I toyed with a bunch of different possible ways to celebrate the milestone of having created 100 different panini on Panini Happy. One thought was to grill 100 mini-panini and arrange them to spell out 1-0-0. Another was to stud a sandwich with edible diamonds (I read somewhere that the traditional gift for a 100th milestone is 10-carat diamonds?? Plus, I have these gorgeous sugar diamonds I’ve been aching to use). My husband suggested Hundred-Year Egg Panini, for a Chinese-inspired approach (I told him we didn’t have time to wait for that one…ha ha).

To hone my brainstorming, I reflected a little on what Panini Happy is really about…what it’s become over the past 99 recipes. As much as I’ve enjoyed recreating the “standards” on the blog – the Reuben, the French Dip, the Monte Cristo - I’ve had the most creative fun with some of my more original sandwiches. Among my favorites have been this summer’s Peach Caprese Panini, with fresh peaches, mozzarella and prosciutto and my Gingerbread Blondie S’mores Panini from the last holiday season, with marshmallow cream, dark chocolate and clementine zest. Now I can add to the list today’s Pumpkin, Duck Confit & Feta Panini – my 100th recipe!

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Here it is – my final post in the Get Dinner on the Table series. Hopefully you’ve gleaned some helpful new ideas, tips and recipes to make weeknight meals a little easier. Let me add one last dinner idea to the mix: Garlic Chicken Panini.

Garlic Chicken is more like a nickname for this sandwich. It’s full name should really be Garlic & Herb-Brined Chicken Breast Panini with Roasted Red Peppers, Marinated Artichokes, Swiss Cheese and Basil Garlic Mayonnaise on a Baguette. Truly a mouthful! It’s inspired by a sandwich they serve at a local chain I like called Champagne French Bakery Café.

As you might imagine from that ingredient list, it’s an incredibly savory, flavorful combination. Don’t worry – the garlic in these panini isn’t at all overwhelming (you can still plan to kiss your loved ones). If you have leftover chicken on hand you can always incorporate that and forego the brining (although the brined chicken breast is pretty amazing). Add a green salad and dinner is served.

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In the world of pop music, the remix is often better than the original. When it comes to the panini on this blog, the same holds true.

My tastes haven’t necessarily changed that much over the years, but the more I learn about food the more I find my philosophies about it are evolving. Take, for instance, the Barbecued Chicken Panini I made two years ago (cut me some slack on those old photos, I was still relatively new at this). I’d still eat and enjoy a barbecue sauce-marinated chicken breast with mozzarella, red onions and cilantro on crusty bread today. But you know what I’d love even more? Shredded chicken from a whole-roasted bird, simmered in homemade barbecue sauce with fresh mozzarella and caramelized onions on chili-oil drizzled Italian bread.

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I heard about jerk chicken panini not once, but twice in the past month. The first mention was on Twitter, by Natasha from @thatssoyummy:

When I replied to her that it sounded fantastic she followed up to let me know it was, in fact, delicious. I had just made a mental note to try it soon when reader Olivier left this note on the Panini Happy Facebook Fan Page:

That clinched it – I was definitely grilling some jerk chicken panini. If you’re not familiar with jerk seasoning, it’s an incredibly flavorful (and spicy!) blend – most notably including allspice and Scotch bonnet peppers – native to Jamaica. I don’t know precisely how Tasha and Olivier made theirs but I was pretty pleased with how mine came out. I paired the spicy chicken with a sweet and fresh pineapple-black bean salsa and creamy Monterey Jack cheese. Talk about flavor!

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I’m not sure what sparked my husband’s idea for Chicken Cordon Bleu-inspired panini this weekend but it was absolutely brilliant. Crispy panko-crusted chicken breast, layered with smoked ham, Swiss cheese and a sweet-and-tangy honey mustard sauce, grilled on French bread? Yes, please!

It sure has been a long time since I last had Chicken Cordon Bleu. It’s kind of one of those classics you don’t really see on restaurant menus too often anymore but a lot of people still make it at home. I have a scary hunch that my most recent one might have been a microwaved airplane version, smothered in a white sauce. Sadly, even that was kind of good. When that smoky flavor from the ham works its way into the chicken and the cheese gets all melty inside – well, the dish is almost always a winner in my book.

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I conjured up a vision of the panini and the flavors before I had even decided on the ingredients. Something with a little heat, but maybe an element to cool it down. Mild cheese, nothing too grandiose. A bright-flavored herb or vegetable that complements, but doesn’t distract from, the gentle spiciness.  A good crunch on the bread. Colorful.

The reality from this vision? Red Chile Chicken Panini with Monterey Jack Cheese, avocado and red onions on sliced sourdough. Can’t you just tell by the look of this thing that it was tasty?

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My husband tends to be more of an “appreciator” of food rather than a “creator”, but if there’s one thing he likes to make it’s quesadillas.  And he’ll make them out of anything.  Leftover hamburger in the fridge?  It goes in a quesadilla.  One more spoonful of peanut butter left in the jar?  Peanut butter quesadilla coming right up (don’t worry, no cheese!).  Hard-boiled egg?  He slices it up with his little egg mandoline (bought from TV, I believe), mixes with an obscene amount of mayo, adds cheese and nukes it all in a tortilla.  James Beard hasn’t come knocking on our door just yet over these, but you gotta give the guy points for creativity.

So when I had leftover shredded chipotle chicken from the delicious Slow-Cooker Chili Chicken Tacos recipe from Everyday Food I made the other day, I took a little inspiration from my better half and grilled up a quesadilla on my Breville.  The best part about it, aside from the succulent chicken (which was even more flavorful the next day), was the fact that it only took 3 minutes to grill on the panini press and I didn’t have to undergo the perilous task of attempting to flip it!  I originally intended just to eat half and save the rest, but wouldn’t you know – I took down the whole thing.

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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!

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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!

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