Kids Cuisine

I love pressed sandwiches. There’s just something magic that happens when all of the ingredients are pressed tightly together. I’ve thought about getting a panini press for years, but it always seemed like overkill to waste money and space on a device with just limited use.

An article in this week’s New York Times food section has provided another alternative to a press — your child’s bottom! Melissa Clark remembers childhood sandwiches that she pressed by sitting on. Apparently there is a fine balance to this method. If your sitter is too heavy, the sandwich will be demolished (this means you, most moms and dads). The perfect weight is about that of a seven year old. I think there’s a little wiggle room with that requirement, though.

So here’s what you do:

• Make a sandwich on a baguette or other bread.
• Carefully wrap the sandwich in plastic wrap. Use several layers if the sandwich is gooey. You might want to put a towel over the chair as well.
• Stick the sandwich on the chair and let the kids sit and bounce up and down on it until it has the desired flatness.
• Unwrap and eat cold or pop on the stove and serve hot.

This sounds like great fun! Who wouldn’t want to eat a sandwich they had helped prepare by, uh, sitting on? I just wish I had a kid to try this with.

What’s your favorite pressed sandwich?