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| melted cheez... |
A sourdough panino (panini is actually plural) with roasted garlic chicken breast, salami, Swiss cheese, pan roasted tomatoes and Balsamic caramelized onions. I'm not big on sandwiches for dinner, but we've been stuck with this seemingly bottomless bag of Costco chicken breasts - I'm sure I've made frequent mention of my dislike for chicken breast elsewhere if not here - for what feels like forever, and I've been running out of novel uses for it. (If I don't particularly care for chicken breast, I am grateful for the challenge it presents: how to make yummy out of possibly the most uninteresting cut of protein known to man.)
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| panini fixins :) |
While the notion of a sandwich just screams practical, workaday, utilitarian LUNCH, there is something delightfully elevated about a panino with the buttery crisp of the pressed bread and the unique flavor phenomenon that occurs when salty, savory meats meld with tangy tomatoes, sweet caramelized onions, (and peppery arugula if I'd had it) in that loveliest of goos that is melted cheese. And it can't be achieved by just toasting bread and melting cheese. No. It MUST be pressed with sufficient weight (on an oiled OR buttered cooking surface) to bring and bind those fillings together while the bread has a chance to crisp to a dark golden brown that tells you that all the stuff inside is deliciously intertwined.
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| Golden brown goodness... |
The obvious vessel for this job is a panini press, but my sense of practicality extends to a general disdain for most kitchen gadgets, and a particular one for those that don't get used often and take up lots of space. I've heard it suggested, and it stands to reason, that a foil covered brick makes for a good press. But the only bricks I've got laying around belong to a retaining wall and are so heavy as to render my panino a crepe, so my solution was a stock pot filled a third high with water.
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| Double Duty Stock Pot |
Enough surface area to press 2 panini at once and enough weight to marry the ingredients without turning them into pancake. Not to mention no loose dirt or mortar should you fail to wrap it properly (or at all).
A couple of these and a bottle of Sam Adams for dinner, one more chicken boob down, two to go, stock pot goes back into the cabinet, and I've still got the same amount of counter space I had yesterday.
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| WWMD? |
How's them for tricks?
shinae
Thank you very much for sharing this simple yet rediculous-ly delish tid bit. I actually borrowed this one along with some "dude food" for an easy cheesy dinner night with just the MR. He loved every bit of it. but i told him not to get used to all the deep fried greasy num nums because it's not too figure friendly... but hey, a girl's gotta have some fun every once in a while. :)
ReplyDeleteplease keep up the great food shtuff. I am enjoying your honestly corky views on food, life and everything in between.
your recent avid fan
~Rachel~
Thanks as always for your comments, Rachel. I've been a little backlogged on posting due to the holidays and a little morning (actually all day) sickness, but you've given me a good push to get back on it! I'm so grateful that you're reading. :)
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