My favorite panini

Four years ago, during the last World Cup, I made two startling realizations: 1) I LOVE red onions; and 2) Every sandwich tastes better grilled. I made these discoveries while at Amante, the watering hole for all the single-speed riders and European ex-pats in Boulder--in other words, the absolute best place to be to watch the Italy v. France game. I got there almost a full hour early so I could actually get a seat (the place is tiny) and god help anyone who vacates their chair for longer than the 2mins it takes to grab a coffee or take a piss. Leaving at half time to grab lunch was out of the question, so my only food option was to pay $7 for a panini the size of my cell phone. (I do not have an iPhone.) I grudgingly bought the panini, grumbling Elmer Fudd-like the whole time.

My mouth exploded with the tastes of spicy turkey breast, red onion, green apple and melted jalapeño havarti! The next day I was cruising craigslist for a panini press. Bingo! $20 and one happy garage-sale couple later, I was the proud owner of a never-used Bella Cucina panini press. Oh, how my spirit soared and my stomach roared! (Too much? I'll try to scale it back, but I was really, really excited.) Every day I tried new flavor combinations, and one day I came up with this: the perfect panini.

For 1 sandwich, you'll need:
Some sort of sandwich grilling aparatus (panini grill, George Foreman grill, or a skillet and a heavy weight)
Thinly sliced hard salami
Your favorite brie cheese (not triple crème, it melts too quickly)
3-4 fresh basil leaves, shredded
A green apple, sliced ~3-4mm thick
San Francisco Sourdough Bread

I layer things as follows: Bread, green apple, shredded basil, most of the brie, salami, a little bit of brie (to make the bread stick to the salami) and the other piece of bread. The brie melts rapidly, but not before the bread gets crisp and golden.
Serve on a napkin-covered plate a (this soaks up the moisture and keeps the panini from getting soggy.)


Mmm, my favorite! Unfortunately, these days my panini indulgence is most frequently the: whatever-I-have-in-my-fridge-between-bread. Last week I discovered the joy of Dijon mustard, picante provolone and left-over Whole Foods popcorn chicken... Actually quite tasty.)

Savory Sage-Stuffed Chicken

Well, I've already fallen behind on posting. To be fair, that's because I worked the closing shift four of the last seven days, and then had an amazing free meal last night (miso mustard-glazed salmon, crispy chicken, corn bread with a black vinegar glaze, pickled watermelon, bean sprout salad, griddled pork bun with green sriracha aioli, and the best cocktails on Earth). But enough of my excuses!
Sunday I had a friend over for dinner and decided to but out a trusty old favorite that I haven't made in at least a year: my sage-stuffed chicken.

For 2 servings, you'll need:
Two 1"-thick chicken breast halves (try to get ones that look as uniform in thickness as possible, not tapering off too much away from the sternum, because you'll be butterflying them)
1 oz Sage Derby Cheese
Butter
6-8 sage leaves, fresh
Breadcrumbs
Dried Sage
Dried Thyme
Dried Savory
Dried Marjoram
An oven
A light/medium cookie sheet

First, preheat your oven to 425 F degrees. While that's warming up, remove any extra fat from the chicken breasts. If you bought a whole chicken breast and are rending it in asunder yourself (heehee) then you may also have some tough sternum tissue to remove. Choose your sharpest chef's knife and slice the chicken breast parallel to your cutting board, butterflying the chicken and leaving one side connected, so that the chicken breast opens like a book.

Next, grab some wax paper and cover the "open-book" chicken breasts, and grab your meat masher! If you don't have a tenderizing mallet, do what I did for years and use the bottom of a tequila bottle--just make sure you hit with it coming straight down, bottom parallel to the counter, not at an angle like you want the break it. If you are using a tenderizing mallet, use the side with the smallest ridges so we tenderize the meat but don't tear it badly. Pound the chicken out until it is about half the thickness it started, making sure you don't pulverize the edges.
Remove the wax paper and lay slices of the Sage Derby cheese on one side of each chicken breast, keeping it away from the outer end so it doesn't melt out onto the pan during baking. Lay your fresh sage leaves over the cheese in each one and add a few slivers of butter. Sprinkle one pinch each of Thyme, Savory and Marjoram on each chicken breast, then fold the books closed, pressing along the edges and making sure all the filling is tucked out of sight while being evenly distributed on the inside.

Wash your hands(!) and lightly grease your cookie sheet. On a plate, pour enough bread crumbs to thickly coat your chicken. Add in ~1tsp (or to your tastes) of each of the dried herbs, including the sage this time. Mix this into the breadcrumbs thoroughly. Grab a small handful of the crumbs and make two beds on the pan where your chicken will sit. This will ensure that the bottoms of the chicken will be coated, that the meat itself won't stick to the pan, and that any drippings from within the chicken will get caught in the crumbs and come off the pan with the meal, safeguarding against a tragic loss of cheese. Set the chicken breasts themselves in the plate full of breadcrumbs, turning them over a few times and pressing the crumbs on for a nice, even coating. Lay them on the crumb beds when you're finished, building up some breadcrumbs on the sides of the chicken and filling in any bare spots in the coating.

