Smoked Baby Swiss Panini

Amongst other rituals, a trip to my hometown of Walpole, NH for me means that I come home with Boggy Meadow Farm Cheese. Their Baby Swiss is a favorite of mine for snacking. This recent trip though, I came home with their Maple Smoked Baby Swiss with plans for upgrading the recent Saison and Panino Pairing.

I use our everyday bread (Organic Italian loaf from Whole Foods) for most of our panini. It has a tight grain, but is not heavy and two slices make a perfectly sized panino meal.

So, this panino takes two slices of Italian bread, about a 1/2" thick and 1/8"+ thick slices of the smoked baby swiss. I used Brae Burn apple, peeled, cored and sliced thinly. I then tossed the apple slices in a 1:1 mixture of cider vinegar and honey. And of course, onions beer-melized in our Saison with salt and black pepper. (I plan to post specific beer-melized onion instructions in the future). Layer the apple slices between a liberal layer of the onions and cheese. All that's left now is pressing and eating.

Matt and I could not believe the flavor profile of this panini. Smoky and nutty from the cheese, sweet and tart from the apples, spicy and herbal from the onions, all in a fantastically crispy and melty package. Paired with the Saison it was out of this world. Matt stated it perfectly when he said that he did not have to re-calibrate his mouth between bites of sandwich and sips of beer.