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Wood Grilled Party Panini

jfm0830
jfm0830 Posts: 987
edited July 2013 in EggHead Forum
I found this recipe from Wicked Good Barbecue while looking at the recipe for the Wicked Pulled Pork and I have been drooling over the thought of it for two weeks now. I made it last night with a couple changes. First off I wasn't planning a party, so I reduced the recipe to 1/3 the original size. Secondly when time came to start it was absolutely pouring out, so I decided to roast the peppers on my stove in a grill pan. Yes I have a grill gazebo but getting out there in that rain would not be pretty. I also figured doing these on the stove allowed me to start my other prep while being able to keep an eye on the progress of the peppers. The third thing I did was to grill the sandwich on the raised ridges side of my half moon grill griddle. The ridges on the grill griddle even look like the spacing of the ridges on a panini press, but the half moon griddle is much bigger in size than a home panini press. The last change came at the last minute when I left off the lettuce, which I hate with a passion. Onto the pictures...

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Two peppers were roasted on the grill pan. After they rested and cooled for 30 minutes the skin came right off in large pieces.





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The ingredients for the veggie topping & marinade / dipping sauce were Roma tomatoes, red onions, shallots, fennel (the bulb thin sliced), red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, red pepper flakes, dried oregano, Kosher salt, black pepper, finely chopped Italian parsley and EVOO.





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Here are the veggies after being prepped. The tomatoes were sliced 1/8" thick, the red onions 1/4" thick, the fennel bulb 1/16" thick, the roasted peppers had the skin peeled and got cut into 1"x1" pieces and the shallot was finely chopped. My mandoline slicer gave me nice uniform slices and made quick work of the slicing chores.





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The balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, EVOO, shallots, parsley, oregano, salt & pepper were mixed together until the oil & vinegar came together.




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The sliced and diced veggies were tossed in the marinade and allowed to rest for 10 minutes. They were tossed again to mix and rested for another 10 minutes. While this was resting I gathered the meats & cheese for sandwich.





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The veggie topping for the panini is done and the marinade is being strained out. It will be used as a dipping sauce for the finished paninis. The other toppings were: Provolone cheese, mortadella, Genoa salami, hot capicola, roasted red peppers & sliced pepperoncinis. The Italian bread was brushed with olive oil.





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Some assembly required: First was the Genoa salami....





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...mortadella...





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...hot capicola topped with the provolone cheese.





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...roasted red peppers...





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...sliced pepperoncinis...





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...and finally the drained veggie topping. Now after this Romaine lettuce was supposed to be the final topping. Well I had the lettuce, but you know what? I HATE, HATE, HATE lettuce and I decided I liked everything else on the sandwich, why top it with something I hated? I couldn't think of a good reason. So we are done.





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This was a beast of a sandwich and, believe it or not, I reduced the quantity of ingredients!!






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The Egg was pre-heated to 350 degrees at the grate. There was an apple wood chunk mixed in with the lump. The raised ridges of the half moon grill griddle look a bit like those in a panini press, particularly if you compare it to the s/s grill grid which was the other choice for a grilling surface. Another advantage here is the half moon grill griddle caught a good deal of the spilllage.





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The sandwich was topped with a foil wrapped jelly roll pan and that was weighed down with two foil wrapped fire bricks. This was a VERY tight squeeze closing the lid. But I had pre-tested this solution on a cold grill with some bowls substituting for the panini. So I knew it would fit without resorting to grease, but very close quarters.





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The panini is done. I cooked it for 5 minutes a side at 350. In my prior experience 325-350 allows you to cook paninis or quesadillas so the fillings are heated through without the bread or tortillas burning. It worked well here on the Egg too. I had a crispy toasted (but not burnt) panini with all of the toppings heated through.





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The panini was sliced into manageable (but still huge) portions.





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The reserved marinade was used for a dipping sauce.


Let me just say this sandwich lived up to my expectations after drooling over the recipe for two weeks now. It was definitely "drool-worthy".

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

Comments

  • SmokeyPitt
    SmokeyPitt Posts: 10,490
    That might just be the best looking sammich I have ever seen!  Bravo sir!


    Which came first the chicken or the egg?  I egged the chicken and then I ate his leg. 

  • Bookmarked. Thanks!
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    Very nice job.   I think a muffuletta variation of that would also be excellent. 
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • Hibby
    Hibby Posts: 606
    Incredible detail on your post. Great pictures too. Looks delish!
    I cook. I eat. I repeat. Thornville, Ohio
  • Chubbs
    Chubbs Posts: 6,929

    I am about to :-& I am so full from lunch, but that still looks delicious.... does that make me.... a masochist?... Great detail, sandy, and post Jim. I love your posts.

    Columbia, SC --- LBGE 2011 -- MINI BGE 2013
  • CPARKTX
    CPARKTX Posts: 2,095
    Yum!!
    LBGE & SBGE.  Central Texas.  
  • Incredible looking sammy, you've just raised the bar.  Thanks for sharing.

    Damascus, VA.  Friendliest town on the Appalachian Trail.

    LBGE Aug 2012, SBGE Feb 2014

  • jfm0830
    jfm0830 Posts: 987
    Thanks as always for taking a look at my post and for your comments. I'm glad to see many folks like the details, I used to worry I was putting in too many pictures and typing too much-figured nobody else but me would be THAT interested in it. Good to know some of you like it too.

    @Chubbs Don't feel bad man. Food can make us do all kinds of strange things. I kept wanting to lick the page in the cookbook where a picture of this Panini resided. Came close a few times too.
    Website: www.grillinsmokin.net
    3 LBGE & More Eggcessories than I care to think about.
  • raydefan
    raydefan Posts: 8
    Thanks for the post and pics. I have that book and always thought that sandwich looked good but didn't know how the marinated veggies would taste. I think I'll try it now.
  • Que_n_Brew
    Que_n_Brew Posts: 578
    Very nice job.   I think a muffuletta variation of that would also be excellent. 

    + 1 on that! Bookmarked as well. Nice work.
    PROUD MEMBER OF THE WHO DAT NATION!
  • Mud Pig
    Mud Pig Posts: 489
    That looks awesome, you just gave me opening day football party platter recipe.  Go Redskins!!
  • jfm0830
    jfm0830 Posts: 987
    Thanks for the additional comments. If you are gonna make it, let me mention something. I wasn't having a party, so I cut the recipe quantity in half and used one 16 inch piece of Italian bread. Even so, after cutting all ingredients in half it turned out there was still too much meat and too much veggie topping. If I used everything the sandwich probably would've been 8 inches high and impossible to wait out. So if you're only doing one piece of bread that's about 16 inches long, I'd say make about one third the quantity of the toppings and other ingredients called for in the recipe and that should be enough so there's not much left over if any. For two 16 inch pieces of bread, cut the quantities in the book in half and you may have a little extra but it won't be excessive. I also suggest checking the size of whatever you plan to weigh your sandwich down with before you eat your grill. My 14 inch jellyroll pan was a very very tight squeeze.
    Website: www.grillinsmokin.net
    3 LBGE & More Eggcessories than I care to think about.