Thanksgiving Panini with Roasted Turkey, Sage Aioli, Cranberry Pepper Jelly, + Goat Brie Cheese on Homemade Crusty Pumpkin Bread, Fried in Herbed Compound Butter

Thanksgiving Panini with Roasted Turkey, Sage Aioli, Cranberry Pepper Jelly, + Goat Brie
Cheese on Homemade Crusty Pumpkin Bread, Fried in Herbed Compound Butter

It's officially November, y'all... which means the month of Thanksgiving and giving thanks is upon us!! We all gotta start planning our menu for the big day, but what's better than the day after meal... y'all know what I'm talking about, the leftover sandwiches. Two years ago, I made this Friends-inspired treat and the next year, I went in a crazy direction and whipped up these chicken + waffles with leftover dishes. Oh and don't forget that kick-ass tartine, either!! Now, we've come back full circle and I'm featuring another sandwich, well, a panini to be exact. I didn't want it to be too fussy and loaded like the Moist Maker, but I still wanted a gourmet touch to it, that's for sure. So, I started by making homemade crusty pumpkin bread using pumpkin powder. We absolutely adored this pumpkin bread, it is great for sandwiches, toast, or could be used in sweet recipes as well (I'm thinking some french toast is in order). To make the bread even better, it is fried in herbed compound butter till golden & crispy. Y'all probably already knew that though because that's the only way we like a sandwich around this joint... fried in large amounts of butter. The filling is kept pretty classic with the use of roasted turkey, but then it's even more delicious because of the CHEESE (a.k.a. a tangy, creamy goat brie cheese) and CONDIMENTS (a.k.a homemade sage aioli + cranberry pepper jelly). That fruity sauce is the bomb as far as we're concerned and I loved the Southern twist to it... we love our pepper jelly down here. And that's it, that's all y'all need for a perfectly simple-perfectly haute couture panini, inspired by Thanksgiving. Honestly, we made this sandwich until we ran out of bread, so y'all know we loved it. I know we can't wait to make it the rest of the month... and don't worry, there will be plenty of dishes posted that are perfect for the big day, and day after, all throughout the season!! Enjoy :)

yumm-ooooo

For the Crusty Pumpkin Bread:

5C Bread Flour

1C Pumpkin Powder

1T Salt

3C Water

For the Sage Aioli:

1 Egg Yolk

1t White Vinegar

1 ½t Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice

¼t Dijon Mustard & Sugar

2 Garlic Clove, Minced into a Paste (with a little bit of sea salt)

½t Salt

¾C Canola Oil

1t Fresh Rosemary, Minced

1-2T Fresh Sage (depending on how strong you like it)

For the Cranberry Pepper Jelly:

3 Red Bell Peppers, Finely Chopped

2 Red Habanero Peppers, Seeded & Finely Chopped

1C Sugar

2t Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

½t Salt

¼C Liquid Pectin

1T Fresh Lemon Juice

3C Cranberries

 

For the Thanksgiving Panini:

Prepared Crusty Pumpkin Bread, Cut into Slices + Fried in Herbed Compound Butter

Prepared Sage Aioli

Prepared Cranberry Pepper Jelly

Thinly Shaved Roasted Turkey

Slices of Creamy Goat Brie Cheese

Directions:

1. For the Crusty Pumpkin Bread: In a large bowl, whisk together the bread flour, pumpkin powder, salt, and yeast. Add in the water and stir until you have shaggy dough ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit for 12-18 hours. Once the dough has rested, heat the oven to 450 degrees. After the oven has heated, put a covered pot in and heat for 30 minutes. Remove the pot from the oven and carefully pick up the ball of dough and drop it into the hot pot. Put the lid on the pot and return it to the oven to bake for an hour. After the hour cooking time, take off the lid and bake for another 20-30 minutes until the bread is golden brown. Carefully remove the bread from the pot and let it cool completely before slicing.

2. For the Sage Aioli: Combine the egg yolk, lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, minced garlic, fresh rosemary, fresh sage, and ½t salt in medium bowl. Whisk until blended and bright yellow, about 30 seconds. Using ¼t measuring spoon and whisking constantly, add ¼C of the oil to yolk mixture, a few drops at a time, about 4-5 minutes. Gradually add remaining ½C canola oil in very slow thin stream, whisking constantly, until mayonnaise is thick, about 8-10 minutes (mayonnaise will be lighter in color). Season the mayo with salt, pepper, and sugar to taste. Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to use.

3. For the Cranberry Pepper Jelly: Combine peppers, chiles, sugar, red pepper flakes and salt in a heavy wide pot over medium heat and bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve sugar. Stir in pectin and lemon juice. Reduce heat and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Stir in cranberries and simmer gently until they burst and juices thicken, about 10 minutes longer. Transfer jelly to a jar, let cool, and cover. It will keep for up to 3 weeks in the refrigerator.

4. Prepping the Grilled Cheese:Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Spread one side of each of the two slices of pumpkin bread with some homemade sage aioli and begin layering with slices of goat Brie cheese, roasted turkey, and a heavy serving of cranberry pepper jelly on top of the bread. Press the sandwich together in order to compress it some.

5. Cooking the Grilled Cheese: Spread one side of the cut bread with some softened, herbed compound butter and place it buttered side down and fry the bread lightly for 3-5 minutes, making sure that all of the cheese has melted and the filling is hot. Flip the sandwich and continue to cook for another few minutes until both sides are well browned, perfectly crispy, & melted. Carefully press the sandwich together to ensure everything has adhered to each other. If you are still concerned about the filling not being hot enough, you can always pop it in the oven to ensure that everything hot and gooey.

6. Sprinkle the sandwich with some minced fresh herbs, cut in half, and enjoy immediately!!