Turkey Panini, Foreman Style

I guess Turkey Panini isn’t exactly a very “Chinese New Year”-ish type of meal to blog about, is it? Where is the Shabu Shabu/Hot Pot you ask? Well, a handful of my wonderful colleagues decided to show up to work with their “full blown” flu to share with the rest of us. So being under house-arrest for 4 days meant no CNY celebration…I will save the rest of my rant for another blog on another day. So being sick as a dog meant two things…no Hot Pot blog and no “Happy Chinese New Year” post.

On to the Panini! For those who didn’t know this, Panini is PLURAL for Panino, which means “sandwich” in Italian. So for the fools who keep saying “Paninis, paninis”…HAH! the joke is on you. Oh? You think your so smart huh? Ever heard of “I need to pick up my LUGGAGES!”. Yeah buddy, like you never said that before. Right?

Here are the ingredients I’ve chosen to make my Turkey Panini (yes, I am making more than one).

• Medium Cheddar
• Black Forest Turkey Breast (Yup, they do have it as turkey, not just ham)
• Fresh tomato
• Fresh basil
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Couple of eggs.
• Bread (any variety work, just avoid “sandwich bread”…more on this, so read on!)

Equipment:

To be honest, you don’t really need anything fancy. You can technically do this on your stove or on the grill. However, I used the George Foreman Grill. I got three of them, two were gifts from family and one I got for myself. Its not one of those top/bottom grills, its one of the circular ones. They are all very different, so I’ve used them all.

As you can see, my mini chefs approve.

And so, here comes the most important part…the Bread.
Panini in general is more about the bread than it is about what goes in it. You can put anything inside the bread and it will still be a Panino. However, you use the wrong bread, then it just a sandwich. You want a bread that is dense and flavorful, so you want to avoid white bread. Something sturdy that will hold whatever it is you put in it. In this particular instance, I used sourdough bread, however, I would recommend breads infused with herbs. I’ve used La Brea Bakery’s Rosemary Olive Oil loaf with very tasty results, so I highly recommend that one if you can get your hands on it.

Instructions:

Make sure you cook your egg first and get the ingredients ready. It’s okay if it gets cold, you will be popping everything on the grill and pressing it so it will warm up. Now if you need instructions on how to cook an egg, then you really shouldn’t be in the kitchen right about now. Moving on, wash the basil and separate each leaf as seen below, then slice up the tomatoes then slice up the cheese if they aren’t already. If you bought your bread pre-sliced, then you’re in good shape. If not, then slice it up like the picture below.

Putting things together is easy, just grab 2 slices of bread, lay them side by side. Put the cheese on top of on slice of bread (you want to do this because you want the cheese to melt. If you put it in the middle of the sandwich, it won’t melt thoroughly), then a couple slices of turkey. Next, the tomato and the basil. On the other slice of bread, you want to sprinkle some olive oil and pepper to give it some extra flavor. Drop a few more slices of turkey and pop that egg on top.

In a very swift motion, flip one side on top of the other. Carry the completed Panino off to the grill and PRESS so you get those grill lines on the bread. The olive oil on the bread will seep through and give your bread a crispy golden brown color. It also helps keep the bread from burning too quickly. So press and keep and eye on it to make sure it doesn’t burn. Once the bread starts browning and hardening, the cheese should be pretty much melted and you are good to go. It should take about 5 minutes or so, but it really depends on the grill you use.

There you go! Be sure to enjoy it while its hot! Maybe even pour yourself a nice glass of Chardonnay. As for me, I enjoyed it with a bottle of Peregrino.

Buon Appetito!