I bought a panini press! Now what?

[lemniscate]

I'm one to talk, my panini press came from the MOMA store on clearance, clearance, clearance after an Italian themed installation.   The brand is Milantoast, which I had never seen here in the States.   It's a heavy beast.

[Smithy]

39 minutes ago, lemniscate said:

I'm one to talk, my panini press came from the MOMA store on clearance, clearance, clearance after an Italian themed installation.   The brand is Milantoast, which I had never seen here in the States.   It's a heavy beast.

 

Well c'mon, show it off and strut your stuff!

[lemniscate]

5 minutes ago, Smithy said:

 

Well c'mon, show it off and strut your stuff!

Ah, it's offsite at the remote kitchen.  Don't cook there in the summer.

[TdeV]

No fair @lemniscate. Here we are sitting with our tongues hanging out, waiting for your big Reveal, and then what –– peanuts?

[lemniscate]

13 minutes ago, TdeV said:

No fair @lemniscate. Here we are sitting with our tongues hanging out, waiting for your big Reveal, and then what –– peanuts?

29 minutes ago, Smithy said:

 

Well c'mon, show it off and strut your stuff!

 

Best I can do is a chef video of the press,  mine is not this clean.

[Shelby]

Just a little reminder that quesadilla type things work well --if you don't mind cleaning up some cheese off the maker that is lol.  It gets the tortillas nice and crisp without having to use oil and especially without having to flip them over.

[TdeV]

😎 I have texted my garage sale shopper friend to keep an eye out . . .

 

 

Edited July 3 by TdeV (log)

[Smithy]

32 minutes ago, Shelby said:

Just a little reminder that quesadilla type things work well --if you don't mind cleaning up some cheese off the maker that is lol.  It gets the tortillas nice and crisp without having to use oil and especially without having to flip them over.

 

I just found a package of corn tortillas in the freezer. Does it work with corn tortillas as well as flour tortillas?

[Shelby]

19 hours ago, Smithy said:

 

I just found a package of corn tortillas in the freezer. Does it work with corn tortillas as well as flour tortillas?

I've never tried corn but I don't see why it wouldn't!  I'd maybe brush a bit of oil on ....but you might not even need to do that. 

[Shel_B]

On 2/18/2024 at 5:10 PM, Kerry Beal said:

Found this - Alton Brown - seems to have some interesting suggestions - the spatchcocked chicken would be brilliant I think. 

Great link ... that's the old Alton that I loved!

[Smithy]

9 hours ago, Shel_B said:

Great link ... that's the old Alton that I loved!

 

I missed that when Kerry first posted the link, so thanks for the quote! Gotta admit I thought the "pizza" they showed looked pretty puny, but there are some interesting ideas there. Hmm, I might even get adventuresome and try the omelette idea. When I don't have company, that is.

[Katie Meadow]

I'm sorry, but the title of this thread is just begging for it. Now what? Use it once. Then pack it up in the box you so cleverly saved and put it on a shelf in the garage. That way, one day when your children or grandchildren have the job of cleaning out your house, they will say, "Wasn't there an easier way to make a grilled cheese in those days?"
 

[Smithy]

On 7/3/2024 at 3:40 PM, Shelby said:

Just a little reminder that quesadilla type things work well --if you don't mind cleaning up some cheese off the maker that is lol.  It gets the tortillas nice and crisp without having to use oil and especially without having to flip them over.

 

On 7/3/2024 at 4:14 PM, Smithy said:

 

I just found a package of corn tortillas in the freezer. Does it work with corn tortillas as well as flour tortillas?

 

On 7/4/2024 at 11:16 AM, Shelby said:

I've never tried corn but I don't see why it wouldn't!  I'd maybe brush a bit of oil on ....but you might not even need to do that. 

 

Thanks so much for the reminder about quesadillas, @Shelby! I dug out the package of tortillas I'd found in the freezer. It turns out there were both corn tortillas and flour tortillas. Both, er, a bit long in the tooth from all that time in the freezer, and more crumbly than flexible. Still, they were good for proof of concept.

 

I sandwiched cheese between both sets, and pepperoni inside the flour tortillas. Brushed both sets with oil, and pressed both until done. Then I had to wait...and wait...and wait until they were cool enough to handle and eat.

 

 

Nice crunch. Nice flavor, although one of the cheeses is something I won't buy again. I think I preferred the flour tortillas to the corn tortillas for this purpose, but they both worked.

 

The only problem was that I really didn't need BOTH those tortillas AND the salad I'd made for dinner.

 

 

Serious excess.

 

Good, though.

 

I'll remember the quesadilla trick. Cleanup won't be bad.

