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Original Message
"OTCC - Media noche sandwich"
Posted by thndrkttn on 01-02-11 at 10:55 AM
Sorry I'm a bit late! Stress, quitting my job and a bit too many cocktails hindered my posting abilities.

Grilled Ham, Cheese, and Salami with Caper Relish
An Italian take on the Cuban sandwich called media noche ("middle of the night").

When my husband and I were first dating, this recipe came out in Bon Appetit. We had a blast making it and I even brought it in for an 'international' luncheon we had at work in Albany. It was a big hit. Now, for those of you with panini makers, this is going to be a bit easier, but never fear for those that don't. All the times, I made it, I didn't have access to one as I do now. Pics to follow once I get a chance to upload them.

Ingredients
•1/2 cup olive oil
•3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
•1 large shallot, minced
•4 teaspoons minced fresh oregano
•1 rectangular 10x7x1 1/2-inch bread loaf (such as ciabatta)
•3 ounces sliced provolone cheese
•4 ounces sliced Italian Genoa salami
•4 ounces sliced Black Forest ham
•3 tablespoons finely chopped pitted brine-cured green olives
•3 tablespoons capers, chopped
•3 tablespoons minced peperoncini
•3 tablespoons butter, room temperature
•3 ounces Teleme or Fontina cheese, grated (about 1 cup)
•1 cup thinly sliced iceberg lettuce (This is optional as I have read on several occasions that peeps don't like lettuce on their hot sammiches.)

Preparation
•Whisk first 4 ingredients in small bowl; season dressing with salt and pepper.

•Cut top crust (about 1/3 inch) off bread and discard. Cut bread horizontally in half. Arrange provolone cheese on cut side of bottom half, covering completely. Top with layer of salami, then ham. Mix olives, capers, and peperoncini in small bowl; spread relish over ham. Press top half of bread, cut side down, atop relish; spread with 1 1/2 tablespoons butter.

•Heat heavy large skillet over medium heat 3 minutes. Place sandwich, buttered side down, in skillet. Using another skillet, press sandwich to compact slightly. Cook until golden, about 5 minutes. Spread top of sandwich with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons butter. Using large spatula, turn sandwich over. Press again with second skillet. Cook until bottom is golden and cheese melts, about 5 minutes.

•Transfer sandwich to work surface. Lift off bread top; sprinkle with Teleme or Fontina cheese, lettuce, and dressing. Press bread top onto sandwich and cut into quarters.


Table of contents
Messages in this discussion
"RE: OTCC - Media noche sandwich"
Posted by PepeLePew13 on 01-02-11 at 12:27 PM
This looks good. We have a panini maker and have used some of the same ingredients you've got there. I haven't tried fresh oregano so will try that the next time - we often use fresh basil in ours.

I like lettuce in my sandwich and like you, I pull the top off and stick in the cold stuff then eat away as the crunch is a nice complement.

"RE: OTCC - Media noche sandwich"
Posted by qwertypie on 01-02-11 at 12:37 PM
We have a very lovely little Italian bakery/deli near our place that Mr. Qwerty loves to explore. This is going to be fun!
"RE: OTCC - Media noche sandwich"
Posted by foonermints on 01-02-11 at 02:05 PM
Not for the poor ham.

"RE: OTCC - Media noche sandwich"
Posted by qwertypie on 01-02-11 at 04:15 PM
Sucks they were born so tasty.
"RE: OTCC - Media noche sandwich"
Posted by Tummy on 01-04-11 at 01:29 PM
LAST EDITED ON 01-04-11 AT 01:31 PM (EST)

This recipe calls for a trip to a larger grocery store than the one here in town. Saturday we're going into the city and I've wanted to visit a Whole Foods so this is a great excuse.

edited to ask opinions - Which would work better as a panini press - a) George Foreman grill or b) ridged cast iron skillet using another skillet as weight?

"RE: OTCC - Media noche sandwich"
Posted by thndrkttn on 01-04-11 at 03:18 PM
Tummy, any of those would work. I made it the first two times using a heavy skillet as a press. I don't think when this recipe came out, there were panini presses out there. So anything that can press the sandwich down and heat it, would be adequate.
"RE: OTCC - Media noche sandwich"
Posted by frodis on 01-04-11 at 03:47 PM
Perfect timing.

My parents surprised me with a panini press for Christmas. I hadn't ever considered getting one, myself, but I have to admit that it's pretty cool. It was used Sunday to make Reubens and Caprese paninis.

Now I have another recipe to try! Thanks, tkit!


A Mmmmmmmoonie plate special!

"RE: OTCC - Media noche sandwich"
Posted by Starshine on 01-08-11 at 04:43 PM
OK my substitutions were less than good, Manchego instead of Provolone and Feta instead of Fontina just didn't work.

I don't think I have ever seen Provolone for sale, may try again with different cheeses, I do like the idea of a dressing in a sandwich, and I think the relish was good, although I would cut the amount of pepper.

