In an attempt to breathe life into this cobweb covered blog, I’m going to write about paninis.

Yes, paninis.

I recently got a panini press at my wedding shower, and it’s pretty much my new best friend. Combined with the panini recipe book (Panini Express by Daniel Leader and Lauren Chattman) I also got, I have transformed into a panini goddess. There is nothing I cannot throw on this grill and make into a delicious sandwich.

For posterity, and for the sake of this blog, each time I make a new panini, I’m going to review it and note any changes that should be made. This should keep the blog going (knock on wood) and also keep a record of panini success/ failure.

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Smoked Chicken, St. Andre, and Pear-Apple Compote *****

For this recipe, I used a twice-creamed Brie because I couldn’t find any St. Andre or triple-creamed Brie. (Next time I would try harder to find a triple-creamed Brie) I also used a grainy Dijon mustard, which I would definitely use again. It was the perfect amount of sweet/tangy to balance the sweetness of the pear-apple compote.

I loved this panini. It was just the right combination of flavors, and so easy to make too. M. agrees, and wants this on a monthly basis, or so he tells me.

Turkey and Stilton Sandwich with Cranberry-Orange Relish *** (pending review)

Had a few issues with this recipe at first–all my own doing, not the recipe itself. Couldn’t find whole cranberries, so I thought whole-berry crandberry sauce would be an alright substitute. WRONG. After 20 minutes of picking all of the whole berries out of the cranberry sauce and getting only 1/4 of what I needed, I realized that this wasn’t going to work. But I did it anyway. So first note: just find whole cranberries, no matter how annoying it is to go to like 10 different stores. Problems two and three were much more minor and easy to correct. Didn’t use enough turkey per sandwich, and the loaf of bread I bought was too small. The paninis turned out more bite-sized than dinner-sized.

So overall, a good panini but only three stars so far. It could be four stars with correctly made cranberry-orange relish, a larger turkey and cranberry to cheese ratio, and proper sized bread. But in general, I’d give it another shot.

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