[Smithy]

I tried the griddler in its open position for cooking bacon last night. It turned out to be a nice, low-key way to cook the bacon while I was doing other things as well. Yes, I had to pay attention to the bacon, but it cooked slowly enough that there was minimal spattering. I could have done it in the oven on a baking sheet, but this used less energy.

 

 

I could also have done the whole thing in the microwave with paper towels, but then I wouldn't have had the liquid gold we call bacon grease. I'll need some of that in the same dish for which I need some of the bacon. The grease dripped neatly into the catch tray below, and the griddle plates were easy to clean after.

 

 

An even better strategy would have been to use those bacony griddle plates to grill and press a sandwich. As it happened I had the second half of the previous night's sandwich, so it wasn't necessary.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 21 by Smithy
Removed extraneous verbs (log)

[rotuts]

a friend of mine mentioned using a particular bread I do have 

 

from a very very fine bakery on the Cape 

 

Pain d'Avignon

 

https://www.paindavignon.com

 

he mentioned mayo , lightly , perhaps on the grill sides ?

 

then the usual tasty stuff in the middle 

 

so :

 

do you coast the bread on the press side w :

 

butter ?

 

olive oil ?

 

mayo ? 

 

something else ?

 

Nothing ?    as the bread as above is so good ?

 

thanks

[rotuts]

well , I went w the light coating of mayo , for all sides :

 

campari ( arm TJ's )  roughly chopepd

 

 

the bread 

 

 

light mayo on the bottom bread , w campari and brie :

 

 

light mayo on the top slice 

 

 

Panini'd 

 

 

it take more time than the green button  ( done ) suggest , but very nice 

 

cut on the plate 

 

 

 

this  has a bright an long future here

 

a this bread , these tomatoes and this cheese 

 

now that i9s cooler .

 

very very nice.

 

light mayo on all four surfaces works very very well fo me

 

Edited August 27 by rotuts (log)

[rotuts]

a P.S.:

 

a big thank you to @Smithy

 

for finding her PPress , at the thrift store .

 

and enabling me to get mine .

 

mine has now an every day home.

 

all the fine ingredients , w variations , are very easy for me to get.

 

[Smithy]

@rotuts, I'm so glad to see your success and delight! I'm also glad I wasn't aware of your question until after you'd gone ahead with your sandwich. I've used olive oil a couple of times, then given up on that and gone to butter. I've never tried mayonnaise on the outside of the sandwich. Now I know that also can be done, and tasty.

 

Your first sandwich looks delicious! 

[rotuts]

I made a few adjustments for my second try :

 

tomatoes were a little wet , leading to the beginning of sogginess , in the middle of the panini.

 

can't have that can we , so:   seeded the Campari's

 

 

I added some chopped fresh spinach    

 

 

this is the brie I get at Tj's :

 

 

it matures and develops flavor and ooze at home.  ooze is what you want w Brie .  this is early Oooze.

 

I get the worst looking versions of this cheese @ Tjs's , as some of the Ooze is already completed.

 

On the Press this was the result:

 

'

 

plates and immediately inhaled:

 

 

some of the chopped spinach ended up on the P.P :  it got a bit crispy , as you can see R slice , lower down

 

that was unexpected and ended up being very tasty .

 

one thing Ive learned about  Mayo-P.P.-Sandiwhich's  

 

you are not going to loose weight when you study them.

 

those Few that are of the MiracleWhip crowd :   try a MW PP

 

just look for the best fresh bread w a good crumb you can find.

 

tasty stuff .

 

 

[Smithy]

@rotuts, thanks to you I tried mayonnaise on both the inside and outside of my grilled sandwich last night. The contents, aside from mayo and mustard (inside) were a good cheddar; some sliced and roasted summer squash seasoned with dill and salt and olive oil before roasting; thin slices of salami; and lettuce and sauerkraut after cooking.

 

My photo isn't as nice as yours (couldn't get the phone to focus), but the sandwich was pretty tasty. I think perhaps having mayonnaise on the outer surface made it brown a bit more. The coating might have been a bit more firm, but I think it was also a bit more greasy than if I'd used butter only. More studies will be needed. 🙂

 

[Katie Meadow]

https://www.southernkitchen.com/story/eat/2021/07/22/chef-y-trick-supposed-make-better-grilled-cheese-but-does-it/8055197002/

 

In this article the mayo on grilled cheese hack gets the full monty. The writer attributes the popularization to Gabrielle Hamilton,which is where I first heard about it. You can count on GH to come up with interesting new ways of using common ingredients. If you don't want to spend time down this rabbit hole I will provide the takeaway: it's faster than using butter because you can fry mayo at higher heat, but guess what: it lacks the flavor of butter. I tried it once. Personally I am good with cooking my grilled cheese low and slow in a cast iron skillet. And I hold firm to the philosophy of mo buttah mo bettah.

