The Ultimate Panini Press Cookbook: More Than 200 Perfect-Ev…

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“Here’s another cookbook I’m very, very, very, very excited about. Kathy Strahs has tackled the subject of panini in the most delicious way. I couldn’t believe the incredibly delectable panini variations she came up with – and I couldn’t believe how ravenous I was when I finished flipping through the pages.” – Ree Drummond, award-winning creator of The Pioneer Woman website, and bestselling author of The Pioneer Woman Cooks.

Kathy Strahs’s THE ULTIMATE PANINI PRESS COOKBOOK is the first and last word on making the most of a home panini press or counter-top grill. In over 200 recipes and with 100 color photographs, Kathy shows readers how to use this versatile kitchen appliance to make more than just sandwiches and panini (although there is ample recipe inspiration for both), but also dozens of main-course, easy-to-prepare meals that are great for busy home cooks and families. Kathy includes classics like Croque Monsieur and Reuben panini as well as imaginative creations like a Grilled Asparagus and Prosciutto panini and Chipotle Chicken Quesadillas. There are smaller appetizer panini as well, and a host of breakfast and brunch sandwiches. Beyond the panini, Kathy shows off the creativity of the panini press to make such things as chicken satay, jerk pork tenderloin, and even grilled fish tacos. An inventive chapter on desserts includes an amazing way to make homemade ice-cream cones in a panini machine, along with creative after-dinner options such as Grilled Pears with Honey-Whipped Greek Yogurt and Toasted Almonds.

Home cooks looking to get more from their panini press will find inspiration on every page, and with Kathy’s clear recipe instructions, and ample tips and advice included throughout the book, THE ULTIMATE PANINI PRESS COOKBOOK is an essential kitchen companion for making the most of the panini press.

From the Publisher

The Ultimate Panini Press Cookbook

Chicken Parm Panini

Imagine my delight once I discovered that leftover pasta, with the flavorful sauce it’s absorbed, is great in sandwiches. The next time you’ve got extra spaghetti in your fridge, go ahead and create a sandwich version of your favorite pasta dish. For this update on a chicken parm sandwich, I bread and sauté thin chicken breast cutlets and layer them with fresh basil, mozzarella cheese, and leftover spaghetti on garlic-buttered ciabatta. It’s the classic dish in handheld form!

Chicken Caesar Panini

Extra-flavorful grilled chicken breast, melty Asiago cheese, crisp romaine lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, and Caesar dressing on a toasty, crouton like baguette—it’s chicken Caesar salad’s sandwich cousin. I nearly overdid chicken Caesar salad in my corporate days back in my twenties. There was a café across the street from my office building in San Francisco that made an excellent version, so I’d order it two or three times a week. These panini bring back some fond—if a little excessive—food memories for me.

Red, White, and Blue Cheese Panini

Roasted turkey, bacon, avocado, sweet roasted Roma tomatoes, just a sprinkling of Gorgonzola cheese, and romaine lettuce on their airy, house-baked rosemary olive-oil bread—Con Pane has created an absolute masterpiece with this one. For my grilled version, I wait until the sandwich comes off the grill to add the romaine. That way I can have the toasted bread and soft Gorgonzola while still keeping the greens fresh and crisp.

Turkey Jalapeño Melt Panini

A bright spot in many otherwise nondescript office parks is the hidden deli. It’s the little hole-in-the-wall place no one else knows about unless they work in the building. Quite frankly, it’s often not really a place an outsider would seek out. You find the usual sandwiches, sodas, coffee, and maybe a jar of day-old cookies. But it’s incredibly convenient and offers an easy break from the office grind upstairs. These panini were inspired by my husband’s favorite sandwich from the hidden deli near his office.

More Than 200 Perfect-Every-Time Recipes for Making Panini – and Lots of Other Things – on Your Panini Press or Other Countertop Grill

No-Fuss, No-Flip Chicken Quesadillas

I’ll tell you one thing that really impresses me: when chefs can easily and expertly flip food in a skillet with just a quick flick of the wrist. I watch in complete awe—this is not a skill I currently possess. I can usually flip pancakes if the batter is thick enough, but a quesadilla full of shredded cheese and other loose toppings? Forget it. Enter the panini press, with its ability to cook from both the top and bottom at the same time. It’s by far the easiest way that I know of to cook quesadillas and other dishes that you’d otherwise have to flip.

Chicken Teriyaki

I knew from the outset that chicken teriyaki would be well suited for a minimal effort–high reward meal on the panini press. Boneless chicken cooks incredibly quickly on the grill, and you can set it in its sweet and salty marinade ahead of time. All I needed was to research the right ingredients to make an authentically Japanese version of this familiar favorite. I found such an approach on Marc Matsumoto’s popular food blog, NoRecipes.com. Here, I’ve adapted Marc’s beautifully simple recipe for grilling on the panini press.

Cheeseburger Patty Melt Panini

I might go so far as to say that a patty melt is even better than a regular burger. Grilled on rye bread and enveloped in cheese, a patty melt tends to hold its ingredients intact better than its burger counterpart. Condiments like grilled onions and Thousand Island dressing are an insurance policy, so that on the off chance you overcook the patty, you’ll still end up with a flavorful sandwich. And then there’s the rye bread—bread that actually tastes like something—cradling your burger patty. Yup, give me a good patty melt over a regular burger any day.

Greek Shrimp Panini with Pesto, Feta, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

The trouble with making sandwiches with shrimp is that the little guys have a tendency to slip and slide around a bit. I’ve played around with a lot of different shrimp panini concepts and I finally figured out the key to making them work: a wide berth of bread. Give shrimp a little wiggle room—either on a dense sliced bread or a wider ciabatta—and they play nicely with your other ingredients. Which is a very good thing, because these flavorful panini deserve to be grilled as often as possible.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harvard Common Press
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 10, 2013
Edition ‏ : ‎ 8.11.2013
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1558327924
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1558327924
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.24 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.31 x 0.88 x 9.19 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #88,722 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #47 in Burger & Sandwich Recipes #76 in Barbecuing & Grilling #255 in Vegan Cooking (Books)
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