great news! and a panini, too!

after being in a terrible mood all last night when i thought i had lost my photos, i bought a cheap-o recovery program and all my shots are back!

behold my first lunch creation:

Grilled Ham and Muenster Panini on Garlic Ciabatta 

i started by splitting a chunk of fresh ciabatta bread down the middle and brushed the halves with olive oil and rubbed them minced garlic.  then in a non-stick pan, i grilled them face-down so that the inside of the bread could crisp up.  in the mean time, i sliced some paper-thin slices of roma tomato, picked a small handful of baby spinach leaves, and shaved off a good piece of Boars Head muenster cheese (thats the good stuff right there).  after about three or four minutes i retrieved my bread from the skillet and split the muenster in half and placed it directly on each side of the warm bread-- this way it gets melty more easily when you press it.  the tomato and spinach go right on the flat-bottom bread piece. 

now for the ham.  its pretty common knowledge in the food world nowadays that lunch meat (and processed meats in general) are just about the worst thing you could put into a sandwich because of the added chemicals, degree of processing, and incredible salt content.  i've found a brand of lunch meat that is organic, nitrate-free, hormone-free, and responsibly raised, called Applegate Farms.  Their Natural Black Forest Ham is delicious, and is what i used in this particular sandwich.  

fold two or three slices on top of the rounded-top bread piece and put the two sandwich halves together.  i splurged a little and spread some margarine on the bread before i put it in the pan-- for that golden color and for the buttery crunch.  you don't need much at all, just a tiny scraping.  

now for the fun part: making your own panini press!  i am not the inventor of this particular trick and i'm sure you've heard it used before, but it is a great way to make pressed sandwiches without investing in a $300 machine.  take a large and heavy can out of the pantry (tomato sauce, yams, chicken stock, etc) and grab a salad plate from the cupboard.  when your sandwich is in the pan, place the plate directly on the sandwich bottom-side up.  then take your heavy can and put it right on top of the plate.  voila!  instant press!  i left my sandwich grilling for about five minutes on each side, medium heat, just until the cheese started to goo.  then, remove the can and the plate, cut the sandwich on the bias (or "across" like you used to tell your mom with PB&Js... remember?) and serve with a simple spinach salad.

who said college kids eat badly?  not this one.