Aussie here, I’ve always considered a cheese toasty to be a cheese sandwich that’s been toasted in a jaffle iron. A toasted cheese sandwich, however, would be more similar to a grilled cheese.
Not sure if this was just the nomenclature used by my family or is in line with what others call them, though.
Cool, sounds a lot like a grilled cheese overall.
Way back in the day, when all we had was a space heater, my mom would sometimes crank the oven and then leave the door open. Just another space heater, but in the kitchen.
Often, before school, she would put a few slices of cheese on bread and then put them on a cookie sheet under the broiler (overhead heating element in an oven, in case that’s not immediately clear). The cheese melts, the top of the bread toasts, and the underside steams a little bit.
You can eat them in slices, fold them over, or put two melty cheese bread slices together to make a sandwich, which was my favorite. It was one of the only things I knew how to cook for a long while, and I have fond memories of it.
Problem is that I never really knew what to call it. Mom called it cheese bread, but I never really thought that fit. Given my penchant for making sandwiches out of them, I eventually started calling them baked cheese sandwiches. I was hoping maybe cheese toasty would be the thing, but the search continues.
Funnily enough, in Australia we call the broiler a grill, and what you’re describing is exactly what I thought a grilled cheese was. One of my favourite snacks when I was a kid was this, but with corn kernels under the cheese as well. Of course, being Australian, cheese and Vegemite was also a winning combination!
We do something similar, but I’m super lazy. Basically, I do bread + mayo + shredded Mexican blend cheese, and microwave for 15 seconds or so until the cheese melts. If I’m not lazy, I’d butter the bottom of the broad and toast it on a pan w/ the lid on, so the bread gets a little toasty while the cheese melts.
We just call it “bread w/ cheese,” because every other combination has a different meaning (cheese bread has cheese in the dough, cheesy bread has crispy cheese on the outside, grilled cheese has slices of [usually] cheddar). It’s pretty good though, the cheese gets really melty, and it’s really fast since the cheese is shredded.
It sounds pretty similar to what you make, and I think it’s one of those “let’s whip something up” dishes that don’t get a proper name.
Ah yes, the daily ritual of trying not to starve.
Your laziness sounds delicious, though. If you had to give it a fun descriptive name for everyone to use, what would you call it?
