your sandwich into desired style, but you can simply put it into this basic order: rye bread, slice of Swiss cheese, burger patty, caramelized onions, another slice of Swiss cheese and rye bread.
- Now, melt two tablespoons of butter on medium heat.
- Put the sandwich into the skillet. Be careful with your sandwich as not to affect their order or pattern. Grill till the bread turns into golden brown. Remove and place into a plate.
- Add more two tablespoons of butter into the skillet. Put the sandwich back into the skillet, with the other side this time.
- Take the sandwich as the other part turns golden brown.
- Put onto plate and serve. You may add French fries as side dish to your sandwich.
