Food Stuff

I am not the sort of cook who has a lot of gadgets. I’ve resisted the siren song of those wacky appliances on late-night TV, my blender is more than 10 years old, and I don’t even have a microwave. But I recently acquired a shiny new treasure that I can’t believe I used to live without: a panino grill. My sandwich press, made by Krups, now occupies the place of honor on my kitchen counter, standing ready to make a hot, crunchy pressed ham and cheese on rye or a breakfast panino of marmalade and fromage blanc on brioche. It can toast a bagel, flatten a baguette sandwich and turn a slightly stale chocolate croissant into an utterly delightful treat. Though I haven’t tried it, I would think it might do wonders in enlivening a plain old PB&J. The sandwich press neither slices nor dices, but it flattens the kitchen-gadget competition.