It’s GIVEAWAY time!!  Run, tell all your panini-loving friends!!

From the time I started this blog, I have wanted to give away a panini grill.  You all know how I love my Breville and have grilled everything from chicken to peaches to brownies in record time on it.  Having made almost 50 different panini on this grill, I can attest that it’s incredibly easy to use and it produces excellent results. It was one of Oprah’s Favorite Things in 2007 and one of mine in 2008!   Well now, thanks to the wonderful folks at Breville USA, I’m pleased and excited to give away the Breville Panini Grill ($99.95 value) to THREE lucky readers!

TO ENTER: Leave a comment on this post, describing the best sandwich you have ever had (grilled or otherwise).  What was in it?  What did you love about it?  Where did you have it? Be sure to enter your e-mail address in the comment form so that I can contact you if you’re one of the winners.  The giveaway closes on Monday, September 1 at 12 PM PDT. The random.org integer generator will select three winners!  One entry per person - apologies to my international readers, we can only ship the grills within the U.S.

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Are you as sleep-deprived as I am this week from all of this late-night Olympics viewing?  But, man, it’s been worth it.  As someone who has never been mistaken for athletic (does varsity cheerleading count??), I am in absolute awe of our real-life superheroes.  Especially the gymnasts - these girls and guys can fly.

It actually didn’t occur to me to make Olympic-themed panini until Carolyn from Savannah, Georgia suggested an interesting On Your Grill panini combination: ham, blueberry and Brie.  I’ll admit, the skeptic in me did rear its head when I initially read this one.  Blueberries?  But when it comes to food, I’ve learned time and again, don’t knock it till you try it.  As I tried to visualize this one, I realized that the colors in this sandwich would be red, white and blue (well, pink, but close enough).  The idea hit me: open-face American flag panini!

So, ladies and gentlemen…as a tribute to our American athletes over in Beijing, I present to you Go Team USA! Open-Face Panini: sliced French bread, topped with a thin layer of sweet honey, creamy Brie cheese, “stripes” of ham and plump summer blueberries.

[Read on and Get the Recipe →]

I headed to my local farmer’s market this weekend with high hopes of gaining some good panini inspiration.  And I did…but not in the way I’d expected.

It was my first trip to the farmer’s market in over a year and I soon remembered why it had been so long.  Two tomatoes ran me $7.50!!  I mean, they were big, beautiful heirloom tomatoes - nicer looking than anything I’ve found at Vons.  But WOW!  So I resolved to use them in the best dish I know in which to showcase fresh, sweet tomatoes: a caprese salad, with fresh mozzarella, basil, olive oil and salt and pepper.

So if I was going to have an Italian side dish I wanted an Italian main.  Which is how the farmer’s market indirectly inspired this panini recipe.  I’ve been having “chicken pawm” (as they say in New York!) on the brain since seeing a beautiful one on Vanilla Basil, which begat the idea to make Chicken Parmesan Panini.  The breaded chicken was nice and moist, all nestled amongst the zesty marinara sauce and melted blend of Italian cheeses.  I decided to add in a slice of grilled eggplant for a little extra flavor and texture.  These sandwiches were real meals-in-one and were devoured quickly!

[Read on and Get the Recipe →]

Oh yes, I did!

Grilling brownies on the panini press - it works!  They may be a little flatter than typical brownies, but they’re still soft and chocolatey and warm and the perfect platform for dessert panini.  I grilled these up with some slightly tart frozen yogurt inside, the most wonderful blueberry balsamic syrup (thanks, Dragon’s Kitchen!), a sprinkling of chopped nuts and some freshly whipped cream.  My sister, husband and I agreed - these little brownie sandwiches were insanely delicious!

[Read on and Get the Recipe →]

Like that of many other time-strapped folks, my current weeknight dinner strategy is to cook just a few times a week and repurpose the leftovers in between.  I was on Day 3 of my five pounds of Chicken Marbella (which is amazing, by the way - I highly recommend Elise’s recipe!) today when I decided it was time to turn this one into chicken salad and call it a day.  I remembered receiving an On Your Grill submission for “chicken salad melt” type panini, and when I looked back in my e-mail, sure enough, there was the idea from Arlene of The Food of Love.  Arlene described a sweet and savory chicken salad with dried cranberries and sliced almonds, grilled with cheddar and bacon.  “This one is addictive!” she wrote, and I can understand why!

While I didn’t have all of Arlene’s exact ingredients on hand, I loved the idea of grilling up a chicken salad panino.  I still have her recipe flagged to try soon, but on this hectic day I worked with what was in my refrigerator and pantry: leftover Chicken Marbella thighs, grapes, mayonnaise, chopped walnuts, Gruyère cheese from the block I bought for last weekend’s panini and dark rye bread.  I loved it!  The warm chicken salad, with its bursts of sweetness from the grapes (I got the grapes idea from Sharon at Culinary Adventures of a New Wife!) and subtle crunch from the walnuts, was so good under the melted cheese.  Move over tuna melts - chicken melts are here to stay!

