Saturday, September 13, 2008

A Girl & Her Panini Pan - A Love Story.


This was from Feb 12, 2008:

sigh. Mmmmm. I am currently enjoying a very tasty and satisfying unconventional breakfast.

Hubby is on a biz trip and I'm stuck here for three days (I don't drive, not that I'd go anywhere anyway) but I like being alone and these trips rejuvenate me. I can stay up late, take two naps, eat whenever and just do my own thing. (Ok, I do that when he is here.. but... well...)

I went and got groceries and filled the house with good stuff... you know what it's like when you have so many yummy things to choose from that it makes meal time tough... so yesterday I made chili and since it was in the crockpot I just had it for lunch and dinner - it seemed the most logical choice.. but I was obsessed with the knowledge that herein lay the makings of my perfect panini - I made a special list and gathered the ingredients with care .... sourdough bread, fresh portobellos, sliced mozzarella, fresh ground sea salt and pepper ..... I couldn't wait until lunch... I'm having the panini for breakfast and it's fantastic.

There is something so simple and so elegant about a panini - the crusty, buttery outside and the gooey, tender inside. The sound it makes when you bite into it.

It's old world and delightful.

I have my TOHE Panini Pan/Press and I can't tell you how much I love it. I like that I use it on the stove over gas vs having it be an electrical item. It sits beautifully displayed on a back burner all the time.. it's cast iron with an enameled exterior. It's so heavy you need two hands to move it and it would defiantely be a candidate for a deadly weapon - if you had the biceps to yield it.

I love the sound of the sizzling butter when you place it in the pan, the warmth of the rising heat, the steam that seeps along side the press as you create the perfect sandwich... it might be slightly darker in one spot, a little flatter in another ... not perfect in sight, but in taste.


if you are a meat eater, I can only imagine what fantastical ham & cheese would emerge from this wonder ..... can you imagine a reuben?

I know... I'm in love with a pan. But I challenge anyone to eat a sandwich from it and have them not have the same exact reaction ..... even the dogs are sitting here, begging.

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