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3 Recent Panini Cooks

jfm0830
jfm0830 Posts: 987
edited January 2014 in EggHead Forum

Work has been keeping me away from the Egg, but here are 3 recent panini cooks I have done from a new cookbook called Perfect Panini. I would have to say the book has lived up to it's name so far. I bought it back in October, but it has only been the last 3 weeks I have found the time to use it. I also have tried a new way of making paninis on my Egg and I will share a picture and description of it first. This way I will not have to show the same picture of the paninis cooking for three different recipes.


BGE Half-Moon Cast Iron Grill Griddle = Panini Press.

I bought a pair of the BGE Half-Moon Cast Iron Griddle Grate's shortly after I bought my first Egg. I wanted to be able to use the flat side and the ridged side at the same time for some of the breakfasts I make on the grill. Until this past month, I made paninis by using the cast iron grill grid to grill the panini one side at a time. I would put the panini n the grill and place a 1/4 or 1/2 sheet pan on the panini, weighed down by one or two foil wrapped fire bricks. When the first side was done I would remove the sheet pan and bricks, flip the panini and then put the sheet pan and bricks back on. This gave you a nice pressed panini, but having to flip it midway through was awkward. The cheese might not have completely melted when the first side was done. As a result you might pull the panini apart when removing the sheet pan, because the cheese wasn't able to hold it together. Also you had to have a safe place to land the hot pan and bricks while you were flipping the panini. Lastly the extra flip meant one more chance to mishandle the panini.


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This was old method: Grill on the grill grate while being weighed down with a sheet pan and foil wrapped fire brick.

I was making something else on the BGE Half-Mood CI Griddle Grate last month and a lightbulb went off in my head. Why not use both of these griddle grates, with each turned so the ridges faced the panini? This would eliminate the midpoint flip and would cut the cooking time in half, because you are cooking all sides at once. 

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New method: Two pre-heated BGE Half-Moon CI Griddle Grates weighed down with foil wrapped fire bricks

So now here is what I do: I preheat the grill with the Half-Moon CI Griddle Grates in place. I also use the plate setter legs up with the stock s/s grill grid on it. Using the plate setter helps even out the temps and the griddle grate has nice even heat across it's entire surface.I lay the two griddle grates on the s/s grill grid with the ridges facing up and warm them up with the grill. I grill my paninis at 375 or 400 degrees and I have found the temps at the griddle level are about 75 degrees hotter than the temps at the dome thermo. Since this is a relatively low temperature cook and I don't have to worry about flames coming out the Egg's chimney at this temp, I can use my infrared thermo to shoot the griddle temps. When I hit the desired griddle temp I stabilize my Egg there and then let it sit there for 30 minutes while I go in and make the panini. Then I come out and place the paninis on one of the griddle grates, wearing gloves I flip the other griddle grate so it sits on top. Then I slide this stack to the center of the Egg and add one or two foil wrapped bricks. I grill the paninis for around 5 minutes and I am good to go. Really works well.

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Using an infrared thermo to shoot the temps of the griddle grate. Don't try this for higher temperature cooks where flames sometimes come out of the chimney.

ROAST BEEF & HORSERADISH PANINI

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The ingredients were thin sliced lean roast beef, parmesan cheese, watercress, sour cream, unsalted butter, chopped fresh marjoram, mayo & horseradish



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The sauce used the mayo, horseradish, sour cream & marjoram

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The ciabatta rolls were brushed with unsalted butter on the outside.



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The inside if the ciabatta rolls were brushed with the horseradish sauce on the inside,



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Roast beef...



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Parmesan cheese...



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Watercress...



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the paninis are on the pre-eated grill griddle-see above for the pictures of cooking method.



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PULLED PORK & SLAW PANINI
This panini allowed me to use a batch of Wicked Pulled Pork from Wicked Good BBQ and added some spicy cole slaw to the mix. 


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The slaw was made an hour ahead & used: red cabbage, celery seeds, honey, cider vinegar, salt & black pepper.



