Frozen Chorizo is the Secret to my Most Popular Video Ever

I'd never been much good at TV or video work. If you've seen any of my older video content, such as America's Test Kitchen's very first YouTube video, you can see how awkward and stilted my demeanor is.

That's good ol' social anxiety for you. It's a thing I've dealt with ever since middle school, which may be surprising considering public speaking and video and television work is now a major part of my career.

You see, I never intended to make YouTube videos part of my regular professional output, but like most things in my career, it just happened that way. I had started a YouTube channel tied to my work at Serious Eats. Even in the early 2010s, it was clear which way the wind was blowing as far as online video consumption was concerned. I considered my YouTube channel to be a sort of experimental ground-zero for playing around with video. Back then, as I still do now, I tested out a variety of approaches to video production and scripting.

Some time in 2016 or so, I found myself in my kitchen after returning from a trip to Mexico during which I had borrowed my sister's GoPro camera which I'd used to capture some video while snorkeling. I thought to myself, "I wonder what it would look like to cook something with this strapped to my head?" (The movie Hardcore Henry had recently come out, and that first-person style was in my head.)

I shot a video of myself making hamburgers and didn't think much more about it. Over the next few months, I shot a few more videos in the same style, mostly because I realized that putting the camera on top of me spared me the anxiety of having it pointed at me.

But it wasn't until several years later, in February of 2020, just before we went into COVID lockdown that I decided to take a look back at my YouTube view counts and realized that I had a video that was head and shoulders above the rest: my Late Night Chorizo Grilled Cheese.

Today, that video sits at over 15 million views, and it's consistently one of my top bits of content.

Seeing those numbers was the kick in the pants I needed to realize that by placing the camera on my head, cooking what I want to cook, and talking about it in real-time, I could produce a new style of cooking video that was comfortable and feasible for me to shoot, and which my audience would hopefully find some value in.

And that's the story of how those first person videos became, and continue to be, a mainstay of my channel.

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These days, having become a lot more practiced at public speaking and working in front of a camera (not to mention lots of work in therapy and medication for anxiety), I feel comfortable presenting content in multiple formats on the channel, including a more traditional third-person, hosted style. (Note that we still try and keep those videos as casual and as close to third-person as possible).

I figured since I never actually provided any explanation for what I did during that video (much less provided an actual written recipe), it would be worth sharing some details. So here we are.

The sandwich itself is in large part a traditional grilled cheese. Two slices of bread, some cheese in the middle, a bit of other stuff for extra flavoring (please do NOT post that tired, misinformed copypasta about melts vs. grilled cheeses!). Though I generally use sliced cheese for my grilled cheese, in the video I opted to grate my cheddar because I wanted to mix in some flavorings with it. In particular, I wanted to add some grated chorizo.

Grating dry-cured raw stick sausages like Spanish chorizo or pepperoni is a technique I'd been experimenting with for a while to great success. You see, by freezing those sausages, you can grate them on a box grater in much the same way that you can use cheese. Moreover, you can use that grated sausage in many of the situations in which you would use a grated hard cheese like Parmesan:

• Grated soppressata over pasta.

• Grated Spanish chorizo over your omelette.

• Grated pepperoni over your pepperoni pizza (four double pep).

You get the idea (and if you've got more ideas, please share them with me in the comments!)

Aside from that, it's all a pretty standard grilled cheese sandwich using good sourdough bread, plenty of butter, and a low-slow griddle. I time my grilled cheese to the George Michael and Elton John version of Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me, flipping the sandwich just as Elton makes his appearance around the two-and-a-half minute mark. This timing has never failed me.

Chorizo Grilled Cheese

Every recipe I publish here is personally tested, tasted, and approved.

What I like about this recipe:

• Freezing chorizo, pepperoni, or other dry-cured sausages transforms them into a grate-able form that you can use to quickly add flavor to a variety of dishes.

• Using a protective layer of provolone keeps the cheese from soaking into the sourdough.

• Cooking low and slow ensures the cheese is melted by the time the crust is golden brown.

Yield: Makes 1 sandwich

Active Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Notes: Spanish chorizo is a raw, dry-cured sausage flavored with smoked paprika and can be eaten raw. It is not the same as Mexican or other South American chorizos, which are cooked or raw fresh sausages. I usually use Palacios brand chorizo, though any good Spanish chorizo will work. You can also use stick pepperoni or a good dry salami to similar effect. To grate the chorizo, place it in the freezer until completely frozen, then grate it on the large holes of a box grater.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 ounces (45g) grated sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 ounce (15g) grated Spanish chorizo or pepperoni (see note)

Small handful chopped fresh cilantro leaves and fine stems

1 slice (about .1/2 ounce; 15g) sharp or mild provolone cheese

2 thick slices of a good quality rustic sourdough loaf

Plenty of butter

Hot sauce of mustard for serving

Steps:

1. Preheat a griddle or a large pan to medium heat. Combine the grated cheese, the grated sausage, and the cilantro, and toss with your fingertips or a bench scraper until evenly incorporated.

2. Assemble the sandwich by placing half a slice of provolone on a piece of bread. Pile the cheese and chorizo mixture on top of it, add the second piece of provolone, and close the sandwich.

3. Melt some butter on the griddle and place the sanewich in the middle of it. Cook until golden brown and crusty, about 2 1/2 minutes. Flip the sandwich until the second side is golden brown and the cheese is fully melted.

4. Serve immediately, cut into triangle, with hot sauce or mustard for dipping.