Thanksgiving Turkey and Cranberry Panini

The day before Thanksgiving, it's the eve of the meal we wait all year for. Oven roasted turkey and all the classic sides will fill our kitchen tables and our stomachs. They will also most likely fill our refrigerators for the next few days with more leftovers than we know what to do with. I'm always looking for new and creative ways to use up those delicious Thanksgiving leftovers and this Turkey and cranberry pannini is my favorite turkey sandwich ever! Fresh roasted turkey, sweet and tart cranberry mayo, sharp cheddar cheese, and peppery arugula blend perfectly sandwiched between two slices of ciabatta bread.


Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Ciabatta Bread
Fresh Roasted Turkey Breast
1/2 cup of baby Arugula
2 Tablespoons of Cranberry relish or Sauce
2 Tablespoons of Mayo
About 1/2 cup of Freshly Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Salt and Pepper

Slice a loaf of ciabatta bread in half length ways. In a small mixing bowl, combine together the cranberry relish and the mayo. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Spread the cranberry mayo on both the top and bottom of the ciabatta bread.

Spread half of the cheddar cheese over top of the cranberry mayo. Take a few slices of turkey and place them over top of the cheese. Next add the arugula followed by a few more slices of turkey and the remaining cheddar.

Preheat your panini press or frying pan over medium heat. Drizzle a bit of olive oil on both the top and bottom of the bread and place the sandwich onto the panini press. Grill the sandwich until the bread is crisp and the cheese has melted - about 5 to 7 minutes. Rotate the sandwich 180 degrees half way through cooking to get criss cross grill marks. Cut the sandwich in half and enjoy!!

Jalapeno Popper Panini

A deep fried Jalapeno Popper is almost irresistible to me. Problem is being breaded, deep fried, and filled with cheese I only allow myself to have one or two on very rare occasions. My love for a popper left me looking for a way to get everything I loved about them but in a slightly more figure friendly package. Transforming a pub favorite finger food into a panini was an experiment of mine and I was thrilled with the results. I guarantee you won't miss the classic version of a popper once you try this sandwich with crunchy ciabatta bread, oven roasted jalapenos, and sharp cheddar cheese.

Yields two Paninis

4 Jalapeno Peppers
Kosher Salt and Freshly cracked Black Pepper
5 slices of Cheddar Cheese
1 small loaf of Ciabatta bread (look for a take and bake)


Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Take jalapeno peppers and cut off the tops and slice them in half. Place them on a small baking tray lined with a piece of tin foil. Sprinkle the peppers with a pinch of kosher salt, freshly cracked black pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil. Roast in the oven for about 12-15 minutes or until the skins of the peppers are tender.

Remove the peppers from the oven and remove the seeds. The seeds are what gives the peppers there heat so leave some in if you want your panini to be a bit spicier. Use any oil left on the pan to spread on the inside of the ciabatta bread for extra flavor as well.

Take the the ciabatta bread and carefully slice it in half length ways. Lay 5 slices of cheddar cheese down and top with the roasted jalapenos.Top with the remaining cheese and cap the sandwich off with the other half of ciabatta bread.

Drizzle a touch of olive oil on the top and bottom and place the sandwich onto a preheated panini press and grill for about 3-5 minutes or until the outside is crisp and the cheese has melted. Rotate the panini slightly half way through the cooking time to achieve a cross hatched grill mark look. Cut the sandwich on an angel and serve hot. Perfect snack for a movie!!!

PS - busier schedule now than I've had recently so I hope you"ll all bare with me if I'm later than normal with my posts or even miss a few here and there! I'll be writing as much as I can! Thanks all :)

My favorite Grown up Grilled Cheese - Cheddar, Apple, and bacon on Sourdough

Who doesn't love a grilled cheese sandwich?? It's one of the first foods we fall in love with as kids and that love affair never really goes away. A grilled cheese doesn't have to be just boring old melted American cheese on white bread. My favorite grilled cheese consists of nice sharp cheddar cheese with a few sweet slices of apples and salty and smokey apple wood smoked bacon. Grilled to perfection on some sourdough bread and this is the perfect grilled cheese for me.

