The duck proscuitto panino that wasn’t

You’ll remember a few weeks back, I had an adventure in food and bought a cured duck breast (otherwise called duck proscuitto).

The one thing I wanted to do with this duck proscuitto was make a panino with smoked mozzarella and fig jam. So I went to Honest Weight Food Co-op, to find those two ingredients, and also found another ingredient that would work perfectly on my conception.

I put together a version with the same components but real (Boars Head – as real as I was going to get) proscuitto for Cassie, since she really didn’t like the duck proscuitto.

I sliced the smoked mozzarella and duck proscuitto nice and thin.

Got a loaf of sourdough bread from Cookie Factory in Troy, NY. (Mistake # 1)

I sliced the bread nice and thick, and added the fig jam to each internal side. I laid out the mozzarella on one side, and the duck proscuitto and arugula on the other.

I sandwiched this together and brushed both surfaces with olive oil.

Then I tried a technique that people on the Food Network have been claiming works like a charm. I heated a frying pan over medium and a cast iron pan on medium, and, once hot, put my sandwiches in the frying pan and used the cast iron pan to weight them down. (Mistake # 2)

Within 20 seconds, my sandwiches burned to an oblivion, and I didn’t get to eat my creation.

To explain the two mistakes above further, using a sliced bread didn’t provide enough insulation to keep it from burning. A successful panino uses a bread that has a good crust on the sides to be grilled. Lesson learned. Also, the cast iron pan was probably way too hot when I went to do this. Alright, lesson learned.

I used the rest of the bread, which was basically the ends, to make sandwiches (not grilled) for dinner that night.

There was Cassie's version with pork proscuitto...
...and my version with the duck proscuitto.

It was delicious (perhaps the fig jam was a little sweet, but how could I know that when looking at it in the store?), but it would have been much better with the cheese melted and the fat from the proscuitto slightly rendered.

Next time, I guess. Or maybe not. Who knows?


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3 thoughts on “The duck proscuitto panino that wasn’t

  • Awesomedude

    did you taste the fig jam before putting it on? I’m thinking your panino idea might’ve wanted some acid or tartness to counter the savory and saltiness to it…maybe if the jam was a bit more tart…seeing that it wasn’t…maybe a touch of dijon or capers…

    also…I wouldn’t trust food network with the exception of alton brown…just sayin…

    but I fine making home paninis surprisingly frustrating…one side ends up done right the other underdone/burnt…your duck panino won’t be the first or last one to have failed its expectations…pretty sad though…frowny face here…just as sad as hearing about princess diana dying or some sh$$ty dancer knocking up my girl Natalie Portman…


    • derryX

      Great suggestions.

      Even a light toss of the arugula in some champagne vinegar could have helped elevate this, but I did enjoy it as it was.

      Next time, I do things differently…


  • Dom-neck

    Maybe next time try heating all of the components separate, then put it all together. That mulard duck is delicious.



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