Great, and I think you could do most — all? — of these on a panini grill inside and even more quickly. I was amused by Bittman's video demonstrating how to make a real grilled cheese sandwich — actually grilling it...
... but you don't need a plate on top with a can weighing down the plate and you don't need to flip it and do the other side if you have a panini grill. (Here!
that's the panini grill we use. But if I were buying something today, I'd get this — because we eat a lot of pancakes at Meadehouse. Note: Making a purchase at either of those links will automatically and without additional cost to you help support my work on this blog.)
June 30, 2010
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34 comments:
I've been meaning to get a panini press. I tried to make Cubanos in the oven but anything meant to weight them down slid off the baguettes. It was sort of a lost cause.
re: video, great crunch at the end.
wv: atica - prison striped sandwich
Microwave for everything.
Lower the power level for grilled cheese.
Lard is best, if the NYT says olive oil.
It's an automatic substitution.
Too pristine. Try smoking a turkey on your panini grill and let us know how that works. Of course you can always buy one already smoked, but where's the fun in that?
Even Hank Hill eventually came around to the joy and wonder of love coals.
I can bring the BGE to 800° in minutes and bake sourdough bread using wood coal. So, naner naner naner. [This is on my mind presently because I bought a BGE handler off eBay and attached it to the nest last night. Went without a hitch. Now I can move its bulk around easily. Schwing schwing, the Ninja Griller]
I agree with rh that our elites overdue the olive oil thing. Peanut oil is where it's at.
Sure you can "grill" inside, but you lose the flavor smoke brings to the party. One of the suggestions Bittman makes is to grill some fennel and a slice of orange, and use the juice from that orange as a dressing for the fennel over some greens. Heating an orange isn't the point; flavoring the orange with smoke, is.
I'm on temporary grilling hiatus, due to the current heatwave (today is an exception, but tropical rains and winds aren't grilling-friendly, either) but I'll be back at it as soon as the daily high drops below 95.
A 30 year old cast iron pan works great--except in NY.
I'm on a temporary grilling hiatus on account of I haven't cleaned the fire extinguisher residue off the grill yet.
;-)
"Too pristine. Try smoking a turkey on your panini grill and let us know how that works. Of course you can always buy one already smoked, but where's the fun in that? "
Yeah, it's worth firing up the big grill for something big, but did you look at those 101 recipes? A lot are just oiled slices of zucchini or jicama or whatever.
It's silly when we're talking about "fast" to involve the big grill.
And what about global warming, by the way? We're supposed to use fluorescent lightbulbs, but he gets to fire up a big old grill to make a sandwich or a veggie slice. You could grill something on the heat of my anger at their hypocrisy.
Butter > Olive Oil.
I have the cuisinart pannini/griddle and it is great. The best kitchen appliance I have gotten in years. It replaced my too small George Foreman grill, as well as converting to a griddle for bacon and eggs.
Panini grill?
Please.
For a grilled cheese, just a hot cast iron pan works perfectly - and the sandwich, as far as I can tell, was never traditionally cooked on an actual grill.
(In fact, I'd prefer to avoid a grill or Panini press, on the grounds that even browning is far preferable to grill marks, for a grilled cheese.)
(Also, olive oil? Please. Butter. A grilled cheese sandwich should never get so hot that the smoke point is an issue.)
I can't solve the light bulb unfairness, but I do recommend you grill anyway. You can just fire up a small part of the grill. You don't have to fill the whole thing to use it. Get a chimney, fill it about halfway with charcoal, and work on a small area. Or get a small Weber for enjoying quick projects. If you use hardwood charcoal, and close the vents when you're done, the heat dies quickly and you'll be able to reuse the charcoal that's left. That's green enough for me.
But yeah, grilled cheese - cast iron pan, in butter. That's a classic.
Synova,
Fire extinguisher residue? Okay, maybe not everyone needs to grill.
Which reminds me... I need to replace the fire extinguisher.
It's on account of we started grilling a whole lot of preformed hamburgers, which I generally never do. (The things done to ground up meat to make it stay together suspended on a grate are not pretty.) I've never had a problem with that much grease building up before. (And I pre-cook chicken and finish it on the grill so most of the chicken fat is already gone.)
When the flames and burning grease started moving down and the drip pan started on fire we considered the propane tank sitting there right under it and got out the extinguisher.
I don't even like gas grills. I'd much rather grill over charcoal.
Neither our waffle maker or Foreman grill (are we calling these panini grills?) work here in Europe, so we've resigned to buying each. Similar to your desired panini grill/griddle, I found a panini grill/waffle iron today that I'm thoroughly excited about. I can't just plunk down € 100 without research, but I'll be back for it.
