The Ultimate Panini Press Cookbook

You never know what a holiday gift can spark. For Kathy Strahs, her sister's Christmas gift to her of a panini press launched a career as a food blogger when she started investigating the possibilities of the equipment on Panini Happy. Five years later and with yet another blog, Cooking on the Side, Strahs is also now a published cookbook author. Her book, The Ultimate Panini Press Cookbook (Harvard Common Press/$19.95) will be out on September 10.

So many cookbooks are designed to be aspirational. The Ultimate Panini Press Cookbook is inspirational. If you don't already have a panini press, it'll make you want to rush out and buy one. Or a George Foreman grill, or any countertop grill. And, you don't have to use it to make grill-marked panini alone, as Strahs points out. The more than 200 recipes--lavishly photographed by Strahs--of course include plenty of sandwiches, but there are also recipes for panini-grilling everything from heads of garlic and peaches to tri-tip steak, spatchcocked game hen, and even ice cream cones.

Photo by Kathy Strahs

Additionally, she includes tempting recipes for a variety of condiments and other small dishes that you'll want to spread on your panini, like olive oil mayonnaise, grilled tomatillo guacamole, cranberry coleslaw, and arugula pesto. There are hints for how to buy and use the press, of course, but also for how to lighten up panini, and even a top 10 list of surprising uses for a panini press that includes making bacon, French toast, seafood, quesadillas, and cookies.

Quite a versatile piece of equipment.

But, really, it all comes back to the panini itself. Strahs has compiled a virtual tour around the world of various cuisines that can be sampled between two slices of bread. Go to Jamaica with a Jerk Chicken Panini that includes caramelized onions and fresh cilantro. Or Argentina with a Chimichurri Skirt Steak Panini with Provolone and Sun-Dried Tomatoes. Enjoy her Greek-Style Caprese Panini with plenty of feta crumbled onto rustic olive bread or Beer-Grilled Bratwursts. There are vegetarian suggestions as well, such as her Grilled Peach Salad with Toasted Pecans, Blue Cheese, and Honey Balsamic Syrup and her Black Bean Patty Melt Panini. She's even got breakfast panini suggestions--try her Egg White Omelet Panino or indulge in her Rajas, Steak, and Egg Panini, made with a flatiron steak. And, for the kids, there are Panini Pops--a star-shaped (thanks to cookie cutters) grilled cheese wonders on a stick that include cooked bacon, roasted red bell peppers, or whatever additions you desire.

Since Strahs is a member of Les Dames d'Escoffier's San Diego chapter (along with me), and will have a booth at Fig Fest 2013 San Diego, the Sept. 8 event we're holding at the San Diego Public Market, she offered to share this fig-laden panini recipe with readers.

Turkey-Apple Panini with Fig and Gruyère
From The Ultimate Panini Press Cookbook by Kathy Strahs
(reprinted with permission)
(printable recipe)

Yield: 4 panini

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, at room temperature
8 slices rustic whole-grain bread, sliced from a dense bakery loaf
1/2 cup fig preserves
8 ounces carved or deli-sliced roast turkey
1 Granny Smith apple, cored and thinly sliced
8 ounces Gruyère cheese, thinly sliced

Directions:
1. Heat the panini press to medium-high heat.
2. For each sandwich: Spread butter on two slices of bread to flavor the outside of the sandwich. Flip over both sides and spread 1 tablespoon fig preserves on the other side of each. Top one slice with turkey, apples, and cheese. Close the sandwich with the other slice of bread, buttered side up.
3. Grill two panini at a time, with the lid closed, until the cheese is melted and the bread is toasted, 4 to 5 minutes.

Photo by Kathy Strahs

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Getting Figgy: Fig Fest 2013 San Diego Set for Sept. 8

More Than Three Dozen Chefs and Artisan Vendors from San Diego and Baja +

San Diego and Baja Wineries and Breweries

All Showcasing California Figs

Decades after I first watched the movie Women in Love I still remember the lascivious way Alan Bates pulled apart and bit into a very ripe fig. I was young enough for the overt eroticism he created with the fig to make me blush in the dark theater.

Today, my experiences with figs are less fraught and more playful. Fresh, their sweet velvety softness is irresistible. I love to roast them with goat cheese or marscapone, top with a sprinkling of toasted pine nuts, and then drizzle them with honey or balsamic vinegar. I add fresh ones to salads, bake them in tarts. I chop the dried ones into cookie dough or sweet breads. They're truly versatile.

On Sunday, Sept. 8, from 4 to 7 p.m., Les Dames d'Escoffier's San Diego Chapter (to which I belong), the California Fig Advisory Board, and the San Diego Public Market are presenting Fig Fest 2013 San Diego. We'll have close to 40 chefs and artisan food vendors from San Diego--truly a who's who of the flourishing San Diego and Baja culinary scenes--all featuring fig-based dishes and products. We'll also have a host of wineries and breweries servings beverages that complement the food. And there will be a pavilion set up for Les Dames members to showcase their wares--from edibles to books.

