panini!

::dusts cobwebs off camera, pans, and counter::

it's a treat to have a sunday off--having two jobs makes it difficult to take the time to update the food blog.

but hey, carpe diem, right? or noctum. whenever kitchen experiments arise.

so for my birthday, my dear sister bought me a cast iron panini grill. well actually, it can grill anything--but it's got those fun lines which invite a hard, crusty bread to be smushed and branded with cool char lines. yes, this excites me. not having a grill, let alone a gas burning stove makes me sad. this is as close as i'll get, so i decided to finally experiment.



::gathering my raw materials::

there's nothing better than prowling the aisles of trader joes, with a yummy SOMETHING in mind, but nothing specific. 20 minutes later, a wedge of asiago, red and orange peppers, 2 small french baguettes, and a tub of gorgonzola made their way into my hand basket.

i decided to keep it simple and vegetarian. my hero panini was asiago with fried peppers and onions on the french baguette. of course you can pretty much cram anything in between two pieces of bread--but this was my first attempt. not much to making a fancified grilled sandwich, but hey...it was sure tasty!



ingredients:

- 1 small baguette
- 2 oz sliced asiago cheese (or whatever cheese you like)
- 2 oz sliced onions
- 2 oz sliced red/green/yellow/orange peppers (or whatever veggies you like)
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil



you can mix and match your cheese--i chose not to, but maybe next time i will.

directions:

cut your baguettes down the center. honestly, i'd recommend experimenting with bread. ciabatta would probably be my next choice if i decide to try this again.




set aside for now, and chop veggies of your choice.

put your panini pan on the burner, lid on top, and let it heat up at a medium to high setting.

in a separate pan, heat up about 2 tbsps of olive oil on medium heat. Slice your peppers and onions, and fry them up--separately or together. remove from heat, once they've cooked to your liking.




Set aside, and arrange your cheese on the bottom half of the panini.



By now your panini pan should be pretty hot (be REALLY careful, and have an oven mit handy), so go ahead and transfer the bottom piece to the inside of the pan. Layer your cooked veggies on top of the cheese, and cover with the top half of the baguette. Get your lid, and...well...essentially, smush it down.




ultimately, let your nose be your guide. You don't wanna completely char the bottom side. You can take a peek at the bottom corner of the bread with a pair of tongs to see if it's developed the nice stripey burn mark. if so, carefully flip the sandwich, and smush down with the lid for another minute or two. If you prefer just a toasted sandwich without the lines, then flip sooner on each side.

And that's pretty much it. Remove the sandwich from heat. Turn the heat off the pan, and allow to cool on its own before attempting to clean. Otherwise, enjoy! Get creative with cheese, meats, veggies, and dressings.