Saturday, March 6, 2010

Panini is the New Cupcake

My name is Amanda and I'm a panini-holic.

Sigh. It feels better just to say it, actually.

But I'm serious. Take good ingredients and smash them between two pieces of bread for 3-4 minutes and they become something entirely different. A vacation. An escape. A drug.

And I'm hooked.

So here's the latest in my panini adventures...

The Boston Mass

You'll need:


An apple
Cheddar cheese
Honey mustard
Bread

Here's another thing I love about paninis...the ease of assembly. For this one, you'll need to slice the cheese and apple, but that's it.


Spread honey mustard on both pieces of bread. Layer apples, cheese, and more apples on one slice and then cap it with the other.

After a quick 4 minutes in the press on medium heat...


a new panini is born.

And it's a good one. The apple & cheese pairing is not new (hence the Boston Mass monacre), so if you like that flavor combo you'll love it toasted up in sandwich form. The honey mustard may seem like an odd choice of spread but it really isn't. It's just tangy enough to counter the sweetness of the apple and richness of the cheddar. Mmm... I wish I had slowly eaten it as wrote this post like I planned instead of scarfing in the first couple of sentences.

Ah, well. There are worse things.

And, yes, I have started naming my paninis. I figure it's easier to do as I go along than to try to come up with all of them at once when I open my paninis-by-day, drinks-by-night, cupcakes-all-hours bakery... bar... thing.

In the meantime, I'm going to try to bring you a new panini each weekend. Sound good?

5 comments:

A Canadian Foodie said...

What kind of press do you have. The ridges look like real Italia cooking! But - maybe you had too much cheese? was it melted, or did that matter?
:)
Valerie

Evan said...

Bring back the cupcakes! Viva la cupcake!

Amanda said...

Ya know, Valerie, I had a whole discussion with myself about the melted cheese question. My cheddar was warm and soft but not melted to the point of gooeyness. I liked it that way for this sandwich, but it does leave a little something to be desired in the pictures, doesn't it?

And my press is a Hamilton Beach panini/grill combo. I have yet to use it for anything other than bread and paninis though.


Don't worry, Evan, cupcakes aren't going far.

Amber said...

i love paninis too! back in the days before I was able to cook, grilled sandwiches were my specialty.

i wish i could keep a panini press in my office so my lunch was always hot and delicious.

Ash said...

What a great combo!! I'm itching to try this now!!