Interesting ideas, Thanks TKit

"RE: OTCC - Media noche sandwich"
Posted by qwertypie on 01-08-11 at 07:22 PM
How did you find the capers? I like them, Mr. Qwerty is wondering whether they would be overpowering. I told him he could just scrape off the relish if it were.
"RE: OTCC - Media noche sandwich"
Posted by Starshine on 01-08-11 at 07:40 PM
Well I like chutneys and pickles, so I thought it was good, however the cheese overpowered most of the sandwich (although provolone would probably not be as strong)

If you give Mr Q the sandwich after toasting then he could scrape the relish and dress it himself maybe?

"RE: OTCC - Media noche sandwich"
Posted by qwertypie on 01-09-11 at 01:07 AM
You better believe it! (His family learned very quickly not to criticize or make suggestions to 'improve' any dish I made. I quickly, publicly and very happily, proclaimed that person in charge of 'perogies' or whatever else they felt was substandard)
"RE: OTCC - Media noche sandwich"
Posted by Starshine on 01-10-11 at 09:49 AM
Tried again with a few more differences

Mashed the capers and olives together and added slightly less of the pepper.

Took a Panini roll (so I could only cut in it half, no flash stuff with the butter ) used fake cheese slices on the bottom with York ham and roast beef on top of that, with the relish and cheddar above that. I then put the top on and toasted in my George.

It was very nice, but I should have prepared a little bowl of the dressing to go with it as that would have lifted it even higher.

This has started me on a panini frenzy, tonight it is Camenbert and chicken, possibly with some redcurrant jelly, who knows what it will be tomorrow!

"TUMMY!"
Posted by weltek on 01-10-11 at 12:59 PM
Catching up on OTCC later this week with this sammich AND the chicken from last time. Wondering if Tummy would be so kind as to post RE: the upcoming schedule or whatever her plan was fot the new year....



-A Tribetastic Creation

"*shallot breath*"
Posted by weltek on 01-11-11 at 10:32 PM
Seriously, don't make this for a first date.

First, I want to tell everyone to follow directions. I said "eh, I'm just going to throw the fontina on now since I'm not doing lettuce." Well, then the dressing can't soak into the bread. I screwed that up on Nolay's. He used the oil as a dipping sauce. When I made mine, I still put the fontina in as I built the sandwich to grill, but I put an slice of ham on top of the fontina and tapenade layer. All's well that ends well.

Changes to the original:
-I left off the lettuce and didn't use olives out of personal taste. I get where the crunch of last-minute-added lettuce would be good, but it was still yummy without it.

-I cut the amount of capers down by about 1 tbs. for personal caper issues. It was still fantastic!

-I used a splash of white wine and balsamic instead of white wine vinegar.

I think if you didn't want to invest in fontina (though it's a tasty cheese), or have trouble finding it, just using double the provolone would be good. Or sub mozzarella for the fontina for ease.

The compliment: Nolay had a bad day at work and said Tkit's sandwich made him feel better. And he didn't have a beer with it, so it had to be the sandwich!


-A Tribetastic Creation

"RE: OTCC - Media noche sandwich"
Posted by qwertypie on 01-22-11 at 02:48 AM
Making this tomorrow
"Mouthful of POW!"
Posted by qwertypie on 01-24-11 at 01:31 AM
This was a big hit (but I am starting to feel the shallot breath )
We don't have a panini maker, but I have a cheap-o IKEA square pan with ridges on it and used my dutch oven (which I got thanks to other OT recipes) as the press.

The panini was really good. I was worried that it would be too spicy (Mr. Qwerty got spicy Genoa salami and the relish had quite a kick to it) but everything blended really nicely together. This was the first time I have used fresh oregano.

I didn't use lettuce and am not sure I would next time because we enjoyed this incarnation so much. I might try thinly sliced sweet bell peppers if I want this to have some crunch.

The whole was greater than the some of its parts, for sure.

Sustitutions: I used a french loaf, which was quite a bit thicker than recommended, but the weight of the dutch oven squished it flat.
I didn't have white wine vinegar so I used red wine vinegar instead. I don't think the sandwich suffered

Thanks thndrkttn! I have never tried paninis before. I made the kids grilled cheese, panini style for them and they really loved it.

"Delicious!"
Posted by Karchita on 01-26-11 at 00:50 AM
LAST EDITED ON 01-26-11 AT 04:49 PM (EST)

This was a big hit here! I used my brand new Le Crueset pan (b-day gift from DH) as the panini press. I more or less followed the recipe, except I used a baguette for the bread, pancetta for the salami, mozzarella for the second cheese, jalapenos for the peperoncini, and romaine lettuce for the iceberg. OK, I guess I only loosely followed the recipe.

I had a few doubts while I was putting it together because I thought there was a lot going on with all the strong flavored ingredients, but it turned out delicious. The only thing was next time I would use less sauce because both of our sandwiches were dripping with excess, but that may have been due to the bread I used. I suppose ciabatta is so much denser, it would soak it up better.

Mr. Karchita in particular enjoyed this sandwich. We both agreed it was restaurant quality. He came home as I was putting it together and looked very puzzled for a moment when he saw what I was doing with the Le Crueset pan. Then he figured it out and said, "This is for the cooking club, isn't it?"

To think I almost didn't make it because it required many ingredients that I don't normally have on hand and/or are high calorie and high fat. I am so glad I did. I had never made panini at home and have had a few bad experiences with them in restaurants. Now I know how good they can be. Thanks for another winner, tkitty!