Crispy Sandwiches Call For Crispy Sweet Potato Fries

It's time to talk about panini's, also known as the best ever food, ever.  Seriously though, what did the world do before the person who decided pressing that boring soggy sandwich they were eating was a good idea.  Did people really eat regular sandwiches?  Impossible.  I literally turn any sandwich I make into a panini.  Turkey and cheese, press it.  Vegetable and hummus, press it.  Fresh tomato, basil and mozzarella, press it.  Honestly, if I ate peanut butter and jelly/ fluff, I would press it.

Why you ask?  Oh really, tell me a hot, crunchy, cheesy sandwich doesn't sound amazing.  If that doesn't sound good to you, I have no answers for you.  You have a long, sad, lonely life ahead of you plagued by cold deli meat atop soggy, flavorless bread.  I feel for you.

I press anything and everything I can, and despite my sincere passion for panini-ing things, I coincidentally don't own a panini press.   How does she do it?!  I mean, I own pans so...

Another of the best things in the world, sweet potato fries.  Remember that extensive conversation we had about how much better sweet potatoes really are?  I'm serious about this.  I can't pass these puppies up, regardless of what menu I see them on.  I would get these if I saw them right up there next to Pho on a Vietnamese menu.  Sweet potato fries are awesome, and quite frankly, leave boring potato fries in the dust.  Not only are they more delicious but, if you follow the oven cooking school of thought, they are a thousand times healthier than those grease soaked, flour covered, potato sticks.  However, if you've ever tried making sweet potato fries, you know they can be tricky little guys--they're hard to get the perfect amount of crispy while also becoming the perfect amount of soft inside.

So what are we getting at here?  The perfect meal for a cool fall night.  Pesto Chicken, Tomato and Mozzarella Paninis with a side of Sweet Potato Fries!  Boom, roasted.  A couple of important disclaimers:

• Bread matters!  I'm about to tell you to use bakery fresh bread.  And you're about to ignore me, buy wonder bread, and ask me what's so special about this sandwich.  Save yourself the trouble and skip over this if you're not ready to buy bread from the bakery section of your supermarket (or local bread store) and want to keep it simple in the plastic-wrapped-all-things-that-have-yeast-in-them-mess of a "bread" aisle.  My recommendations:
• from grocery store bakery: Rosemary Olive Oil Bread by Culinary Circle
• from Panera:  Tomato Basil Loaf (sliced thick, 3/4 inch)
• Don't cut the time on the sweet potato fries.  They will be soggy and they will be greasy.  Or, you'll try to broil them too quickly, and you will have raw potatoes with black on the outside.  Yum.

Okay, now that that's out of the way, let's get going.

for the fries...
1 sweet potato
1 - 2 tbs olive oil
Garlic Salt
Salt (optional)
Rosemary
Black Pepper


how we do it...
1 Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2  Chop the sweet potato half, and then halve those halves.  Cut those halved halves into 1/4 inch thick strips, lay them on their sides, and cut those strips into two or three small strips.  They should start looking like french fries now.  Note that you don't have to skin the potato.  It's totally based on preference here.
3  Once the potato has been entirely chopped into strips, place on baking sheet, and drizzle with olive oil.  Toss so that all of the fries are coated.  Season with garlic salt, rosemary and black pepper.  I don't want to get to specific on how much here as it really is to your taste--I'm not a huge fan of salt so I went easy on the garlic salt, omitted regular salt, doused them in rosemary and gave them a healthy serving of black pepper.  
4  Roast in oven for 25 minutes, turn and roast for another 15 minutes, or until the fries are crispy.  If the fries are still not to your desired crispiness after this additional 15 minutes, crisp under broiler on high for 1 - 2 minutes on each side, turning once.  When done, strain on paper towel and keep warm in oven on 250 degrees until ready to serve.


and for the panini...
1 piece of thin sliced chicken
2 pieces of bakery fresh bread (used Tomato Basil Bread from Panera)
3 slices of fresh mozzarella (from mozzarella ball)
3 slices medium sized tomato (globe tomatoes)
2 tbs pesto (homemade or store bought Barilla)
1 tbs butter
1 tbs olive oil
Dried Basil
Black pepper

Fresh Basil (optional)
Garlic Salt (optional)


how we do it...
1  Season the chicken with dried basil and black pepper (also garlic salt if you decide to use).  Cook chicken all the way through and strain on paper towel.  Slice thin to fit bread being used.  
2  Spread 1 tbs pesto on each slice of bread and build your sandwich.  Mozzarella first, tomato, basil (optional), chicken and close with other slice of bread, pesto side down.  Now let's do the impossible and press this bad boy without a panini press!
3  Melt a tablespoon of butter in a pan over medium high.  When butter is bubbling, carefully move your sandwich into the pan.  Using a spatula, firmly, but not too firmly, press your panini for 10 - 15 seconds.  Repeat this process until underside looks browned/ toasted.  Flip panini (you might need an additional spatula depending on how much you load into your panini), and again, press the panini for 10 - 15 seconds. Cover the panini at this point and cook until cheese is beginning to melt.  Be sure to check that the underside isn't burning.  If bottom is crisping too much, flip and recover repeatedly.  When both sides are browned to your preference, remove from skillet, slice, and enjoy!


Like I said, paninis are amazing.   Especially homemade ones.   So there Panera, I just used your own bread to out-panini you. What about it.