[Read on and Get the Recipe →]

It’s my turn to rise and throw up my arms for the “pretty food” wave!  Starting the wave were two of my favorite food bloggers, Erin from Erin Cooks and Katy from Sugarlaws, who each incorporated sweet little heart motifs into their creations.  Erin cut out heart-shaped chocolate chip cookies to make her XOXO Ice Cream Sandwiches and Katy used a heart stencil to give her Cinnamon Pancakes extra-romantic appeal. So when I stumbled across the cutest little flower-shaped sandwich cutters at Williams-Sonoma this past weekend (a very dangerous place to shop when you’ve got time on your hands and you write a food blog!), I was eager to join the trend and make pretty panini!

My Smoked Turkey, Gruyère & Membrillo Panini is smoky, sweet, salty and nutty - the combination really works.  In a Panini Happy first, I went with two types of bread - a sourdough and a dark rye - to add to the “layered” look as well as bring in more flavor.

[Read on and Get the Recipe →]

I didn’t realize how much more enjoyment I stood to derive out of panini by expanding my cheese horizons!  You might remember I used a goat cheese called Humboldt Fog on those Burger Mini-Panini Sliders a few weeks back.  I’m telling you, from the first time I tasted Humboldt Fog I knew it was far and away better than the cheaper, mass-market goat cheese I’d been using for years.  Humboldt Fog was so much tangier and more flavorful - until another good one comes along, this is going to be my go-to goat from now on!

To complement the tangy Humboldt Fog in this panini recipe, I went for some sweet peaches, grilled on the panini press, and a little bit of mint on a multigrain baguette.  A wonderful sugary, caramel aroma filled the kitchen as the peaches sizzled away on the grill.  I decided to use just the center sections, mainly for aesthetics - plus the scraps were a great little snack as I was waiting for the sandwiches to finish grilling!  This sandwich definitely had more “grown-up” flavors than the ones I typically make - particularly with the mint - but it was quite tasty nonetheless.  Next time I think I might use basil rather than mint, but I’ll leave that decision up to you.   Great minds think alike - I just saw yesterday that The Kitchn was also inspired to do a grilled peach and goat cheese sandwich!

[Read on and Get the Recipe →]

I just love all the camaraderie that exists in this food blogging world!  Everyone is so supportive of one another - it’s definitely a group I’m proud to be a part of.

Awards are one way that food bloggers show their appreciation for each other’s work.  I recently received my first one (”You like me!  You really like me!!”), which I’ll mention in a moment.  Plus I’ve decided to create one of my own - One Tasty Sandwich - to recognize some of these truly amazing sandwiches I keep seeing on other blogs.  For this inaugural award of One Tasty Sandwich, I’d like to recognize Kristin at The Kitchen Sink for her absolutely mouthwatering Roasted Vegetable & Goat Cheese Sandwich (pictured below) and Caprese Sandwich with Soppresata.

[Read on and Get the Recipe →]

It was fantastic on burgers (see Burger Mini-Panini Slider Bonanza!) and added a great punch of flavor to fish patties (see Crispy Fish Panini) - it’s about time I give Old Québec Vintage Cheddar its proper due in a Cheese, Please! post.

[Read on and Get the Recipe →]

It’s back!  It’s been a little while since I’ve opened the On Your Grill vault - I’ve got a good one for you today.  As you’ll recall, the On Your Grill series is an opportunity for Panini Happy readers to submit your ideas for panini and have them featured here on the blog (click here to submit one!).  There have been some great combinations in the past: Grilled Raclette Cheese & Honey, Roast Beef with Blue Cheese & Apple, Tomato, Feta & Oregano.  It’s high time I tried another one!

Robin Sue of the Big Red Kitchen blog had the following suggestion:

Ok, I would like one with the fried fish patty from my site. Hmm. Fish Patty, with a good robust tartar sauce, you are good at picking the cheese and bread with some type of salad greens or coleslaw or pickles or something….

A Panini Happy First - incorporating a recipe from another blog!  Well, Robin Sue, I’m more than happy to do it, especially since I’d already starred your yummy-looking Favorite Fish Patties in my Google Reader and was planning to make them soon.  And then a few days later I saw a great recipe for tartar sauce on Closet Cooking (Kevin has been unveiling the secrets behind his delicious fish & chips over the past week!).  So I decided to go ahead and make that too!  And, of course, I had to put my own Panini Happy “stamp” on things with some more of that sharp Old Quebec Vintage Cheddar that I had on last week’s Burger Mini-Panini Sliders.  Put it all together on a nice, soft English muffin and you’ve got a sandwich that’s a keeper.

[Read on and Get the Recipe →]