Toum Grilled Cheese  Recipe (2024)

For a shortcut, if you are near a Trader Joe's they have a perfectly serviceable toum on the refrigerated section called Garlic Spread and Dip with the same ingredients.

This, like many NYT recipes I've made verbatim, has problems. Too many times I've had to go back a second time and make significant adjustments to amounts and cooking times to get the proper result. In this case with the toum, DO NOT simply "dump the neutral oil on top." The recipe calls for far too much oil and you will get a watery result that never fully emulsifies. Drizzle the oil a little at a time until you get the proper aioli emulsification. Made this way, it's quite delightful.

Olive oil can get bitter when processed in a blender or food processor. I process the garlic with coarse kosher salt and a little lemon juice first, to tame the bite a bit, then alternate with vegetable oil, lemon juice, and ice water. Nice and fluffy.

Trader Joe's sells a truly excellent toum (just labeled "Garlic Spread Dip" and stocked with the other refrigerated dips) that tastes fresh and homemade, if you want to skip to Step 4. I've relied on it for years.

I used olive oil, but probably only needed 3/4c.to get the right consistency; at 1.5c this turned into garlic oil, not toum. Still delicious though. Next time I will add the oil slowly as I go until getting the desired aioli-like texture of toum.

I’m crazy about grilled cheesies, but toum puts it over the top. I’m definitely on this.

Would be more clarity if the recipe specified to spread the toum lon the outside” of one slice of bread.My Lebanese friend instructed me to make this in a mortar and pestle and no the water. Also insists that it only be stirred in one direction with repeated addition of oil until it stops absorbing it. I was told a chopper/blender would make it bitter.This is a wonderful accompaniment to flank steak and as a base for vinaigrette made with lemon and olive oil and mint.

I bought Trader Joe’s Garlic Spread Dip & Sourdough Bread. Let cheese get to room temp. I add fresh tomato slices, pickles between thinly sliced Cheddar Cheese, Dijon inside of one bread slice, Garlic Spread on inside of other slice1st sandwich toasted very dark on first side down, flip side shortened time. Next sandwiches I lowered electric stove temp. Toasted beautifully on both sides. Cheese was perfectly melted onto tomato/pickles. Served with scratch tomato soup. Delicious!

I have made grilled cheeses with toum at my cheese shop and can confirm it definitely takes them to the next level.

As some suggested, I made this with 3/4 cup oil, adding a little bit at a time. I ended up with a nice frothy toum. Next time, I might reduce the salt to 1 tspn; for my taste -- I salt things only lightly -- it was a bit too much. I've used this not only for grilled cheese, but also as a spread for a turkey and swiss sandwich and in a spaghetti sauce. If you like garlic, it's a great, versatile condiment.

So when I was taught to make toum, we would alternate a tiny bit of oil (think like with making mayo) with a spoonful of lemon juice. I'm really intrigued by the immersion blender method, though. I want to try it.

What you’re aiming for is a fluffy kinda mayonnaise like consistency. Anything that will help you get that consistency will work. The immersion blender here is a quicker way. A mini-processor probably won’t do the trick, well, I wouldn’t go that route.

This may have already been said but it is much easier to spread the toum on one side of each of the 2 slices of bread. Have your cheese and pickles ready. Place one piece of bread toum side down and immediately put the cheese and pickles on top. Then top with the second slice of bread make sure the toum side is up.

Unlike everywhere else on the Internet, you should ALWAYS read the comments on a NYT recipe.Unfortunately...I didn't do that. I made the toum according to the directions and ended up with sad oily garlic.If you made the same mistake, here's what I recommend:1) grab another lemon, and another head of garlic2) start over, blending the garlic into a paste then alternating adding the juice of the other lemon and the garlic-oil a bit at a time (I did not add additional water or salt)3) profit

I added some hot honey, and it was very good

I got the Trader Joe’s replicant. Was not impressed with the sandwich. I’ll have to find something else to do with the rest of it.

I made this with my daughter and she and I had so much fun cooking this super simple recipe that tastes sooooooooooo good! My whole family loved this, even my very picky 8 year old! This is for sure a home run! It is also very easy to make the toum and grilled cheese. The toum adds a great touch of flavor!

I have tried to make toum twice in the past and had mostly given up. But when I saw this immersion blender technique, I gave it another go. Followed the blending instructions to the letter, even the part about dumping the oil right on top, all at one time. Nailed it! For the recipe itself, I chose canola oil and used much less than recipe called for. Next time I’ll reduce the salt, too. NYT Cooking to the rescue again!

There are many more exciting cheeses for this than Muenster.

perfect drunk food 10/10

My son in law regularly makes toum just because he likes to demonstrate emulsification. I will send him this recipe. I love reading that someone actually grew up in Qatar.

Has anyone made this sandwich with a panini maker?

Arrived in my inbox, read it, made it. SO GOOD! Although I only needed half the amount of oil to get me to the consistency of the toum in the picture. And a bag of pre-peeled garlic cloves from whole foods helped for a speedy lunch. The "tall, narrow container" that worked for me was the one that came with my immersion blender for whipping stuff...

How important are the cornichons? Wondering if I should just put on the side for my picky grilled cheese purist husband.

Nope. Toum requires the magic of emulsification to get the wondrous fluffly texture. You have to add the oil slowly and be really patient. It'll happen, emulsification is a magical sort of food alchemy when the oil and water molecules combine just so. I've also never heard of using anything other than olive oil in a formal recipe, no doubt restaurants substitute the cheaper ones. If an Arabic restaurant doesn't have fluffy toum, it's not a proper Arabic joint.

I had a jar of Toum that I had made for use with Grilled Chicken (just about the best way to eat Grilled Chicken). So, it made the construction of this excellent sandwich very easy. I added a good sprinkle of Aleppo Pepper to the sandwich to make it even more delicious.I note below that one individual used olive oil. Even thought the olive oil tastes good, it doesn't seem to work. I've made Toum many times and for some reason the olive oil doesn't fluff up like another neutral oil does.

Don't use olive oil to make toum. Stick to neutral oils, per the recipe.

Toum is one of my new favorite things . Just traded up to a great immersion blender so this recipe is perfect. Add a swirl of hot honey for the perfect sandwich or salad garnish.

What a lot of bother to make a grilled cheese snadwich!! We're not talking DB Bistro here. Just slather the bottom sides of dood snadwich bread with Duke's mayonnaise, insert a slice of A,erocam cheese and sautee in a cast-iron skillet.Flip when golden. Ninety0second perfection.

why can't you shortcut this with a mayo base? I already use mayo to crispy up grilled cheese, next time I will add lemon, garlic and salt to see it it gets a boost ala this recipe.