Ramadan Kareem, Part 2/Herbed Grape-and-Cheese Panini.

Ramadan is drawing to a close. I'm going to miss sleeping for long hours, nights spent in prayer and frantic Eid shopping. I'm going to miss dusk spent around the dining table, the sweetness of the first date after long hours of fasting and being given a free pass to laze around work/chores. And being a seasoned foodie, missing out on my daily dose of nombu kanji comes as a big blow.

Amidst the flurry of last-minute activities, it's hard to cook up a decent iftiari. This leads to a lot of deep-fried food being bought and on Day 28, I've long exceeded my grease quota. I can't face another soggy samosa that has been twice-cooked in its own steam in the takeaway foil-box.

To prevent a mini-fight (fight is the wrong word, really, since that leads to an invalid fast) of sorts, I tend to make a lighter dish that everybody says is unnecessary or claims to not want, but gobbles up along with their samosa-vada-cutlet, any way.

This is one of those classic raid-your-fridge sandwiches. Good, crusty, wholegrain bread. A hunk of good cheese. A handful of plump, sweet grapes. You've got yourself a sandwich.

I can't extol the virtues of a panini maker enough. Enough praises have been sung/spoken on this blog, but please, please get one.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to be a little bit of a bread snob and say that you can skip this recipe if all you've got is white Modern/Wonder bread. In that case, I'd toast my white bread and spread jam on it or make french toast. Not this panini. I've completely adapted this from Jamie Oliver's pizza recipe, and you know it's sacrilege to use trans-fat/mass-produced/plastic food in a Jamie Oliver recipe.

Also, the cheese can be anything except sliced pre-packaged American cheese. Feta, good. Cheddar, good. Parmesan, good. Pecorino Romano, great! The salty cheese holds it shape, and contrasts beautifully with the sweetness of the honey, the herbiness of the rosemary, the crustiness of the bread and the grapes were a hot, yummy mess at the end of the grilling. Whew.

Herbed Grape-and-Cheese Panini:

Ingredients:

8 slices whole-grain bread

4 tbsp honey (I used saffron honey)

1 tsp dried rosemary

1/3 cup crumbled Pecorino Romano cheese

24 grapes

Olive oil or butter, for greasing

Method:

Cut the grapes into half. Deseed the grapes and keep them aside.

Take two slices of bread and butter them on one side. I skipped this part. On the unbuttered side, arrange the sliced grapes, cheese. Drizzle with honey, sprinkle with rosemary.

Close the sandwich with the other slice of bread. Pop it into the preheated panini maker until the sides are golden brown. Repeat with the remaining slices of bread.

I used Extra Virgin Olive Oil for greasing, because I wanted a more savoury sandwich. The others however, liked their sandwich, pancakes-style, with a pat of butter and some more honey.

This should ideally be served steaming hot.

And rest assured, I'll be making this in different forms; on a cracker (post-gym food!), as bruschetta and as Pizza (the way Jamie intended it to be).

Get some water boiling for the tea, grill these babies and wrap yourself in a blanket. Nobody can fight/be unhappy with butter and honey and bread in their system. Tested and true.

Breakfast Panini with Eggs, Mushrooms and Peppers/The CSK sandwich!

Yellow is the colour du jour. Why? Yellow is the colour of the Chennai Super Kings, who have undoubtedly proven themselves to be the most kick-ass cricket team, ever. In honour of them opening the first match of the season, I thought I'd do my bit by making tribute food and yelling myself hoarse when they win.

The natural choices would be lemon bars or cheesecake. But then I got this whole Breakfast-of-Champions idea in my head and set to making a panini. Not that I'm saying you can't have lemon bars for breakfast. Would I ever do that?

This panini has eggs, mushrooms, yellow bell-peppers and cheddar cheese between two glorious pieces of bread. You can close your eyes, and each explosive bite might fool you into thinking it could be a pizza or a taco (with a little bit of imagination).

But I strongly suggest you keep them open and enjoy the goodness that panini is!

I'm giving you the recipe for what I made. Play around with it. Change the cheese, change the spread. Throw in chillies or baby spinach, whatever makes your palate sing. If it isn't for breakfast, you can even add bits of poached or grilled chicken. And as always, a sandwich press or a griddle can sub in for a panini press.

CSK-inspired Panini:
(Makes 4 paninis)

Ingredients:

8 slices whole-wheat bread
1 Yellow bell pepper, cut into strips
2 Eggs
1/2 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
200g Mushrooms, sliced
Extra-virgin olive oil-1 tsp
Dried oregano & Chilli flakes, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste.
Spread of your choice-Cheese spread, muhammara, mint chutney, mayo.