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Assembly time. The onion rolls are sliced. The leftover pulled pork which had been in a FoodSaver bag in the freezer has been thawed to room temperature. The slaw has been mixed for an hour & the extra sharp grated cheddar cheese has been portioned out.



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 The onion rolls have been brushed on the outside with olive oil....



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Pulled pork...



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Slaw..



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Extra sharp cheddar cheese...



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The onion roll tops go on.



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On the grill. See pictures at top for cooking method.



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HAWAIIAN PANINI
This panini version of one of my favorite pizzas used thin sliced smoked ham and grilled pineapple and substituted whole grain mustard for the savory ingredient in place of tomato sauce. 

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This panini featured fresh grilled pineapple



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The pineapple gets cut into 1/2" thick slices & is brushed with canola oil & seasoned with kosher salt & coarse ground black pepper.



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The pineapples are coming off the grill.



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The Portuguese rolls get brushed with olive oil on the outside,



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The inside of the Portuguese rolls get spread with whole grain mustard



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Next is the thin-sliced smoked ham.



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The pineapple slices go on next.



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Jack cheese goes on last.



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The paninis were grilled as shown in the pictures at the top of the page.



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Time to eat! A garden salad was the perfect side for this meal. We ate the salad with the paninis.



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You;ll probably see more paninis coming from me. The Perfect PAninis cookbook has plenty of great looking paninis I am anxious to try.

Jim
Website: www.grillinsmokin.net
3 LBGE & More Eggcessories than I care to think about.

Comments

  • DMW
    DMW Posts: 13,832
    Wow that looks good, I'll have a roast beef please.
    They/Them
    Morgantown, PA

    XL BGE - S BGE - KJ Jr - HB Legacy - BS Pizza Oven - 30" Firepit - King Kooker Fryer -  PR72T - WSJ - BS 17" Griddle - XXL BGE  - BS SS36" Griddle - 2 Burner Gasser - Pellet Smoker
  • henapple
    henapple Posts: 16,025
    Salado, you, sandwiches, be there.
    Green egg, dead animal and alcohol. The "Boro".. TN 
  • henapple said:
    Salado, you, sandwiches, be there.

    =))
    My PitMaster IQ120 FREAKIN ROCKS!!!!!!! Current BGE arsenal: XL & MiniMax
  • Cookinbob
    Cookinbob Posts: 1,691
    You are the MAN! ^:)^
    XLBGE, Small BGE, Homebrew and Guitars
    Rochester, NY
  • U_tarded
    U_tarded Posts: 2,042
    top notch as always.  keep it up!
  • jfm0830
    jfm0830 Posts: 987
    Thanks as always guys for your kind remarks.

    Does the egg add anything when it comes to making paninis? It seems a lot more reasonable to just buy a panini maker. IMO
    It does have some big advantages for me at least, your mileage may vary:
    • Most home panini grills can fit 2 or at most 4 paninis. Doing paninis on a grill you are only limited to by the size of your grill. 
    • I already owned either the sheet pans for my old method, or the Half Moon CI Grill Griddles. My total out of pocket was for a few fire bricks.
    • One less appliance to store in the Kitchen. I don't like having gear in the Kitchen that isn't used fairly regularly.
    • In these days of cheap Made in China appliances, I know the sheet pans, or CI grill griddle will outlast a  panini grill.
    • You can make these anywhere you have a grill: camping, tailgating, day trip to the park...No electricity required
    • This may just be me, but I love going outdoors to cook a meal. Even though I have a nice newly renovated Kitchen, I don't get the same fun factor making something indoors.
    Website: www.grillinsmokin.net
    3 LBGE & More Eggcessories than I care to think about.
  • Great looking cooks. I think I might do a variation for playoff appetizers this weekend.

    _________________________________________________________________________________________

    Johnson, Navin R... Sounds like a typical bastard.

