Cranini

 
My quest to use cranberries goes on.
 
This post uses items many of us have in the house on this day after Thanksgiving—turkey and cranberry sauce. (I also have a tuna variation for those who are sick of turkey but still want to use cranberry sauce!)
 
Lately, my mother will only eat warm sandwiches. So we have been making lots of panini. We don’t have a panini press, but my brother’s George Foreman grill works just fine. In a pinch I have even used two cast iron pans, one under the sandwich and one pressing down on top.
 
It took my cranberry-obsessed brain only seconds to come up with the concept of CRANini.
 
Variations on these themes are up to you. My nephew Michael wasn’t crazy about the idea of cranberry-chipotle mayonnaise so he made a turkey sandwich with turkey, cranberry sauce, and Swiss cheese. He didn’t bother with any mayonnaise at all, using the cheese and the cranberry sauce to bind his sandwich.
 
Anyway, here are my two variations. The turkeyberry sandwich takes a little forethought since the cranberry-chipotle mayo tastes best made in advance. 

By the way, readers who love to bake may want to take advantage of King Arthur Flour’s Black Friday sale to stock up on baking essentials. The sale ends today, but it’s worth a look. (No, King Arthur Flour didn’t pay me to tell you this; I just happen to love its products!)

 
If you’re interested, click on the image above. 

Happy shopping—and eating……. 

Cranberry-Chipotle Mayonnaise is VERY pink!

 
The Cranini
 
I. Turkeyberry Panini
 
Ingredients:
 
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup whole-berry cranberry sauce
1 chipotle in adobo, finely chopped (less if you don’t like spice)
1 pinch salt
two pieces of bread (we used soft French bread)
sliced turkey
the cheese of your choice (we used Swiss)
 
Instructions:
 
First, prepare the cranberry-chipotle mayonnaise. In a bowl stir together the mayonnaise, cranberry sauce, chipotle pieces, and salt. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
 
Put a small amount of the prepared mayonnaise on each side of the bread. On one side of the bread, cover the mayo with turkey and then the cheese.
 
Pop on the other piece of bread and press the sandwich together while cooking. Serves 1 spicily. (You will have leftover mayonnaise for several more sandwiches!)
 
II. Tunaberry Panini
 
Ingredients:
 
two pieces of bread (we used soft French bread)
a small amount of mayonnaise for binding
a simple tuna salad (tuna, as little mayonnaise as you can get away with, finely chopped celery, lemon juice, salt, and pepper)
whole-berry cranberry sauce
the cheese of your choice (we used cheddar)
 
Instructions:
 
Put a small amount of mayonnaise on one side of the bread, and spread tuna salad on top. Cover with a little cranberry sauce (too much will spread all over your pan while cooking), the cheese, and the other piece of bread. 

Press the sandwich together while cooking. Serves 1 happily.


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6 Responses to “Cranini”

  1. I’ll bet this is great! I can’t wait to try it.

  2. Loyce Cofer says:

    Mmm loves that panini too, use George Foreman Grill to press them too, there are so many variations of sandwiches there is an endless list; yours will be added to my stash. We also have Tuna Sands every Saturday so this will be a nice variation. Thank you for cranberry left over hints; that even sounds great. My hubby, Don is a great cranberry enthusiast and when we have to get rid of left overs, he is deeply grieved.

  3. On holiday, in the absence of sandwich makers/George Foreman grills, I make ‘toasted’ sandwiches like this. Butter two slices of bread. Heat a frying pan (skillet). Put one slice of bread, butter side down, in the pan. Add filling – we like ham and (cheddar) cheese. Put second slice on, butter side up. When the bottom slice is nicely browned, turn the sandwich over, pressing down with a spatula as the cheese melts. Delicious!! Enjoy your leftovers!!

  4. E Cosby says:

    Tinky,

    Love the idea of the cranberry-chipotle mayo but until recently I’ve always been shy about chipotles because I never could use more than one from any can.

    Recently in Cook’s Illustrated I saw my solution. You make your own! Mix 3/4 t chipotle powder and 1/4 t red wind vinegar and 1/4 t tomato paste for each whole chili. (Mix 1/8 t chipotle powder, 1/2 t red wine vinegar and 1/2 t tomato paste for each 1 of adobe sauce.) (Nov-Dec 2010, p. 31).

    Ellen

  5. Cranini! So cute!! I love leftover thanksgiving sandwiches, this sounds soo good!

  6. tinkyweisblat says:

    Enjoy, Loyce and Elizabeth! Frayed and Ellen, thanks for the suggestions. And EveryDay, you’re right: VERY cute. Thanks, gang.