Ham & Gruyere Panini and ‘Grown Up’ Ants on a Log

On a last minute whim, A-Tooch offered to cook up dinner for friends this weekend but when she looked at the clock, there was only about a half hour to prepare. How to ‘gourmet-ify’ a simple recipe?

With the right ingredients and some creativity, a panini can be turned into a pretty solid dinner meal, I think. Like most things in life, I like mine with cheese and fruit. Here’s what I whipped together in about 10 minutes:

Ham & Gruyere Panini (makes three)
Ingredients:
6 big slices of fresh sourdough bread
6 slices Black Forest ham
1 cup shredded Gryuere cheese
1 apple or pear, thinly sliced
butter
dijon mustard

Lightly (or not so lightly, up to you) butter three slices bread and get them toasting on a frying pan. Add about 1/4 cup of cheese to each slice, leaving some for later. Place ham on top of cheese and cook until cheese begins to melt. Add a few apple slices to each, then the remaining cheese. Spread a small amount of dijon mustard on the top three pieces of bread then, top with butter and flip each sandwich. Cook until golden and serve immediately, while still warm.

To go with these, I made some delicious (but not so photo-worthy)

Grown Up Ants on a Log
Ingredients:
Celery, cut into about 12 slices
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/3 cup cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup walnuts or pecans, toasted
2 tsp. honey

Slice celery like you would for crudite. Blend cream cheese and honey in a bowl, then mix in all of the other ingrediends. Fill your celery stalks with the mixture and arrange on a platter.