Oh wow. If you thought the road to my Chicken, Apple & Raspberry Panini was long and circuitous you’re not gonna believe what it took to work out my fish sandwich recipe! I started out looking to pay tribute to my current hometown, San Diego, but somehow made my way thousands of miles east to [...]

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Is there anything better than chocolate to create a romantic mood with food on Valentine’s Day? I wanted to come up with a chocolate panini recipe that truly was a proper dessert - not just chocolate between two pieces of bread. It wasn’t easy - a chocolate sandwich is the kind of thing you dream [...]

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Don’t tell your cardiologist!
Egg…cheese…bacon…biscuits…your arteries may not thank you, but your mouth sure will! In a continued effort to explore the different types of breads a panini grill can support, I decided to venture into refrigerated dough. Want to skip ahead? Click here for the final recipe.Egg, Cheese & Bacon Biscuit Panini - Attempt #1

Bread: [...]

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I promise not all of these recipes will involve puff pastry! Since I had a sheet of puff pastry left over from the Apple Turnover Panini effort, I thought I’d try one more variation - a savory, calzone type. Now that I know that puff pastry will work on the panini grill, I decided to [...]

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It worked!
It’s not only possible to make an apple turnover on a panini press, it’s actually quick and easy and in some ways comes out better than if you’d baked it in the oven. Putting the puff pastry directly on the grates ensures crispiness on the outside as well as creates ridges that cradle [...]

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Okay, I was boring even myself with talk of writing a panini recipe for grilled cheese. Who doesn’t know how to make that already? I think we’re all well aware of most of the common panini - if not, there are a bunch of great cookbooks to guide us. What would really [...]

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I swear I don’t do everything just because Oprah recommends it - but you’ve got to admit the woman and her staffers often have great taste!
On the show yesterday, Oprah’s best friend Gayle King visited celebrity chef Govind Armstrong at his L.A. restaurant, Table 8. The reason? His grilled cheese with pulled shortrib sandwich, which [...]

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For my initial foray into panini-making, I thought I’d “play it safe” and try something Italian-inspired (these things were invented around Italian flavors, weren’t they?). I’d give this first sandwich a B+.
Chicken, Prosciutto & Asiago - Attempt #1

Bread: Focaccia

Condiment: Pesto

Cheese: Asiago

Meat: Chicken breast

“Goodies”: Prosciutto, Roasted red bell peppers

THE INSPIRATION: One of my favorite Italian [...]

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Truth be told, I did ask for the panini press.
It’s always so enticing to leaf through the latest catalog from Williams-Sonoma or Sur La Table and ogle all the new cooking gadgets. You daydream about how wonderful the house will smell with fresh bread baking in the breadmaker (it’s been on the fritz for over [...]

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