Panini This

So one of my favorite things to make is a grilled cheese or a panini. For those of you that don't know what a Panini is. It is a sandwich that has cheese and is pressed. There are so many different combination's. I mean you can use any kind of bread, spread/sauce/dip/or whatever, cheese, toppings and meat. You don't have to have meat or toppings. You don't have to have cheese either but that's what makes it stay together. So a traditional Panini is a plain grilled cheese or a Ham and cheese and I'm pretty sure you don't need a recipe for that, but I am going to give you two. I am going to do a vegetarian one which is going to be on Italian bread, with a balsamic reduction, olive oil, Mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper. The second one is going to be a Roast beef melt away. It is going to be on sesame kaiser rolls, with Roast beef, caramelized onions, cheddar cheese sauce and a sweet ketchup glaze.

Tomato Mozzarella Panini:

8 slices Italian bread
8 large slices tomato
16 slices Mozzarella, medium sized slice
2 cups balsamic vinegar
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 tbsp basil, chiffonade
2 tsp salt
2 tsp black pepper

1.) Put your vinegar into a pot on medium high heat and reduce by half. Set to the side. Heat your panini press, panini pan or grill/grill pan.
2.) Assemble sandwich. Take the bread and lay 2 slices of mozzarella down and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Lay 2 tomato slices down, sprinkle some basil, drizzle a little of the vinegar and olive oil. Lay 2 more slices of mozzarella down and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top with the second piece of bread.
3.) Place on panini press or pan and press it. If you don't have a press. Take a brick wrap it in foil and use that or use a plate or something heavy,
4.) Press both sides, take off heat. Slice in half and serve.

Roast Beef Melt Away:

Cheese Sauce:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup melted butter

1 lb cheddar cheese
6 cups milk
1-2 cups heavy cream
2 tbsp hot sauce
Salt and Pepper To taste

1.) Make a roux with your butter and flour. Heat butter in a pan add your flour a little at a time. Until it is thick, If you need more butter use it. Cook until pale in color and set aside.
2.) Bring milk to a boil and add your cheese until melted. Add about 2-3 tsp of roux just to make it a little thick. If you need more add more. Whisk it well to make sure there's no lumps.
3.) Once it has the consistency of a cheese sauce (not too thick not too thin) add cream and hot sauce and reduce for about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning. Set aside and keep warm.


Ketchup Cheese:

2 cups ketchup
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup apple cider
3-6 tsp sugar
2 tsp mustard
Salt and Pepper to taste

1.) Mix all ingredients in a pot. Cook on medium high heat until it has a glaze consistency. 20-25 minutes. Taste for seasoning and adjust seasoning. It should be sweet but a little tangy and it should be clear with a slight redness to it. Set aside, but keep warm.

8 Sesame Kaiser Rolls
3 medium size onions, thinly sliced
2 tbsp butter
1 lb roast beef
Cheese sauce, recipe follows
Ketchup glaze, recipe follows

1.) Caramelize onions in the butter until nice and brown, set aside.
2.) Heat Panini pan/Grill/Grill pan/ Panini press/or other pan.
3.) Assemble sandwiches. Take 1 piece of bread and spread a tsp or two of the glaze on it, place 2 slices or roast beef down, put about 2 tbsp of cheese sauce down, lay some onions down and then lay 2 more slices of roast beef down. Take your other piece of bread and spread some of the glaze on there. And top of the sandwich.
4.) Press your sandwiches on both sides, remove from pan, slice and serve.



As always I hope you enjoy, please let me know what you think. Bon appetit Chef Mikey!!!!!