     

    Belmont, NC

  • SmokinDAWG82
    SmokinDAWG82 Posts: 1,705
    Looks great Jim, Never thought of doing panini's on the egg but I just bookmarked this. Those Hawaiian ones look great!
    LBGE
    Go Dawgs! - Marietta, GA
  • Griffin
    Griffin Posts: 8,200
    Great looking paninis, Jim. Very creative.  Great to hear from you. Been wondering where you went off to and if everything was allright. Don't be such a stanger. :D

    Rowlett, Texas

    Griffin's Grub or you can find me on Facebook

    The Supreme Potentate, Sovereign Commander and Sultan of Wings

     

  • Those are some great looking paninis. I need to give this a shot some afternoon for lunch.
    Pure Michigan
    Large BGE, Medium BGE, Mini BGE, Weber Smokey Mountain, Weber Performer.
    If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.
  • Did you have a favorite?
  • Those look sooo good.  Thanks for sharing.  Will be trying that method out this weekend with some roast beef I smoked last weekend.  Perfect way to break in my CI grill 

    Damascus, VA.  Friendliest town on the Appalachian Trail.

    LBGE Aug 2012, SBGE Feb 2014

  • caliking
    caliking Posts: 18,727
    Does the egg add anything when it comes to making paninis? It seems a lot more reasonable to just buy a panini maker. IMO
    It does have some big advantages for me at least, your mileage may vary:
    • Most home panini grills can fit 2 or at most 4 paninis. Doing paninis on a grill you are only limited to by the size of your grill. 
    • I already owned either the sheet pans for my old method, or the Half Moon CI Grill Griddles. My total out of pocket was for a few fire bricks.
    • One less appliance to store in the Kitchen. I don't like having gear in the Kitchen that isn't used fairly regularly.
    • In these days of cheap Made in China appliances, I know the sheet pans, or CI grill griddle will outlast a  panini grill.
    • You can make these anywhere you have a grill: camping, tailgating, day trip to the park...No electricity required
    • This may just be me, but I love going outdoors to cook a meal. Even though I have a nice newly renovated Kitchen, I don't get the same fun factor making something indoors.
    +1. 

    Bravo! What a fantastic write-up about your cooks. Those pics make me want to eat my screen. Thanks for sharing.

    #1 LBGE December 2012 • #2 SBGE February  2013 • #3 Mini May 2013
    A happy BGE family in Houston, TX.
  • jfm0830
    jfm0830 Posts: 987
    Thanks for looking and the additional comments.

    @Griffin Thanks for your concern. Work went from too slow to too busy in late July. Things returned to a more normal length workday in December, but instead of working from home I have had to return to commuting into Boston for the particular project I am working on. This adds 3-4 hours commuting time on and makes a weeknight cook tough. This is why I now work for myself, to get that commute out of my daily routine. The good news is the extra money from the crazy time paid for some Eggcessories I am looking forward to using: AR, 2-Tier Swing Rack and Looftlighter.

    @khristyjeff They were all excellent, you can't go wrong with any of them. But if I had to pick a favorite I'd say the pulled pork. The problem with that panini is it is only as good as the pulled pork you are using. In this case this was some leftovers from one of the best pulled pork recipes I've used. I pretty much was feeding the same group of people all three times and their consensus was the Hawaiian.
    Website: www.grillinsmokin.net
    3 LBGE & More Eggcessories than I care to think about.
  • NDG
    NDG Posts: 2,431
    amazing flavor combos and I love your step-by-step instructions . . thank you.
    Columbus, OH

    “There are only two ways to live your life.  One is as though nothing is a miracle.  The other is as if everything is” 
  • Dawgs8033
    Dawgs8033 Posts: 113

    Man that looks great! Probably going to be my next project/purchase.

    LGBE, SBGE,Blackstone,Weber Kettle, Weber Smokey Joe.
  • BYS1981
    BYS1981 Posts: 2,533
    Those look amazing.  I am a sucker for a pannini.
  • This was like a documentary. A fattening one I need to try. Nicely done.