Method:

1)Place a non-stick pan over medium heat. Add in the olive oil. When heated, add the mushrooms and saute for a minute (just before the water starts coming out). Add salt, pepper and herbs to taste. Keep it aside.

2)Prepare the eggs to your liking. Simple sunny-side up eggs, an egg-white omelette, poached eggs, etc.

I did them sunny-side up, with a pinch of salt and black pepper. I kept yolks runny, so that when you cut into it, it makes a delicious mess.

3)Shred the cheddar cheese and keep aside. You can use feta or parmesan, but I like cheddar in this; it melts like mozzarella except that it's got some sharpness to it.

4)Assembling the sandwiches:

Dab on the spread of your liking on a slice of bread. I used Britannia's Coriander and Mint Cheese Spreadz. You can skip it altogether, to keep it healthy and add extra herbs.

Add a quarter portion of the mushrooms, cheddar cheese, yellow bell pepper and half an egg to each sandwich.

Sprinkle on some dried chilli flakes/cayenne for some extra heat.

5)Close with another slice of bread and put it onto the heated panini press.

Recipe Source: My own! Yay!

Serve hot with mustard (for the punch and an extra bit of yellow).

I do hope they win. And even if they don't (no!!!), maybe I'll whip up something else next time. Do you think a pineapple or mango dessert will be luckier charms?

Chicken Waldorf Sandwiches/What Promises are made of.

I promised I'd make things with meat in them. I promised I'd make easy-peasy grad student recipes. And I'm the kind of girl who keeps her promises. Believe it.

Conveniently though, this recipe caught my eye during one of my long, long food-surfing sessions. You know, the sites I visit daily to slobber over sensual, glamorous food, the likes of which I can never conjure up. This one, though, was the type you could pull off even if all your recipe book has toast, coffee and Maggi in it. Prep time aside, it takes five minutes to assemble.
So it works out for all of us. You can thank me later.

And did I mention this has no fancy herb or cut of meat in it? You could go down the frozen meats route and dig out a pack of boneless chicken breasts. Or if you're paranoid about the halal factor and/or freshness, call your friendly neighbourhood butcher (they're gentle giants).

Chicken Waldorf Salad: instantly, I think of the smoked chicken sandwich at Barista. While it is good (if a wee bit pricey), I've no idea when it was made or how much grease has gone into it, in the form of mayonnaise and butter.

Make them at home. Serve it to your mum's posh friends. Gloat whilst they diss their daughters and praise you. And if you're making this for men, name it something else. Chicken salad has quite the reputation for being bridal shower/"kitty" party food.

I made it at night, stored it in a bowl wrapped with cling film, and served it at breakfast. Yes. We have meat for breakfast. Get over it. In my defense, it was a Sunday. Pah.

Mostly-Healthy Chicken Waldorf Salad Sandwiches.

Ingredients:

400g of boneless chicken, cubed.
3 celery ribs (optional)
3/4 cup pineapple, peeled and chopped.
1/2 cup apple, peeled and chopped.
1 medium onion, finely diced.
2 tablespoons Mayonnaise (Light is good)
1/2 cup unflavoured yogurt.
2 tablespoons lemon juice.
Mint/Parsley, a small handful-chiffoned (chopped fine).
Salt and Pepper, to taste.

Method:

For the chicken:

Place your chicken pieces in a medium-sized vessel. Fill it with enough water so it's a couple of inches above the level of the chicken. Add plenty of salt and pepper, and bring to a boil. Cook until it's completely reduced.

Another way to cook the chicken would be to rub the chicken with olive oil, salt and pepper. Simply bake/grill them until tender.

Once the chicken is cool, shred the pieces into your-ideal-sized pieces. For example:-

In another bowl, combine the chopped pineapple and apple.

I used a ripe, sweet pineapple. In contrast, a green apple would be fantastic; or you can pick up Washington or Fuji apples at Kovai Pazhamudir Chozhai. Regular old apples would be fine, too. Just make sure they are tart and crisp. If they're very sweet and doughy, skip the apples altogether.

Chop the celery into tiny dice.

Celery adds another whole dimension to the dish, not to mention an interesting texture. Again, they're available in most greengrocers... if your subziwalla/kaigari kaar doesn't have them, supplement with extra mint for a herb-y touch and more onions for a crunch.