Pop the cookie sheet in the oven for 25 minutes. Remove, make a cut in one chicken breast to make sure the chicken is thoroughly cooked (not pink on the inside), and serve immediately!

Strawberry-Bourbon Milkshakes

Last night Boulder gave birth to a beautiful thunderstorm, so intense that I was overwhelmed by the desire to put on my PJs, eat breakfast for dinner, and curl up with a movie and a pint of Glacier ice cream while the rain can thundering down. So that's what I did, with one small twist. In lieu of Glacier I decided to try and replicate one of my favorite summer treats, typically to be found at The West End Tavern on Pearl Street in Boulder: The Strawberry-Bourbon Milkshake.
Now, I'm not a bourbon drinker, it's too sweet for my tastes (the key to my heart can be found in just about any bottle of Islay Single Malt), but their mixologists hit the nail on the head with this combination. The syrupy-sweetness of the bourbon blends perfectly with the strawberries and cream flavors, lending the latter overtones of dry oak and more depth than any milkshake deserves.
West End actually infuses their bourbon with strawberries before it ever makes it into the shake, a hurdle I could not overcome in my spontaneous shake-making experience, so I had to make due with straight bourbon.

To make 2 shakes, you'll need:
3 shots Bourbon whiskey
2.5 cups strawberry ice cream (try to get all-natural, something with chunks of strawberry and no HF corn syrup)
A handful of fresh strawberries, green tops removed
A blender

Easier than pie: First, put two pint (or similar) glasses in the freezer for the amount of time it takes to make this shake. Put the bourbon in the blender first, followed by the strawberries. Pulse until the strawberries are chopped up but not puréed.
Then scoop in the ice cream on top. But here's the trick: DON'T hit the "Blend" setting. You want this sucker to be creamy, and since whiskey--not milk--is the blending base, it's going to be prone to over-liquifying. Instead, start with your lowest setting and work your way up until the mixture has no chunks, but remains as thick as possible. Pick out a couple of pretty strawberries as a garnish, if the fancy takes you, and serve!

This is only a test.

Okay, long story short: I love food. It took me many years to realize that I was a so-called "foodie" and not just another future fat person of America. My biggest problem is that I'm living below the poverty line in Boulder, CO--one of the most overpriced cities in America--making $9.90/hr. So while I'm surrounded by tasty restaurants, I can't afford any of them.

My second-biggest problem has always been that while I love cooking, I can never bring myself to exert the energy to make wonderful meals for just myself, when I could make this same thing for 2-5 people in an equal amount of time. And so it was that when I split from my long-time love two months ago and found myself living alone for the first time in my life, my motivation to cook rapidly dropped off.

Then last night, in the process of ordering a pizza, I found myself thinking, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?! You were craving sundried tomato and pesto chicken pinwheels and so you called PIZZA HUT?! You're pathetic, you lazy, mediocre..."

Ahem! I'll pretend I didn't hear me say that. Anyway, I decided that one of these two major problems I can fix easily, and therein lies the point of this blog. A nice little self-motivation tool that I can program into my iCal to ping at me obnoxiously whenever I'm feeling too lazy to cook, forcing me to come up with something original, Iron Chef-style, using whatever is on sale that day at the grocery store across the street. So here it goes:

--------
Tonight, I'm going to a BBQ (yes, I can spell it that way, I'm from Texas) and need to bring something to contribute. Sounds easy, yes? Too bad my indomitable pride won't let me bring a bag of chips. Instead, I decided to muse upon the 4th of July theme and came up with the idea of delicious bite-sized spicy red peppers stuffed with bleu cheese and white raisins. Mmmm... Depending on the size of peppadews you get, this will make 20-30 servings.

Here's what you need:
1lb Peppadew peppers (if from an olive bar, try to get unbroken ones since you'll be stuffing them)
5 oz bleu cheese
5 oz white raisins (also known as golden raisins or muscats)
1 oz pine nuts
Honey to taste (try to avoid flavored honeys or agave nectar for this one)
Cayenne pepper to taste
Extra virgin olive oil
A blender

First, if the peppadews were stored in oil, reserve this oil before gently rinsing the peppers. Try not to break them, which may mean doing a few at a time.
In your blender, combine bleu cheese, raisins, pine nuts, and the peppadew oil. If necessary, add just enough olive oil to where the ingredients will mix down into a paste. I also add some Cayenne beacause the peppadews aren't as spicy as I like, though I love the flavor.
Spoon the paste into each pepper, careful to wipe off the outsides to maintain a crisp, clean look.
Arrange, chill 15mins (or store longer if making them in advance), garnish (I used basil leaves) and serve!