Clockwise from top left: Bernard Guillas of the Marine Room, Pablo Ibarra and Jeff Rossman of Terra, Joanne Squires-Sherif of Cardamom, Trish Watlington and Miguel Valdez of The Red Door and The Wellington, and Fabrizio Cavallini of Monello and Bencotto

Chef Matt Richman of Table 926

Here's the line up so far:

A.R. Valentien
Avant
Baleen
Beaumont's Eatery
Bellamy's
Blueprint Cafe
Biscuit Gourmet
Cafe Chloe
Cardamom
Catalina Offshore Products
Caxao
Con Pane
Cupcakes Squared
Cups
Deckman's
Farm House Cafe
Fresh Start Food
Grant Grill
Great Maple
Indulge Contemporary Catering
Jackie's Jams
JSix
La Querencia Baja Med
Manzanilla
Misión 19
Monello/Bencotto
NINE-TEN
Roseville Cozhina
Ryan Steyn
Season Catering & Events
Sugar & Scribe
Table 926
Tapenade
Temecula Olive Oil Company
Tender Greens
Terra
The Marine Room
The Red Door and The Wellington
Venissimo
Waters Fine Catering
Wild Thyme Catering Company

Catalina Offshore Products' Tommy Gomes

Clockwise from top left: Maeve Schulz of Sugar & Scribe, Pete and Pete Balistreri of Tender Greens, Jeff  Jackson of A.R. Valentien, Javier Plascencia of Mision 19, and Flor Franco of Indulge Contemporary Catering

Our Baja wineries include Paralelo, Casa de Piedra, Estacion de Oficios el Porvenir, Aborigen, Vinisterra, Viñas Pijoan, Tres Valles, Viñas de Garza, Cava Aragon 126, La Lomita, and Möebius.

We'll be holding a chef competition, pairing local culinary students with chefs, with judging done by food gurus from outside San Diego. Winning teams will be awarded prizes.

And, you'll get something, too--a lush, full-color recipe booklet with tested recipes from participating chefs and artisan vendors. Not to mention some of the best fig-oriented food around.

Tickets are $45 before Aug. 15 and $55 thereafter, with $20 tickets for kids under 12. Hurry and get your tickets now by going to FigFestSD.com.

Proceeds from shares for Les Dames d'Escoffier will be donated to a variety of nonprofit projects that that chapter sponsors. Our history of giving includes recipients such as Olivewood Gardens, low-income female culinary student scholarships, The San Diego Food Bank, Rachel's Women's Center, St. Vincent de Paul's culinary program, Scrumptious Schoolyards and Grow Your Lunch, and St. Madeleine Sophie's Center.

And, huge thanks to Specialty Produce, which is on board as a featured sponsor!




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Street Food Market Comes to the San Diego Public Market

Did you absolutely love Taste of the Market? Did you (for shame!) miss it? Well, no matter, here's another opportunity to be wowed by our new Public Market and wowed by San Diego's and Baja's best chefs, who are turning to the streets for culinary inspiration.

Yes, come to Street Food Market on Sunday, March 24th, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the San Diego Public Market in Barrio Logan. Chefs Andrew Spurgin and Melissa Mayer are teaming up again to create a playful, energetic culinary fiesta featuring authentic street food, craft beers and cocktails, and all that makes up street market theater. We're talking chickens, goats, bicyclists, car clubs, street dancers, musicians, Lucha Libre, street art, chess, and much more--all under one crazy roof.

Chefs Andrew Spurgin, Chad White, and Melissa Mayer. Photo by Maribel Mareno

So, who's joining the party? The list keeps growing but let's start with:

Javier Plascencia - Misión 19 | Erizo Baja Fish House & Market | Romesco
Miguel Angel Guerrero – El Taller | La Querencia
Mirta Rodriguez – Mariscos Ruben
Sabina Bandera Gonzáles - La Guerrerense
Kevin Ho and Juan Miron - MIHO’s Stand and Deliver
Jason Knibb – NINE–TEN
Diego Hernandez – El Corazón
Hanis Cavin - Carnitas’ Snack Shack
Chad White - Plancha Baja Med
Jeff Jackson & Jennifer Costa – A. R. Valentien
Jack Fisher – Cucina Urbana | Jack Fisher Confections
Ricardo Heredia - Alchemy
Hector Casanova - Casanova Fish Tacos
Craig Jimenez - KAEN Noodles
Flor Franco - Indulge
Noriyoshi Teruya – Sora
Donald Coffman – Culinary Concepts
Dawn Parks - Wild Thyme
Matt Gordon – Urban Solace | Sea & Smoke
Antonio Friscia – Gaijin Noodle & Sake House
Shihomi Borillo – Azuki Sushi
Lisa Altman – Viva Pops
Ryan Studebaker – The Hopping Pig
James Rauh – The West Bean
Katie Grebow – Café Chloe | Oliver & Rose
Nathan Coulon -- True Food Kitchen

Photo by Andrew Spurgin

Between them, we'll be enjoying tacos, TJ dogs, churros and barbacoa, Salvadoran pupusas, Vietnames pho, Japanese udon and yakitori, French crepes, and food on a stick from every corner of the globe. Plus, craft beer, regional wines from California to the Guadalupe Valley, aguas frescas, and custom cocktails enhanced with ingredients from our local farms.