In a bowl, mix together the chopped onion, chicken, apple-pineapple, celery, mayonnaise, yogurt, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Taste it. If the consistency or the seasoning isn't enough, make adjustments. You could add more mayo, less fruit, plenty of pepper, whatever.

Toast the walnuts. Chop them coarsley. Add into the chicken mix.

Serve on toasted baguette slices or stuffed between two pieces of wholewheat bread. I skipped the grilling as I wanted a cold sandwich that would befit Summer. Or wrap spoonfuls inside crisp, cold lettuce leaves for a refreshing appetizer/amuse bouche.

This post could be tagged healthy, technically. It depends on how you make it. Either way, you could close your eyes when you see the two tablespoons of mayo part. Out of sight, out of mind. Work with me!

12 ways to make a sandwich. And a tuna melt. 13.

Weekends have no rules. Sleep/don't sleep. Work/preferably don't. Eat like skinny jeans don't exist. And then comes Monday, like a strict school-teacher, all uppity and annoying. Meals have to be on the go. Or they have to be made and consumed within the span of minutes. Enter the panini press!

I've raved enough about mine, so I'll spare you this time. Except to say that you need to go buy one if you don't have it already. Stat.

Spy around the house for ingredients. Put them all in a bowl, season to taste. Place between two slices of bread. Toast it in the panini press. Finis. If you are running out of ideas, read on!

Since people keep asking me why I have 13 in the blog-address, I'd like to clarify: apart from it being a number I love, it's simply because I didn't get the original address I wanted. And to pay homage to the number, I'm going to give you thirteen simple ways you can make a sandwich.

1)Peanut butter+mashed banana in white bread-grilled-drizzled with honey.

2)Slices of boiled egg, sprinkled with pepper and salt in wholegrain bread. Grilled, drizzled with extravirgin olive oil.

3)Mediterranean sandwich.

4)Grate paneer. Grate equal amounts of cucumber (Drained completely). Add chopped garlic, pepper, salt. Serve on bread toasted with olive oil.

5)A plain omelette, mint chutney and a slice of Amul cheese between two pieces of Modern bread! If you're up to it, mash up some boiled potatoes with chilli powder and salt. Courtesy: Balaji Sandwich stall.
For more authenticity, put this in a triangle-sandwich machine, and eat some "timepass cucumber" while it cooks.

6)Bruschetta.

7)Sliced apples, raisins and crunchy peanut butter, a sprinkle of cinnamon in wholewheat bread. Grill it, or lunch-box it.

8)Mash a couple of garlic cloves into some mayo, spread it on a slice of bread and toast it with chilli flakes and oregano. Garlic bread!

9)Mint chutney, slices of tomato, onion, cucumber and boiled potato, with a tiny sprinkling of chaat masala. Wrap it in a piece of newspaper. Decorate with little blobs of ketchup.

10)Defrost a burger patty. Grill it/pan-fry it. Place between slices of thick white bread, spread with mayo, mustard and chopped jalapenos.

11)Pizza-sandwich: Pizza sauce, cheese, herbs and similar toppings spread on flatbread (pita/roti) and baked. If it's for a non-gourmet 6-year-old, you can just put ketchup and a slice of cheese on bread and bake it for 10 minutes.

12)Spread Nutella on white bread. Slice a banana and arrange it on the nutella'd bread. Cover it with another slice of white bread. Grill, and serve. You know what I'd do though? Screw the sandwich, and just eat plain Nutella by the spoonful. Mmmmmm!!!!

13)Tuna Melts (or not):
(Serves two. Or not).

Ingredients:

4 slices wholewheat bread
1/3 cup of flaked tuna (from a tin)
1 cup chopped cabbage (can be substituted with iceberg lettuce)
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp mustard
6 black olives, pitted and sliced
Pepper and salt, to taste.
1 slice of American/Amul Cheese (optional)

Method:

1)Preheat the panini press.

2)Chop up the cabbage into fine dice. If you're using lettuce, the pieces can be bigger.

3)I used tuna in sunflower oil. Yes, the image of the smiling fish is off-putting.

 Try to drain the oil off the tuna, especially if you're using mayonnaise and cheese. Tuna in brine, and tuna in olive oil are brilliant, as well.

4) In one bowl, mix the tuna, cabbage/lettuce, olives, mayonnaise and mustard. Add pepper and salt to taste.

5)Stuff the filling between two slices of bread. Add cheese, if using. Grill it on the panini press until golden brown.

