Are you wondering what that is? That, my friends, is my panini grill. 😉 I know, it’s not really a looker, but it does the job. My fellow blogger Katy’s slogan is, “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.”, so I know she would be very proud of me for this.
My mom gave me a pan with grill-like ridges on it(someone else had given it to her), which I thought would be great for panini. Really, though, panini sandwiches are supposed to be squished. (that IS the official term for it, right??), and my griddle pan had nothing with which to squish the sandwiches. However, I remembered that I had a small, but very heavy cast iron skillet, and it occurred to me that it could be used as a squisher(another official term).
I do it like this:
And my not-so-much-a-looker panini grill turns out very respectable looking sandwiches.
I could save up and buy a panini grill, but I already have a workable solution that required no cash out-put. Plus if I got a grill, I’d have to find a place to store the thing in my not-so-spacious kitchen.
I think I’ll stick with this.
Brenda Slye
Tuesday 2nd of March 2010
Hi, this made me want to share what we do on our camping trips. We make "moutain pies", as my husband calls them. We have an old pampered chef crimper and we take two slices of wheat bread, put canned blueberries/apples or whatever you like in between the two slices of bread. We crimp them together, cut off the excess bread. Butter our small cast iron pan and put it over the camp fire. Cook our pie til hot, and enjoy!
Laura
Saturday 27th of February 2010
I've used a brick wrapped in aluminum foil for a panini press--works great, especially on camping trips. My Foreman grill ("The Forminator" as my husband calls it) works OK too for panini as long as I hold firmly down the top for about a minute or so at the beginning.
Sandy
Saturday 27th of February 2010
Oh my that looks great! Care to share the recipe for this one? :)
I have a glass top stove and on a rare occasion, I've been known to cook with my castiron. In fact, my hubby bought me a castiron grill pan for Christmas. I just make sure that I don't scoot it any.
Thanks for the awesome idea!
April Jo
Saturday 27th of February 2010
this is a WONDERFUL IDEA!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so glad it was menitoned above that you are not supposed to cook with cast iron skillets on glass stove tops. I am trying to use my skillets more and have been wanting a glass top stove!! Guess I better decided which I want to stay with!!! lol
Anne
Saturday 19th of December 2009
Do you turn the sandwich to get the beautiful toasted ridges on both sides?