Chicken and Herb Cheese Panini

 We eat a lot of sandwiches in our house, but this has to be my very favorite of all time. I wish I could say that the idea for this sandwich was my own, but - alas - it is not. I have to thank Panera for this one. Unfortunately, they've already "retired" this sandwich; how dare they!?! Last winter, they had this great hot panini with turkey, herbed cheese spread, and a cranberry moutarde. To be honest, it didn't taste much like a mustard based spread, which suits me fine; it seemed more like a cranberry relish. I make a mean cranberry-orange marmalade that I thought might taste divine in this application. So, after I realized my favorite sandwich was not going to make it to their regular menu, I decided to start making my own version at home.

The first step was to realize that it had my favorite cheese spread on it. Boursin cheese is one of those products that I dream about. I look for reasons to have company over so that I might justify having the stuff in my refrigerator. It's not figure friendly, and, when it's in my refrigerator, I feel compelled to eat half a baguette at a time slathered in the stuff. The good news? For a sandwich application, the Boursin Light tastes great! Hallelujah!

The next step is to choose the correct bread. This requires a high quality ciabatta bread. I often make my own, but certain little babies have been keeping from spending much time in the kitchen lately. I've recently found a brand of ciabatta that I really like called New French Bakery "Take and Bake." It's only in limited stores, but if it's in yours, grab it!

Cut yourself a nice sized sandwich and then slice the bread in half to open it up. Slather one side with the Boursin cheese. On the other side, I spread my cranberry-orange marmalade. You could probably approximate the flavor by mixing cranberry sauce and orange marmalade. Then pile on a nice bit of fresh spinach. The last item is the chicken or turkey. There are a number of ways you can fulfill the meat quota on this sandwich. You can use some leftover meat from a roast chicken or turkey dinner. You could slice chicken from a grocery store rotisserie bird. You could also pan saute a chicken breast (or tenderloin) with a little salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika and then slice it to put on the sandwich. That's the route I took the last two times I made this sandwich.

 After putting the sandwich together, get your panini "press" set up. I don't have a real one, so I just used a saute pan with a cast iron skillet pressing it down. Pre-heat the pan and lightly brush the outside of the sandwich with olive oil before toasting over medium heat. Grill until lightly golden on each side.

The combination of flavors in this sandwich is divine! It's such a nice change of pace from your standard grilled cheese sandwich. Who needs Panera, anyway?

Grilled Turkey and Pesto Sandwich

We love sandwiches around here. My husband's been working such late hours that many days by the time he calls to let me know he's on his way, I just can't think about cooking a full-fledged meal.

Yes. Soup and sandwiches visit our house very often.

But, when I'm really looking for a satisfying meal, cold sandwiches just don't quite measure up to the task. Ergo, we eat a lot of soup and grilled sandwiches at our house.

The great thing is that you have almost as much flexibility with a grilled sandwich as a cold one. Granted, I'm not a big fan of lettuce and tomato condiments on a grilled sandwich, for instance, but you can add all kinds of other great things! Besides the regular grilled ham and cheese (yes, I live with a man and, apparently, men cannot abide by a meatless sandwich), the sky's the limit. Swap out your cheeses; go with a variety of meats. My favorites often include caramelized onions and/or mushrooms. Oh, yes, the options are many.

Funny, then, that this one has made so many regular appearances lately. It's much easier to make than a sandwich that requires cooking onions or mushrooms separately. I can slap these together in no time flat, and my husband says they're good! And they have turkey on them. GASP! What, no beef? I guess when you slather a sandwich with pesto, turkey is A-OK.

So, here's the deal: Butter the outsides of your bread and spread the inside of each slice with a little pesto. I have a bunch of homemade pesto in my freezer that I froze in ice cube trays. I use one ice cube worth of pesto per sandwich. I then place a slice of smoke provolone cheese on each slice of bread (read: two slices per sandwich). Fold some deli smoked turkey in the middle, put them together, and grill over medium heat until nice and golden and heated through. Yup. This one's a keeper.

Chicken Salad Sandwich

I think that there's a tunnel... I'm not sure I can see any light yet, but I'm pretty sure I'm at least in the tunnel. That's progress, right? This whole teaching a new high school science content area is rough stuff (I'm an earth science teacher suddenly being asked to be a chemistry teacher). You remember those old ads for the Peace Corps? "The toughest job you'll ever love." That's teaching, too. In a lot of ways, I really regret taking this job. I miss being able to do so many of the things that I enjoy doing - like cooking!

The other day I finally made it back to the grocery store and when I walked by the hot table with those rotisserie chickens, the smell was so enticing. I love those little chickens. You just can't beat them! Heck, you can't hardly even buy a raw chicken for what you pay for one of those rotisserie things.

I like to make all kinds of things from these guys, but lately, what I've enjoyed the most is the chicken salad. This dressing is so simple and quick, but you'll enjoy it like you slaved over it all day. Mix the chicken and dressing with whatever add-ins appeal to you. I used shallots, celery, and Craisins, but you could also add grapes, diced egg, or anything else that sounds good.