I dipped mine in KFC's Hot 'N' Chilly Sauce. Pick up packets of mustard and ketchup at those chain-restaurants. Trust me, the amount you pay should override any guilt. It's also convenient; drop in a couple into your tiffin box.

And if there is anything you should be guilty about, it's eating at KFC. Perceive it anyway you want.

Panini. And then some.

You know how Shoppers Stop and Lifestyle Home have a section devoted to kitchen appliances? I behave like a kid set free in a candy store there. Actually, I behave like me-post-diet in a candy store there.

After much grovelling, I made Mum buy us a panini-maker (Morphy Richards). Ever since it made its appearance, the humble triangle-sandwich maker has been hibernating in the dark recesses of the store cupboard. You can grill vegetables and meat, toast bread, cook a burger patty... I don't know if the warranty will be valid after the first couple of crazy tries, but there's a tasty way to find out!

I made this panini on one of those days I had to fend for myself. And since I've got a lousy exam in ten days, I have to pretend I've mugged 100 Multiple-Choice-Questions instead of cooking up a storm. Plus, I was hungry and I needed food. Fast.

There's no set recipe as such. We've all made a version of this sandwich on that hungry day. Open your refrigerator. Find the most appealing thing there. Make a sandwich out of it. Think peanut butter, mustard, tuna, apples, eggs, anything.

My eyes fell on a can of black olives (un-pitted and un-fun). When I pulled it out, I discovered. the holy grail. A nice block of Feta cheese. Feta cheese is difficult to find. Even Nilgris, to whom I'm eternally loyal to, does not steadily retail it. And when it is, you can go home knowing that you spent 125 bucks on a small bar of cheese, but it is money well-spent.

Salty, crumbly cheese; half-a-handful spins the humble sandwich and churns out a Grilled Mediterranean Panini, one that you pay close to 200 bucks for at French Loaf.

Grilled Mediterranean Panini

Ingredients:

Bread-8 slices

1 yellow pepper, cut into strips

1 red pepper, cut into strips

1 small onion, diced

5 cloves of garlic, peeled

2 tomatoes, deseeded and chopped

Spinach- 1 cup, washed very carefully and shredded

Feta cheese- 3/4th of a cup

Olive Oil-1 tbsp

Dried Herbs (Basil, Oregano, Thyme)

Black Pepper, crushed or Chilli Flakes- to taste.

Extra ingredients of your choice- not authentic, but your palate won't complain, will it?

I add olives and jalapenos. You can add mozzarella cheese, capers, an omelette or maybe even sneak in leftover grilled chicken.

Method:

Prep the vegetables. You can substitute the peppers with zucchini or plain old capsicum if that's what you find at the grocer's. Do not use raw eggplant in a quest to get Greek-y. That needs the eggplant to be sliced thin, salted, rested, drained and pan-fried. Try keeping the proportions even though.

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius. Put all of the vegetables except the spinach on a foil-lined tray (Yes, I know spinach isn't a vegetable... either way, don't add it here). Toss them with the Olive Oil. Extra-virgin would be a treat. OK. I'm lying. Extra-virgin is a necessity.

You'll notice how salt isn't added here. Feta cheese is naturally very salty so a forgotten addition would lead to a Sodium OverDose. Experience is the best albeit an expensive teacher.

Throw them into the oven and let it roast away for 20 minutes. Make sure the oven setting is on Bake or Broil. You'll know when it's done; the kitchen will smell heavenly.   

When the veggies look blistered and caramelized, take them out. Chop up the garlic in it.

They don't have much of a taste right now. Stay cool.

 Add in the feta, spinach (yes, raw spinach), herbs, pepper, and the aforementioned Additions-of-your-choice. Toss it all again. Taste it. Add extra olive oil, salt (if you need it), chilli flakes (if it's not hot enough).

Place a scoop of it between two slices of bread (butter it if you're lucky enough to be able to afford to). If you're serving it to company, try ciabatta or a honey-mustard bread. I used Modern Multi-grain bread; that'll do nicely for my face for weekday brunch.

 The pre-heated panini maker would do the rest. If you don't have one, any normal griddle greased with a little olive oil would do. As long as it doesn't smell of Masala Dosa.

When it's steaming inside and gorgeously crisp on the outside, it's ready!

You can also stuff the mixture into a roti and call it a wrap. You could place it on top of sliced baguettes and stick them in the oven, and they come out as bruschetta. You can stuff it into Pita bread with Tzatziki. You can make Quesadillas, heck, even triangle-sandwiches, with them. Puristas will cry. But you'll thank me for it.