Last Minute Panini

I miss my George Foreman grill

You make a sandwich and then you have a thought: The weather is cold outside! Why do I have to eat a cold sandwich too? I wish my sandwich was hot.

Then all of a sudden, you have a fond memory of the George Foreman panini press your mom let you cook with when you were a tween. How absolutely delicious those freaking panini's were in your memory. Melted cheese and ham on Wonder Bread with a dollop of Heinz mustard. Standing in the kitchen with too much eye liner on and your hair in a side part.

You smile at the thought, and you look at your cold sandwich sitting there, so boring, stacked with quality ingredients on locally made sourdough, and you just wish you could smush it. Smush it so good.

So what do you do? You follow your desires of course! You make a last-minute Panini.

Time: 15 minutes?

Heat up your pan with a glob of butter while you arrange your sandwich. You can exchange these ingredients with any sandwich stuffs you already have in your fridge, but this is what I used. (Do I sound like I know what I’m doing?) My panini was heavy on the sour and savory flavors. Maybe try a ciabatta or levain instead of sourdough.

Ingredients:

• Pastrami

• Sliced havarti (or mozzerella, or any mild cheese to balance out the sour flavors)

• Whole grain mustard

• Sliced sourdough bread

• Kerrygold butter (for the pan)

• Optional: kimchi (I love kimchi on sandwiches)

If you're very hungry like me, take two bites out of your sandwich before it becomes a panini.

BUT HOW DO YOU SQUISH IT? You don’t have a freaking George Foreman grill anymore.

Directions:

Put your panini in the pan, then put a ceramic plate onto it, then put a stack of ceramic bowls onto the plate, and BOOM, it squishes and gets all hot like a quartzite deep under the crust of the Earth. (Hold up…is a panini technically a metamorphic rock? Formed by heat and pressure like the best of ‘em.)

(do not get this pan, it is in fact overpriced)

Let your panini get crisp and golden brown on each side. If you hear the cheese sizzling in the pan you know you’re doing it right.

(Can you see the browned butter in the pan? This pan gets too hot in places. Still delicious at least)

DO NOT BURN YOUR FINGIES ON THE CERAMIC PLATE when you remove it to flip the panini. Use a towel or some kind of heat protection.

Yes I forgot heat can travel, and my little fingies felt the thrill of cooking in the kitchen. The pure DANGER of a stovetop will surely reignite your passions.

Take a bite and hear the crunch and let the cheesy strings dingle dangle you all the way home to childhood.

Enjoy your bad recipe.

Love,

Amani