fig and balsamic onion pressed sandwiches

so remember that focaccia?

the one that was good, but maybe

just a little flat?

i found a great, if not indulgent,

use for it: pressed sandwiches.

even though i sent a few squares

home with jenn, it was quickly

evident that i should have given

her more. we were only two

people, what were we going to

do with that much bread?

i was driving to work when

grilled cheese popped into my head.

very quickly, other ideas came

tumbling out: the mission figs that

were already in the fridge (or

should it be the nectarines that

were sitting on the counter?), the

maidenhead i bought from our first

monmouth county farmer's market

(or maybe instead the gorgonzola that was

nearing its final days?) and red onions

(definitely red onions).

as the day went on,

i wavered: should i put the nectarines

in the sandwich and add wedges of figs

to arugula for a side salad? would the

blue be too much? should i add arugula

to the sandwich? nuts? would the onions

be better cooked first? is it a mistake

making grilled cheese with a thick bread

like focaccia? could i just stop my brain

for five seconds? who in the world

spends this much time thinking

about a sandwich that is going to serve

two people after work on a weeknight?

finally, i turned to my office mate and asked,

would you rather have figs in a sandwich

and nectarines in a salad or

nectarines in a sandwich and

figs in a salad?

she took me seriously (i think) and said,

figs in a sandwich.

that was it - i would obsess no more.

when i got home,

i immediately diced an onion and tossed

the pieces into a pan with leaves of rosemary.

as they softened, i opted for the maidenhead,

a local semi-soft cheese, washed with

flying fish beer. the flavor was much stronger -

and dare i say, stranger - than i had remembered

from the farmer's market: kind of smoky -

but clearly it was not smoked - somewhat grassy

and pretty pungent. but, it was now or never,

so i grated the wedge down to fine shreds,

hoping that the tiny pieces would

encourage melting when they were layered

between two thick slices of bread.

i cut the focaccia into squares,

halved both horizontally and set the

bottoms on a plate.

by then, the onions were brown -

i tossed in a splash of wine

and a couple tablespoons of balsamic vinegar.

as they cooked down to something

slightly syrupy, i turned to the figs:

purple, plump and first of the season.

as i sliced them thinly, i realized how

many coins i could get from just one small

fruit. so, i cut three and placed the rest

back in the fridge.

and that was pretty much it.

yes, i had to assemble them.

it went something like this:

and then, yes, i had to cook them,

which was not even slightly an

oh-n0thing-to-it moment. you see,

even this thin focaccia is still focaccia

and it's a pretty fat bread as grilled

cheese sandwich bread goes. as soon

as i placed it in the skillet - i do not

have a panini press - i knew they were

not going to cook well in their natural

state. after quickly scouring the kitchen

for something to weigh them

down with, i finally opted for the one

thing easily available: my hands.

i will admit, the pan and bread

were not very hot (yet) and i do have

fingers that can handle quite an

unnatural bit of heat. so, i pressed

hard and took a deep breathe before

the first peak. and - they were flat!

when the bottom was a beautiful

golden brown, i flipped the squares,

replaced the foil and put my hands

back on top of the sandwiches. i

persevered, but i'm not going to lie -

they were much hotter this time.

(i will take this space as the first

opportunity to say that i am in

no way recommending this method.

i will tell you again, below, in

the recipe, not to use your hands.)

when i was sure they were

sufficiently squished, i ran into

a flurry, tossing wild arugula into

a bowl, thinly slicing nectarine wedges

and tossing them, along with some

toasted hazelnuts, in with the greens.

the salad went onto a plate and a minute

later, was neighbored by fig and onion

grilled cheese, expertly (ha!) pressed

and just waiting to prove that it

was a sandwich worth obsessing over.

(good news: it was.)

fig and balsamic onion pressed sandwiches

i think this recipe almost qualifies as a non recipe. it seems silly to give you one, but in the end, we really enjoyed these sandwiches and i wanted to tell you about them. i urge you to look at the directions, below, as a guideline. not crazy about a cheese with funk (even though the maidenhead mellowed considerably when melded with the other ingredients)? use mozzarella, italian fontina or a mix. think you would love blue? add a few sprinkles on top of the fillings before cooking. wish i used that nectarine? go for it. not crazy about rosemary? that's fine - use thyme, a little sage or nothing at all.

oh, and there's this again: i don't have a panini press and even though i spent many years at a magazine telling people to just use a brick placed over foil, i don't own a brick. so, i did something that worked perfectly, but that i can never in good faith recommend: i used my hands and my body weight to great result. however, i have to admit, that the process was rather warm and probably, bordering on dangerous.

1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil

1/2 large red onion, peeled and chopped

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves

1 splash white wine (i'm sure red would be good, too)

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

5-6 ounces semi-soft cheese, like cherry grove farm's maidenhead

2 sandwich-size squares focaccia, halved horizontally

2-3 large mission figs, top and bottoms trimmed and thinly sliced

in medium skillet over medium heat, warm olive oil 1 minute. add onions; sprinkle with kosher salt and stir in rosemary. cook 15 minutes, or until slightly softened and golden, stirring often. (if they start to brown too quickly, turn the heat down to medium-low.) add splash of wine to skillet; add balsamic vinegar. turn heat to medium-high; cook 2-3 minutes, or until the liquid has been reduced, stirring occasionally. remove from heat; let cool slightly.

meanwhile, using small holes on box grater, grate cheese; set aside.

place bread bottoms on clean flat surface. divide onion mixture evenly over bread bottoms. top with fig slices. divide shredded cheese over figs, pressing to adhere. add focaccia tops; press slightly.

in large skillet coated with cooking spray (don't yell) or olive oil spray, over medium to medium-low heat (depending on how hot your stovetop runs), carefully place sandwiches. top with foil and brick or whatever other very safe method you choose to use to weigh them down. cook 3-5 minutes, or until golden brown on the bottom, pressed and the filling is starting to meld together, checking to make sure the bread does not burn. flip sandwiches; press again and cook 3-5 minutes more, or until golden, pressed and cheese is melted. transfer to cutting board; halve. of course, if you have a panini press, you're lucky - use that instead.