(Ingredient quantity is per sandwich)

3-4 pieces of apple wood smoked bacon
5 slices of Cheddar cheese
About 1/2 of one apple sliced (whichever kind you like)
2 slices of sourdough bread
Softened butter

First step is to fry the bacon until it's nice and crispy. If you're making a few grilled cheese and good way to cook all the bacon at once is lining it onto a sheet pan and baking it in the oven at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes or until the bacon is crisp. When the bacon is done, remove from the pan and allow it to rest on some paper towels and pat off any excess grease.

While the bacon rests for a minute, slice your apple pretty thin and get your sliced cheddar out. If you're getting the cheddar from a deli counter just ask for it to be sliced on the thinner side or if you're cutting it by hand from a block of cheddar just do the best you can.


Now it's time to assemble the sandwich. First butter one side of two slices of our sourdough bread. I will mention here that I'm normally not a sourdough fan but when I was developing this recipe out of all the breads I tried I liked this one the best for this particular grilled cheese. Next lay down two slices of cheddar cheddar cheese on the opposite side of our buttered bread. Place our sliced apple over top, then one slice of cheddar cheese, the crispy bacon, the rest of the sliced cheddar, and cap the sandwich off with the other slice of bread with the buttered side facing you.

Place the sandwich buttered side down on a skillet that's been preheated over medium heat. Grill on each side for about 5-7 minutes or until the bread is golden brown. Remove from the pan, slice in half, and serve next to a Harvest House salad for a great Autumn time meal.

French Onion Soup Sandwich

Without a doubt one of my favorite meals to eat is a big bowl of French Onion soup. The blissful combo of sweet and tender caramelized onions in a savory beef broth with a crispy crouton and a layer of melted cheese is a comfort food like no other. One day, my best friend James and I were bouncing different creative recipes around and we thought about taking the contents of a French Onion soup and making it into a sandwich. We whipped up a batch and holy cow were they delicious. Turned out we were a little behind as someone else out there had already thought the same way but our recipe differs from there's and I'm confident we have the better sandwich. Caramelized onions, a combination of melted Gruyere and Cheddar cheese, and melted together on slices of French baguette or a Croissant is everything you love about French Onion soup except the bowl.

Recipe yields 2 sandwiches

2 large onions
2 tablespoons of butter
1/2 pound of Cheddar Gruyere mix
1/4 cup of dry Red Wine or Beef Broth
1 clove of minced Garlic
1/4 teaspoon of Thyme 
Kosher Salt and Black Pepper
Dijon Mustard
4 slices of French baguette or 2 croissants

Start by slicing both your onions into medium slices, about 1/4 inch thick of so. I used both a sweet onion and a purple onion here because that was what I had on hand but you can use whatever kind you prefer. In a large saute pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium low heat and add your onions to the pan. Season with freshly cracked blacked pepper and kosher salt. It will look like a lot of onions for two sandwiches but
they are going to cook down a lot.

Now just like we are making actual French onion soup the key is to cook our onions low and slow to let them caramelize and develop their sweet flavor. Stir the onions often and let them cook for about 45 minutes. The onions will be very very tender and have a rich brown color to them

Once the onions have cooked down, add the minced clove of garlic and the thyme leaves. Stir together to allow the garlic to cook for a few minutes. Next add either the red wine or the beef broth and stir together. Here is a little tip - if you're using beef broth it's silly to open on a can just for a 1/4 cup. Instead, dissolve half of a beef bouilon cube in 1/4 cup of boiling water and add to the pan. Stir together and cook for another 7-10 minutes. While the onions finish cooking in the wine or broth, shred the cheese and slice the baguette or the croissants (I've made it with both and either one works perfectly). Taste your onions for seasoning.

Spread  the outside of each slice of bread with a bit of softened butter and on the inside add a bit of the Dijon mustard. Sprinkle a bit of the shredded cheese over top and then add a layer of our caramelized onions. Add some more shredded cheese on top of the onions and place the cap on top of the sandwiches. Place the sandwiches on a panini press or a preheated griddle and grill on each side until golden brown and crispy.