Chicken Salad Dressing
Yield: about 1/3 cup of dressing, enough for about 4 cups of chicken

1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 TBS sugar
1/2 tsp poppy seeds
2 TBS white wine vinegar
salt and fresh cracked pepper
hint of lemon zest (1/4 tsp or so)
1/2 clove of "zested" garlic

In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, sugar, poppy seeds, and vinegar. Using a microplane, zest a little bit of lemon into the bowl. Then use the microplane to "zest" a little bit of garlic into the bowl as well (perhaps 1/4 to 1/2 tsp). Mix well and pour over diced or shredded chicken. Add desired mix-ins and serve in a bowl or on a sandwich.

Pork Tenderloin Sandwich

Behold the supreme Midwestern sandwich. My husband has been trying to get me to make these for years now. Based on my, apparently poor, previous experience with pork tenderloin sandwiches, I was not in any hurry to put them on my menu.

Earlier this week, I decided I had put it off long enough. You know what? That just may have been one of the tastiest sandwiches I've ever eaten. I can't believe I waited so long to make them! I think every time I had had one of these while at restaurants they must have used pork loin and not tenderloin. Oh, what a difference! Be sure you use the real thing; you'll be glad you did.

The first step is to slice the tenderloin across the grain into two inch slices. Set the slice, cut side down, on the cutting board. Lay a piece of plastic wrap across the top and pound with the smooth side of a meat mallet until the piece is nice and thin, just shy of a quarter of an inch.


Set up a breading line. In the first container, break two eggs and beat slightly. In the second container, put a couple of handfuls of panko bread crumbs. Crush the panko between your fingers for a minute to break down some of the larger pieces. Add a teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of garlic powder, and half a teaspoon of ground black pepper.

Fill a large skillet with one inch of vegetable oil. Heat over medium-high heat until the oil is nice and hot, about 350 degrees F. Dip the meat in the egg and then in the panko and then place directly into the hot oil.

Fry the tenderloins, flipping periodically, until they are nice and golden and cooked through. Mine cooked in about eight minutes total. Adjust the heat as necessary to keep the oil hot but not too hot. Remove the pieces onto a paper towel lined dish. Serve on butter-toasted hamburger buns. I like mine plain, but my husband loves his with mayo, mustard, onions, and pickles.



Pork Tenderloin Sandwich
Yield: variable

2" slices of pork tenderloin, pounded thin

2 eggs
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

enough vegetable oil to fill a large skillet one inch deep
hamburger buns
softened butter

Pound the slices of pork tenderloin until about 1/4 of an inch thick. Pour the oil into the skillet and turn the heat on to let it come up to frying temperature, 350 degrees F. Meanwhile, using a counter top griddle (or something similar), butter the cut sides of the buns and toast until nice and golden.

Toss together the bread crumbs, salt, garlic powder, and pepper. Dip the pork fillets into the lightly beaten eggs and then into the bread crumb mixture. Place into the hot oil. Do not over crowd the pan. Turn periodically until they are nice and golden and cooked through, about 8 minutes. Serve on the toasted hamburger buns.

Steak Sandwich

I had some sirloin steak thawed out for dinner tonight; I had plans of a nice, rare steak, or maybe a stir fry. I even contemplated stroganoff. But my husband had other plans. It must be a guy thing, this fascination with sandwiches. Even though we had grilled chicken sandwiches last night, he was all about having sandwiches again. I was in the mood to create something special, though, and this sandwich was the result.

Steak Sandwich
Yield: 2 sandwiches

4 slices toasted bread
1 medium sweet onion, sliced & caramelized
8 oz sirloin steak, sliced very thinly across the grain
1 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp butter or olive oil
salt & pepper
1 oz gruyere cheese, sliced or grated
basil mayonnaise (recipe below)

Slice the onion and caramelize as decribed in my post for French Onion Soup. Meanwhile, prepare the mayonnaise and slice the steak and cheese. When the onions are done, remove them from the pan and set them aside. In the same pan, melt the butter and, over medium-high heat, brown the steak strips with the garlic and salt & pepper until the steak is nicely browned on the outsided. It does not need to be completely cooked through. Spread the mayonnaise on two of the bread slices. Top each with half of the caramelized onions. Divide the steak between the two sandwiches and top immediately with the cheese. If the cheese does not seem to be melting, the sandwiches can be placed under the broiler without their tops on until it does melt. Place the top piece of toast on each sandwich and cut in half. Serve immediately.

Basil Mayonnaise

2 TBS mayonnaise
1/4 tsp salt
1 small garlic clove
1/8 tsp pepper
2 TBS fresh basil, minced
1/8 tsp paprika
sprinkle red pepper flakes

Mince garlic and then pour salt over on your cutting board. Using the flat of your knife, smear the salt and garlic together to form a paste. Put into a bowl with the mayonnaise and remaining ingredients. Stir to mix.