Is It Permissable To Marry A Panini?

And what do I do if my husband protests the union? Can we all live in gooey panini sin together?  How do we put the sandwich on our health insurance? And would said insurance cover bite marks in the panini? Can I be hit with domestic abuse charges for the bite marks? I don’t even want to THINK about the issues surrounding procreation and paternal rights!

I like Paninis aka smooshed up crispy sandwiches. I have posted paninis before. Because I like them.

Paninis.

I like.

Them.

Or something.

Shutting up now.

I lied. No shutting up.

I, like most people who didn’t live in whatever city they originated in, hadn’t heard of paninis until fairly recently. Maybe 6, 7 years ago? When I was a kid, crispy sandwiches were old fashioned grilled cheese. Preferably served with tomato soup (though I actually had never heard of that either until I got married the first time at 20). Now though, grilled cheese has given way to paninis, which, if we are to be honest, are really grilled cheese with grill marks and fancy ingredients. Not that I mind. I tend to like fancier ingredients on sandwiches. I grew up in the era of Oscar Mayer bologna, processed cheese food (you hear that Chef Dennis? 😛 ) and because I am a product of the Chicago public school system, ham sandwiches on mushy white bread that has been spread with butter. I am shamefaced as I admit to still having a certain fondness for that last one.

But I love paninis. Mentioning that in case I didn’t make it clear earlier. I especially love them with “fancy” ingredients. The following is one I created tonight when I realized I had some Brie I needed to use (I ALWAYS forget it and find it somewhere in the back of the fridge and have to smack myself). I had also bought some white peaches today and had some thin sliced chicken breast to use. Add in some bacon and a couple of other assorted yummies and it made one hell of a sandwich. So go… make this. Eat.

Sourdough Panini With Caribbean Jerk Chicken,

Brie, Bacon & White Peaches

  • 2 slices sourdough bread (preferably the square loaf)
  • 1 tablespoon peach or apricot preserves
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 4 ounces thinly sliced uncooked chicken breast (I used Tysons thin cut chicken)
  • 1 tablespoon (more or less as desired) of your favorite brand Caribbean Jerk seasoning (I used McCormicks)
  • 4 to 6 slices crispy bacon (depends on how gluttonous you’re feeling & whether you’re sharing 😛 )
  • 2 ounces thinly sliced Brie, rind removed
  • 1/2 of 1 white peach, thinly sliced
  1. Preheat the panini press.Over medium high heat, heat a medium (lots of medium here) sized pan on the stove until very hot. Add your chicken slices, doing one at a time. Quickly cook on one side until golden brown then flip over. Sprinkle seasoning on chicken and cook other side until it is brown. It probably won’t be cooked all the way but that’s what you want. It will finish in the sandwich cooking process.
  2. Spread one piece of bread with the preserves. On top of that, layer the brie, chicken, peach slices and bacon.  Slap on (yes, you have to slap it on. Just cause.) the other piece of bread. You can lightly (and I do mean lightly) butter the bread on the outside to increase crispiness if you want but really in panini presses there is usually no need.
  3. Toast…grill…cook…. dry fry… call it what you want the sandwich until it is nice and toasty and golden brown. Cut in half and it will serve two people; one if they are starving to death.

I have NO idea how my camera "messed up" and focused on that bag of cheetos in the background! I plead the fifth!!

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55 thoughts on “Is It Permissable To Marry A Panini?

  1. wow! now that’s a sandwich! I love the idea of the peach preserves on the sandwich, and that ooey gooey cheese, and of course Bacon!!!
    Just send me over a couple please, that way I can bless the union!

    • Thanks Dennis! Compliments from you mean a lot cause you are sort of one of the royalty of our community 😀 And as for the sandwiches, I’ll…erhmmm… get those in the mail as soon as I can 😛

    • Thank you for the compliment on the blog! That means a lot to me. As for the maker, I got mine for 15 bucks at Aldis 🙂 There are more expensive ones but this one gets the job done 🙂 And my husband would love your love of…erhmmm…. the toes. He is a fan too

  2. WOW! My mouth is watering! This fancy grilled cheese doesn’t need any tomato soup as a side. So did you also call polenta – corn meal mush? I did. -:)

  3. I could not stop laughing reading your post! It is such a nice and humourously written post!!

    This dish is absolutely something I can marry with! Great recipe.
    Never mind for that photography goof-up. The camera wanted to marry the Chips packet actually.

  4. Delicious! I’m with you – I love a good panini! The first time I ever had one was about 15 years ago in Sicily – I was thrilled to see them become so popular in the US! Brie is always a good idea….buzzed!

  5. Reading your blog is pure torture sometimes – I’m lactose intolerant, which means no cheese for me! It’s a recently discovery and so I’m missing cheese and ice cream like crazy. I even dream about the stuff. I think it’s some kind of cheese withdrawal symptoms. Is there a culinary version of methadone that could help with the crashing? Ay, who’s the crazy one now? I swear, this non-dairy diet is making me delusional!

    Luci.

    • ACK! I feel for you. My husband is lactose intolerant too so I know what you’re going through. You can’t take Lactaid or something like it?

      • Apparently that doesn’t like me either. I’m giving a whole bunch of other brands a shot, but there’s something in Lactaid that I react to. Fingers crossed I shall be back on the cheese very soon!

        • Awwww, that would stink. I think my husband would curl up and die if he couldn’t use the lactaid… that or eat dairy anyway and regret it later 🙁

  6. Yum! I love panini as well, and I really love he mix of textures, flavors, colors, etc. Brie is an excellent cheese for panini making, and i love that you included peaches into the mix as well 🙂 We all have our strange guilty pleasures of food that we KNOW isn’t good, but that we grew up with and simply can’t resist (like Kraft mac and cheese *cough cough* it happens). You’re not alone 🙂

    • Hmmm, I’ll pass on the boxed mac and cheese (though my boys would love you 😀 ) if I can have cheetos and twinkies

  7. There are so many delicious flavors going on in this panini! I love peaches used in savory applications and this sandwich sounds amazing!

    • Me too Amy. I have a thing for fruits in savory dishes and this just screamed at me for the fruit and the fruit preserves

  8. I had a panini sandwich yesterday, however, it was not as delicious as the one you have posted here. It was a good sandwich at the time, but now you have ruined its memory. Now that I have this recipe, my next lunch memory won’t be put to shame.

    • I’m sowwwwyyyyy Tina…… I ruined your memory. I’m bad. Bad I say!! 😛 On that note, try this… make new memories 😀

  9. That is awesome! I love paninis! They are so fantastic…I pretty much think I would eat them everyday if I could. They are just SO yummy. This one looks rather mouthwatering as well.

    And totally laughing as your photo where the camera focused on the bag of cheetos haha.

  10. Let me know when the nuptials are and I’ll make the cake. And other than the cake,only Sourdough Panini’s with Caribbean Jerk Chicken Brie and Bacon sandwiches will be served. Unless of course an adult beverage is required.

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