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Jill, your illustrations are the best! And from a student of the italian language, thanks for pointing out how to pronounce bruschetta. Now if people can only use "panino / panini" correctly. Speaking of which, here's two styles of panini I make at home, . Another thing I like about your articles Jill, they inspire people to grow herbs and cook with them.
Portabello Panini – Two Styles / Calabrese style and with Herbed goat cheese
For both styles:
2 large whole portabello mushrooms
1 Vidalia onion
some extra virgin olive oil
Parmesan Balsamic Vinaigrette
1. Remove stems from mushrooms. Drizzle gills side with olive oil and brush cap side with olive oil.
2. Slice onion about 1/4 inch thick. Secure rings together with toothpicks. Drizzle with olive oil.
3. Grill onions until caramelized. Remove toothpicks, separate rings, and seal in foil. Put to warm side of grill.
4. Grill mushrooms gills side down, and then gills side up. When moisture collects where stem was removed, transfer carefully with the juices on top of the onions in the foil. Reseal and let cook on grill until onions are soft. Remove and let cool, can be done in advance.
1. Slice focaccia horizontally. Slice mushrooms.
2. Drizzle inside of focaccia with vinaigrette, then layer with mushrooms, onions, mozzarella cheese, tomato slices, and basil leaves. Put on the top layer of the panini.
3. Grill the panino on the grill (or use a grill pan on the stove) and put a weight such as a cast iron pan or something else heavy on top (or use a grill press). Grill until you get nice brown grill marks. Turn over and repeat.
4. Cut into quarters and and serve.
1. Slice focaccia horizontally. Slice mushrooms.
2. Drizzle inside of focaccia with vinaigrette, then layer with mushrooms, onions, and goat cheese. Put on the top layer of the panini.
3. Follow same instructions as step 3 above for grilling.
Thanks! If you've got tomatoes and basil on hand, you have to try making bruschetta... I've had a container of it in the fridge since my tomatoes finally started ripening a couple of weeks ago. It's better if you let it come up to room temperature, but I've been known to dip into it with a piece of bread while standing by the open door of the fridge!
Miata, thanks for more yummy recipes... that second one, in particular, sounds divine... I have the tomatoes and basil on hand for it, for sure! And it sounds like I could use basil pesto on plain foccacia to create this one. :-) So, it's one "panino" and two "panini"... ?
And LOL because you know perfectly well who supplied me with the correct pronunciation of brew-sketta! Thanks!
Sì, it's "uno panino" and "due (or more) panini". And, honestly, I forgot about talking about the bruschetta with you. I was wondering who your other Italian friend was ;)
My "other Italian friend" (who taught the bruschetta recipe to me) is Irene, who lives across the river from you. They've got both sons and a daughter living on the property with them, so their garden looks like a truck farm and includes several hundred tomato plants (loads of varieties). Her daughter is my good friend who brought back that Italian basil seed for me when she went to Italy... there's a photo of the plant in my first herb article, and it's my first choice for pesto and other recipes. (Yes, I'll be saving plenty of seed again this year.)
Oh, yeah, now I remember you speaking of her. So it's thanks to her and you for the italian basil. My Italian teacher was pleased to see how well the plant did I got from you, despite the drought, while she was in Italy for 2 months. She was disappointed that it had so many blooms though. Her son was tending the garden and she was probably lucky that it got watered occasionally, let alone keeping the basil pinched. I told her from your previous article, all was not lost! Any chance any articles coming about saving the seeds?
As for saving the seeds, watch the bloom stalks.. the flowers will fall off, leaving green bits attached to the stem. When those parts start turning brown and drying up, the seeds inside are ready. If you strip the bits from the stem and crumble them between your fingers, you'll see tiny black basil seeds. (Brown seeds are generally not quite mature.) I let them dry a while on a plate, then rub/sift/blow to separate the seeds from the chaff.
Tabasco, head over to the herb forum and start a thread there to troll for ideas and recipes... I've played a little with putting chopped herbs into sugar to add flav or (then use the sugar in a recipe, like a lemon sugar cookie topped with lavender sugar)... but I haven't done much with that so far, and I have no idea about making liquors... sure sounds like a fun thing to explore!
Jill, you are simply amazing with your many talents...there isn't a forum on DG that you don't always have the latest scoop on. Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!
Jill - I really love these articles of yours! I think it is wonderful that you are encouraging more and more people to "grow their own"...and you do it in a wonderfully friendly persuasion instead of the cold and critical "do thus and so". Great job! Keep it up!
LOL, Gail! I assure you, there's more information here on DG than I can ever hope to learn. I come across something new each time I log on!
BTW, the photo at the top of the article is pasta with Bluekat76's roasted tomato sauce, garnished with basil. It's one of our favorites, and it smells just divine. DH was ready to dig right in, and he couldn't believe it when I insisted on taking it out of the pot into a nice serving dish and then taking its picture before letting him eat it!
Shari, I just saw your post... thanks! I've definitely tried to avoid using a dry, academic "voice" in these articles. Home gardening isn't rocket science. :-)