[rotuts]

@Katie Meadow

 

thank you for that article .  very interesting.

 

and  @Smithy  you bet the PP is a little greasy in the hand.  but a butter version , w enough butter to taste

 

is a little greasy too.  and what would a grilled cheese be w/o a little grease fatty flavor .  

 

esp on the fingers to lick off ?

 

I have some of that Irish ' full fat ' butter , and will try that next.

 

I do like tart , and the mayo gives the PP a bit of tartness .  Th WP crown are going to be estate when they

 

use ( u[p ? ) their MW on PP.

 

and one more thing about Mayo :  directly from the refuge its very spreadable  Buttler is not

 

and when you are dying for a PP ?  those nano-seconds count.

 

both B and M work very well .  mix and match.  Ill leave the MW to the MW crowd.

 

its the bit of sweetness w MW that points me to M all the time.

 

but Aldi has a MW clone , taste very similar to popular MW , and its cheaper by gfar ! 

[rotuts]

I decided to continue my PP studies :

 

this is the bread Im using , fresh every day @ TJ's , but not Monday:

 

 

TJ's caries this version , and a whole sourdough ( excellent , slice it yourself ! ) and a whole grain , sliced.

 

I mentioned this bakery earlier.  your not going to find this bread in California , nor Idaho 

 

no matter , find something similar.

 

this bread has excellent crumb , but its lighter , n to in anyway dense .  a bit important later

 

the same bead , CSO's :

 

 

look at the delicious , boozy butter !

 

I tried to cut two slices , equal width :

 

 

on the left , butter , european Higher fat Kerry something or other .  Not Salted 

 

then in the PP :

 

 

these two slices were not exactly equal in thickness .  but I did put some pressure on the PP a bit

 

as you can see w the lightly crushed crust.  worked well 

 

I learned this :  the mayo in on the L  , the Kerry on the Right.

 

both were tasty .  the mayo had light tartness , which i like.  the high fat butter ?

 

nice , but i learned that the higher fat , in this rendition did not add more butter flavor.

 

interesting .  at 2x the price of good quality local butter  ( Cabot etc )  with more butter flavor

 

Im going back to Local.  indeed in the distant past here , the kerry butter was said to be , well , ordinary local Irish butter.

 

there may be higher fat European butter w much more butter flavor , but its not kerry for me.

 

and BTW :  the interesting article mentioned above states this :

 

''''   The biggest benefit butter is flavor, dairy-rich and ever-so-slightly salty. (You are using salted butter for grilled cheese, right?)  ''

 

to me this means :  the author of the article is simply mailing it in :  why buy into the commercial levels fo salt ?

 

you can't add your own ?  that pick rock of salt you took home from your trip to the Hymallaians ?

 

all jesting aside , why accept commercial levels of salt ?

 

and salt is very important as a way for your young to accept flavor 

 

but it has not flavor itself , and just had many effect you might want to avoid.

 

so :  back to Cabot for butter ( unsalted ) 

 

and mayo has its place , buttery butter has its place 

 

add you won salt , so why not ?

 

[rotuts]

I was going to make a Naan-is pizza , as I have before

 

 

I had the full fat Mozzarellas // salami  out at room temp.  I cut and de-seededand removed the ' caviar '  on some

 

very nice Campari    then I remember I had some spinach in the reforge heat was thinking it had better days.

 

I was gong to get fresher spinach tomorrow @  Tj's , but went w a panini  to get an idea of that

 

using mozza.  I had added some Penzey Tuscan seasoning to the drained tomatoes 

 

it has some anise seed  usual light mayo coat on all 4 surfaces :

 

 

it was delicious .  I pretended the spinach was fresher.

 

I had a few scraps left , so made a second P  . about 1/2 the size.  no spinach

 

but I has some drained kimchi and sauerkraut , so added a little of that .  no pic.

 

also delicious.

 

now Im going to take a nap.

 

the PP is a dangerous tool if you are trying to keep your weight ' optimal '

 

just saying .

[Smithy]

My sister is visiting from Reno. We've gone out to eat once, eaten a lot of family dinners while my husband's family was visiting, and been exhausted. Last night it was another dinner of exhaustion, now that we're alone. Panini press to the rescue! She was impressed, and enjoyed the story of how I acquired it.

 

 

The meat doesn't show well, but it was thickly-sliced ham from a local grocery store that smokes their own. Best ham either of us has ever had. My dearly departed husband was the first to discover this ham, but it's now a favorite of mine as well. 

 

I added sauerkraut to mine after cooking, but my sister preferred not to. 

 

Green salad was also on the table. I didn't bother with photographing it.