All this, of course, is to support our Public Market. While many of the guests will be enjoying the evening as a reward for donating to the market's Kickstarter campaign last year, there are a number of tickets available to the public, with the proceeds supporting development of the Market Kitchen--a micro-business incubator and community culinary education center at the Public Market--and the Front Burner Fund.

Early bird general admission tickets are $55 dollars. There are also $85 limited VIP tickets that offer early access, along with the all-inclusive food and alcohol also offered to general admission ticket holders. Purchase tickets now at Brown Paper Tickets.

The San Diego Public Market is located at 1735 National Ave.

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Taste of the Market: A Sampling of the Future for the Public Market

I don't usually like to write up an event after it's happened. Really, what's the point since you can't attend after the fact? But last weekend's Taste of the Market at the San Diego Public Market in Barrio Logan is the first of a number of community events coming up so if you live in San Diego and are rooting for the future of a public market here, you need to see what you may have missed so you won't make that mistake again.

On Sunday afternoon, more than 230 people ate and drank their way through the two warehouse halls that on Wednesdays and Sundays are the farmers market. But on this late afternoon, the warehouses were transformed into whimsical spaces filled with imaginative eateries created by restaurants and chefs who had been paired with local farmers and purveyors. Andrew Spurgin and Melissa Mayer, who co-chaired and coordinated Taste of the Market, each had their own little hot spots. Spurgin's Broussard's Po' Boy cafe was straight out of New Orleans and featured, what else, a fried oyster po' boy.

Mayer, on the other hand, went south of the border with a vibrant blue cantina, serving a smoked chicken torta.

The list of restaurants and chefs just goes on and on. Plus, there were vendors you'd usually see at the farmers market--Suzie's Farm, Nicolau Farm (chèvre), Cardamom Bakery, Jennywenny Cakes, Viva Pops, and SuperNatural Sandwiches among them. Below is a snapshot of a perfect culinary festival:

Dave Rudie, Tommy Gomes, and Ken Gardon of Catalina Offshore Products

Ken and his octopus salad

Chef Chad White of La Plancha Baja Med

Chad White's Apple brulee, fermeneted Julian Hard Cider vincotto, Gilbert Qunitos Farm kale, lardo, Smit Orchards apples, sesame nori gremolata

Chef Craig Jimenez of Roseville Cozinha and colleagues. He made a luscious goat cheese ravioli (sourced from Nicolau Farms)

Snake Oil Cocktail's Michael Esposito, Andrew Spurgin, and Public Market co-founder Dale Steele

Jenny Williams of Jenny Wenny Cakes

Joanne Squires-Sherif of Cardamom Bakery & Cafe

Katie Grebow of Cafe Chloe

Gina Frieze of Venissimo topping off a slice of Bread & Cie baguette loaded with Gina's house-made ricotta 

Salumi, cheese, and bread: a collaboration that is the goal for Pete Balistreri, Venissimo, and Bread & Cie at the Public Market

Pete Balistreri of Tender Greens and P Balistreri Salumi

Alchemy's Ricardo Heredia and his pig from Da-Le Ranch

The Blind Burro's Sara Polczynski making these beautiful veggie tacos below

Tony Nguyen and SuperNatural Sandwiches' variation on their Harpy sandwich

George's at the Cove's Trey Foshee and (below) his  slow-roasted Maciel carrot salad 

The Red Door and The Wellington's Trish Watlington and Chef Miguel Valdez with their seared local yellowtail over pumpkin uni bisque

Hurray for Viva Pops!

As I said, this was just the first of the big market events the Public Market will be holding, according to market maestra, Catt White.

The next Taste of the Market will take place on March 24th, and, says, White, "will be a celebration of our ethnic diversity, with chefs showing off Japanese, Filipino, and Chinese specialties, German sausage, tastes from Tijuana, and more, teamed with local farmers for ingredients, of course."

Between now and then they'll be hosting a movie night with local chefs' takes on snack food. As White says, "Think popcorn, hot dogs, and Junior Mints kicked way up." The tentative date is March 8.

All this, of course, is hand-in-hand in anticipation of the market going full time in spring or summer, with permanent stalls and artisan cheese making, salumi curing, a tortilleria, coffee roasting, and baking on premises. Indeed, the proceeds from ticket sales at Taste of the Market are going toward the development of the Market Kitchen, a commissary kitchen for vendors and micro-businesses that will also feature community education classes on cooking and nutrition.

So, really, pencil in the next dates on your calendar. This was just the first of many special public events at our Public Market. You'll want to be there.



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