Synova,
It ain't a party till something breaks, or burns down. Party on.
Why do they have tofu "steaks" at #3? Do people actually grill tofu?
I wonder how grilled Hot Pockets would taste?
The best kitchen appliance I have gotten in years.
That would be my rice cooker.
The Food Network/Diners-Driveins-Dives did a great show on grilled cheese. I can't remember the episode but it might be comfort food.
Best appliance? My KitchenAid mixer. But best investment? $10 each for a no-name stick blender and mandoline. I've used both for almost 20 years now. They're plastic, lightweight and just won't break or dull. I love making up a soup and blending it right in the pot. (Take out the bay leaves first. You'll never forget that twice.)
Beth, I also really really like my KitchenAid mixer -- in fact, we're on our second, the motor on the first burned out during a bread-making frenzy a couple years ago, but I use my rice cooker a lot more often.
Bittman's list is quite good for making you think.
It was years and years and years before we tried grilling fruit and the results were amazing. Peaches, lemon, apples, oranges, mangos, pinapple (the well known one from old teriyaki days). They carmelize on the grill and are well-liked by kids, go with ice cream or a meat dish. The oils driven off orange and lemon rind by the BBQ heat also infuse seafood being grilled with extra flavor.
This year he had me thinking about avocados and fire-grilled salsa components. Hmmmm!
Not mentioned but also fun - Things wrapped in pizza dough and put on the grill. Muffins and pre-made chocolate chip pancakes heated to warm and melty on the side of the grill.
Our old 1980s standby of slow-grilled beer butt chicken. Take 3-4 cans of beer. Drink half each can. Insert spices like garlic cloves, fresh rosemary, oregano in 3-4 small chickens. (Or right into the beer cans). Salt and pepper the birds inside and out or use dry rub. Stand chickens on beer cans. Grill with grill covered about an hour.
I love my Griddler
I love my kitchen aid stand mixer and cuisinart food processor.
I love my no-name 15 year-old cheap plastic mandoline and the free toaster I got in exchange for poptarts UPC codes.
As for the electric skillet, electric wok, 2 coffee makers, acrylic french press, crockpot, a toaster that poaches eggs and heats sausage at the same time, the ice cream maker, the blender, the chocolate fountain, the rice cooker, the hand mixer, and the stick blender - please come to my garage sale.
I have a mandoline but I never use it. Say something that would make me use it.
All I need is a toaster oven, microwave and the Magic Bullet for my life. Everything else I have is an obstacle to my satisfaction in the kitchen.
Three ingredients is my max. More than that and mistakes are made.
Nothing says creamy hippie love chick like singing to Meade accompanied by your mandoline. The stringed ONE or the other.
I have a mandoline but I never use it. Say something that would make me use it.
Thinly shaved fennel and parmigiano-regiano tossed with arugula and citrus.
Thin sticks of jicama to dress up a fruit salad. Thin sticks of daikon and carrot to quick pickle and put on a sandwich.
Slices of potato that crisp perfectly together because they are the same thickness.
And it cleans up lickity-split.
My mandoline lives for summertime - it's a veggie-only item. For BBQ, I thick slice big piles of veggies to throw on the grill. It also makes those pretty perfect big round slices of tomato that are perfect for a burger and takes .1 seconds to cut them. I like to thin slice zucchini the long way to layer in lasagna - tricking my family into thinking they're eating pasta. I also use it with the shredder attachment for carrots - throw down a huge bowl of pad thai and a platter of shredded carrots, fresh cilantro, and crushed peanuts . . . SO GOOD. The speed of the mandoline makes it easier to prepare more different veggies - everyone can make their own plate/salad/pasta/omelet/leftovers the way they want it.
The kicker: if you throw the mandoline over the top of the serving bowl, there are no other dishes to clean. The mandoline itself gets a quick wipe with a soapy sponge, a rinse, a shake, and back in the drawer.
I've used it for cheese, cold turkey breast, lots of things - it doesn't do a great job and it's too tough to clean for that stuff.
mmmm Beth I'm coming to your house for dinner. I'll bring scalloped potatoes, apple and pear tart. . . .
Yay mandolines!
I want to add some love for the pressure cooker. Good ones are expensive - our Kuhn Rikon was $250. But if you like to make soup stock and cook with beans - the time savings is incredible. Plus the pressure cooker seems to drive the flavor deeper INTO the food. Worth every cent.
Yay, indeed. d-day, I'm going to pick up on some of your suggestions, too.
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