Saturday, December 17, 2011

Simply Saturday Paninis!

We bought a panini grill.
I can deduct it from my taxes because I'm actually doing research for "His Mistletoe Family" due out in December of 2012...

I LOVE THIS THING.

This is what it looks like:

I got it for 24.99 on Black Friday. One of the few things I bought.
It's big.
It wipes clean.
It makes amazingly good melty-melty sandwiches and the cheese gloms everything together, just like it should.

I am happy.

Here was our first panini experiment:



Sauteed chicken breast sprinkled with Montreal chicken seasoning
Roasted red peppers
Yellow banana peppers
Ranch dressing
Swiss cheese for me, cheddar for Beth
Sun-dried tomatoes.

Oh. Yum.

I let the chicken saute while I cleaned up the kitchen after the least-un's left.
And then we built the sandwiches.
We buttered the bread just like you do for grilled cheese.
Then I sliced up the chicken into strips so the cheese could 'glue' it back together...

This pic has nothing to do with Paninis and everything to do with why child safety locks are NOT foolproof. Obviously these toddlers are not KIX fans...Unless they are crunching them beneath their feet. Starring in this episode are (from left front) Mary Ruth, Megan Sherri, MacKenzie Marie, Logan Allen and Brody William...)
Heated Mr. Panini Press
Slid in sandwich
Closed press....

And five minutes later had the most delicious sandwich ever created in the history of most of the world.
I don't want to get carried away in my enthusiasm. You understand. I am the queen of subtle.

A-stinkin'-mazing.
And easy.
And it wipes clean.
This could be a dream machine.
I am not kidding.

9 comments:

  1. Oooh, a panini press sounds like a great research investment! And the sandwiches sound so easy...

    I think I'll put one on next year's Christmas list.

    Meanwhile, I'll try your panini recipe on our griddle - and call it a super grilled cheese :)

    Oh, and of course His Mistletoe Family will be purchased long before Christmas...

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  2. Good morning, Jan! I was too tired to wrestle with Mr. Blogger last night to show these pics, but then I downloaded Google Chrome and my pics went up WITH NO PROBLEM. I AM SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW!!!! YEEEEEEE HAAAAAAAAAAW! YIPPEE KI YI YAYAYAYAYAYA!

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  3. Okay, Ruthy. I'm wondering about the after photo. Hmmm.... Did you gobble it up so quickly you forgot to take the shot???

    :)

    Yes, Google Chrome is so much faster!

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  4. The Kix picture is a hoot! You'll have to bring in a dog or two for clean-up duty :)

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  5. These sound delicious! Thanks for a good idea for lunch. : )

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  6. OH that looks yum!! I love paninis. And the pic of the kiddies is too cute!! :)

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  7. Oh my stars, I should have brought in the dog. I used the broom... Dork on me!!! And Carrie, doesn't this just work totally??? Although for us it's a suppertime friend because I've taken a leave of absence from cooking during the week. We live on sandwiches and quick-dish wonders so that I can stay on my writing schedule, but hey, if someone throws me the occasional panini or salad, I'm SO HAPPY!!!

    And we first bought another brand on Black Friday at one store for $20... Then popped into BonTon where they had this one for $25... So much more griddle space, like 40 square inches bigger.

    So we bought these, went back to 'other store' and returned theirs, and then had coffee.

    And because we went out at 6:00 A.M., the stores were amazingly well-staffed and quiet because the crazies came out at midnight.

    I was snoring at midnight. Lovely!

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  8. And Missy, yes, I forgot to take the final pic!!! Can you tell how hungry I was?????

    Oh my stars.

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