Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Hotel Room Iron Chef

I'm sorry to disappoint those of you hoping this sandwich was conceived during some late night drunken gambling binge, but the truth is it was a premeditated event done in the middle of the afternoon, after drinking zero beers. I'm no safety expert, but a sleep-deprived drunk wielding a red-hot iron is a hard-to-explain trip to the emergency room waiting to happen.

The reason late night hotel food is overpriced and of questionable quality is the simple fact that you are a captive clientele. If you want a grilled ham and cheese at 2AM, you're going to pay dearly for it - probably twice. Besides, this is fun to do, and even though you can only make one at a time, they do cook quickly. Enjoy!


30 comments:

An Ng. said...

I knew it!! You made the grilled cheese with iron.

Anonymous said...

Ummm, hot melted cheese sandwich and cold beer; I feel a party coming on! I may not be allowed to cook in my dorm room, but there's no rule about ironing. Thanks Chef John!

Connie T. said...

Very inventive.

Anonymous said...

I've reported this to the Bored of Health, Certificate of Appreciaton from them is on it's way to you Chef. I'm a bit surprised though that you didn't get a couple of relish packets to go with it.

Anonymous said...

haha, nice... ive always wanted to make a grilled cheese sandwich from an iron after watching the blues brothers do it, great!

Anonymous said...

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Wow... This is so cool. I never knew you could actually do that with an iron! Nicely done. But you're probably right, people shouldn't really try this though. (If they want to try this, then I guess they try it at their own risk.)

ghanima said...

Heh. Iron Chef.

Anonymous said...

I did this many years ago in a dorm room with my own iron. It, um.... didn't go so well, mainly because I left off the foil. Well now I know who to blame it on. Even though you hadn't posted this at that time, but what's 20 years on the time space continuum. I may even get a non linear time constrained lawyer to sue your a$$!

Kathy Maister said...

Chef John you are the BEST! Talk about a perfect grilled cheese sandwich! I have a "classic rendition" of how to make a grilled cheese sandwich over at startcooking.com, but I do have to admit yours is a lot more fun!
Cheers!
Kathy Maister
startcooking.com

Anonymous said...

You are hilarious!!!!!!! Brilliant technique!

Anonymous said...

I just wanted to say I love your site, But am not impressed by this because every day, 3 times a day, I cook in bathroom!

Chef John said...

That's OK, I used to take bathes in the kitchen sink.

Anonymous said...

I have made instant soup/ramen in the coffee maker before...the residual caffeene give the noodles an extra kick. What can you do with a curling iron?

Chef John said...

warm the inside of a hot dog roll, while the dogs steam in the coffee maker.

Jairus said...

i think you should create a whole new category in your sidebar devoted to ingenius ways of cooking. smoked salmon in the shower, hardboiled eggs in the dishwasher. that sorta thing

Anonymous said...

ahahaha, i love it and will use it! :D

巴黎的花 said...

This is totally awesome!!!! this video just made my day chef John!

Anonymous said...

I have successfully steamed, foil wrapped, salmon in my dishwasher, on the dry cycle. I chose this method because other items were in the oven using a temp that wouldn't allow sharing, and it worked well.

Anonymous said...

Irons, and other implements aside, penguins warm eggs on top of their feet, chickens sit on them, so can humans learn to heat food using a similar technique?

Suffering with a bad cold and fever, heat a can of chicken noodle soup by holding it between your legs!

Chef E said...

...I knew there was more out there for me to learn, lol -Chef E

Chef John said...

Must...resist....Italian sausage...joke....can't...hold on..much...longer...

Timmy said...

Sadly, I'm not a fan of ham & cheese

Greg said...

I'm glad you used foil because Rosie O'Donell may have ironed her underwear with that iron.

Oh the horror.....

Chef John said...

Rosie doesn't really strike me as someone that's big on ironing underwear. I'll stop there.

Chef John said...

Jeff, I've found very few people in the Fashion industry enjoy ham and cheese for some reason.

Food Junkie said...

Well I think Scott Adams (author if the Dilbert comic strip) must read this blog. Hotel iron grilled cheese is featured in this mornings cartoon as a wasy to cut travel costs. Although their suggestion that hotel soap is almost the same as cheese......

Anonymous said...

I just watched Benny and Joon for the second time--my all time favorite movie (except for Harold and Maude) and Sam (Johnny Depp) irons his cheese sandwiches. That's why I just spent 20 minutes looking for this post. I love it. I gotta try it.
Sam also makes mashed potatoes width a tennis racket, but I think I'll leave that one alone.
Jackie

Anonymous said...

JOHN JOHN JOHN, did you say acrosst at 2:06? really? I thought you were smarter than that.

Mark Hayes said...

Greetings from 2013.

Congrats on your success. This is the best not-worst sandwich I've ever made.

The only way to grill a sandwich by iron, or other, is by sound. If it sizzles, let it be. When its quiet, its dyin'!