Friday, September 05, 2008

101 Uses for a Roast Chicken #6: Panini Time

We make paninis at work: turkey, bacon, & provolone, and chicken, brie, and apricot salsa. Both are amazing, but my preference is the turkey one. We grill them to order on our Breville grill and I have one once a week for lunch. At home, I have access to my roommate's George Foreman grill, which is a very cool machine to have around.

It's been way too hot this summer to roast chickens, but it has cooled down recently, and whole chickens were on sale at the local overpriced grocery store this week. So I bought one, and made this sandwich.

Say what you want about grocery store bakeries, but Save-On Foods makes astonishingly great breads (the muffins aren't bad, either). After my passport clinic nuisance on Thursday, my dad took me to Nelson for lunch and for some grocery shopping. I bought a loaf of roasted garlic bread (also available in potato & rosemary, 2-olive kalamata, and another I can't remember right now) and the scent taunted me all the way on the hour's drive home! When I finally got to sink my teeth into it, it was divine. I must add also that Save-On makes one of the best ciabatta breads I've ever had. I often splurge if it's on sale, and they do a mini version, too, which is handy for the days Dad and I like to just have a picnic in the park.

Anyway, this panini. It would have been better with a milder, creamier cheese, as the cheddar didn't go well with the pesto, but as it was grilling, that scent of roasting garlic made my mouth water. This could have used some bacon, too - something a little salty to round out the other flavours. But, we live and learn, don't we? There was nothing wrong with this combination; it just could have used some tweaking.

If you don't have a panini grill or a George Foreman, no problem. Grilling this like your traditional grilled cheese would work just as well.

Enjoy!

9 comments:

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Those are gourmet paninis! Both versions make me salivate!

cheers,

Rosa

Kathy - Panini Happy said...

Oooh...apricot salsa! That's an ingredient I'll definitely need to try. That's great that you guys make panini at work - something nice to look forward to during the day!

Wandering Coyote said...

Rosa: thanksQ

Paninikathy: yeah, that apricot salsa is something else, but I don't have the recipe for it. And if I didn't, I couldn't publish it because it's a work recipe and he's a little territorial when it comes to the recipes. However, I can tell you that it has dried apricots, drained canned diced tomatoes, onion, cinnamon, and I think also a bit of brown sugar. I've only actually made it once myself, and that was like a year ago.

Judith said...

My baking is not in the same league as yours but today I turned out 2 really good multigrain loaves. I used the recipe from the latest Canadian Living mag. I made the sponge last night then made the bread today. There's no fat in the recipe which is odd but it has a good chewy texture. Yay me! Judith.

Wandering Coyote said...

I saw that recipe, too. Finally, my Canadian Living arrived today. I'm really looking forward to the new cookbook. I should have it soon!

Judith said...

WC- My Canadian Living hasn't arrived yet but I was desperate so I bought 1 at the supermarket. Maybe my subscription has run out and they forgot to tell me?I'm very tempted to buy the new baking book they're advertizing.
I'm going to try paninis on my grill- not a George Foreman but still works great.Judith

Wandering Coyote said...

Surely they would let you know if your subscription has run out. You can check online on their web site. You can renew there, too. I hope it comes soon!

mister anchovy said...

good looking panini WC!

Catatonic Kid said...

Those look absolutely delicious!

Apricot salsa sounds like a lovely blend, too. I bet the apricot brings out the soft/sweet flavour of the cheese really well.

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