Tag: bananas

The Elvis: Peanut Butter, Bacon, and Banana

Ashley Bischoff11 Comments

I have my TiVo setup to auto-record shows with various keywords, such as “brownies” and “sandwich*” (no kidding). So, it auto-recorded the All About Peanut Butter episode of Sara’s Secrets that aired recently. Among the recipes — and the one that triggered the recording — was The Elvis, which is a peanut butter and banana sandwich.

According to The Presley Family Cookbook, the sandwich eaten by Elvis contained only peanut butter and bananas (which was then pan-fried, of course). However, the chef from Peanut Butter & Co (the guest on Sara’s Secrets) spoke of a variety with bacon as well. And that sounded mighty tasty.

So, during my trip to Super Target on Friday, I picked up some bacon and bananas (we already have peanut butter and Mike has some honey). The bananas were a bit green around the edges, at the time, but they were just perfect by today (small brown speckles here and there). So, Mike and I decided to embark on the Elvis adventure.

We started by frying the bacon and, as a non-bacon-connoisseur, I was surprised by how much the bacon shrank during cooking (some 10-inch pieces shrank to about half that size). The bacon happened to be low sodium, but I’d be kidding myself if I were to say that it made a difference to the overall healthiness of the dish ;).

As Mike kept watch of the bacon, I prepared the bread — which was just a matter of buttering the outside of each slice and spreading peanut butter on the other side of one slice (so, invariably, some slices end up butter-side down on the cutting board). I then sliced a banana length-wise and placed those pieces onto the peanut-buttered sides.

Once the bacon was ready, I placed the bacon on top of the banana (which, of course, was on top of the peanut butter). Each sandwich was about to hold about four slices of bacon. And, I drizzled some honey on top of the bacon to finish it off. After that, we grilled them grilled-cheese style in the pan.

Sure, Velvet Elvises are good, but the bacon is a really nice touch. In particular, its oily saltiness goes very well with the peanut butter. And, the honey gives balance to the sandwich’s sweet-vs-savory nature.

Believe it or not, Mike and I each had two of these artery-busting monsters. And, man, they were fantastic. We both agreed that we’d have to make them more often :). Though the recipe is fairly straightforward, here's also the official version from the show:

The Elvis

Recipe courtesy Peanut Butter & Co.
Show: Sara’s Secrets
Episode: All About Peanut Butter

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 4 sandwiches

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 8 slices white bread
  • 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
  • 1 large, ripe banana, sliced
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 12 slices bacon, Sauteed until crispy (optional)

Preparation:

Spread the butter on 1 side of each slice of bread. On the other side of half of the slices spread peanut butter. Place banana slices on top of peanut butter. Drizzle honey over bananas. Place 3 bacon slices on top of the banana, then place the remaining buttered bread slices on top, butter-side-out.

Place sandwiches on a preheated grill pan or griddle. Flip them over when they become golden brown and crispy. When the sandwiches are browned on both sides, remove to plates. Slice in half and serve immediately.

Peanut Butter (and Banana)

Ashley Bischoff5 Comments

I went to take my car for an oil change this afternoon, since my site was down for a little while anyway. On the way back, I figured I could pick up some peanut butter, for use in peanut butter and banana sandwiches.

Jason mentioned the other day that he preferred the peanut butter from Whole Foods. On the other hand, I would have preferred some low-fat peanut butter (16g fat is a lot to swallow, so to speak). And, I figured that Whole Foods probably would just have regular peanut butter :-/.

So, my plan was to get the best of both worlds by buying some low-fat peanut butter and some Whole Foods peanut butter. I stopped by Target and found some reduced fat peanut butter — actually they had several reduced-fat brands, which surprised me: Jif ($1.99), Skippy ($1.89), and Peter Pan ($1.79). They were all the same weight (18 oz) and all fairly close in price. So, in the end, I ended up choosing Skippy just because it had a better form-factor: its container was most cylindrical, which I figured would prevent peanut butter getting lost in crevices.

After Target, I drove further down Skillman to get some Whole Foods peanut butter for Jason. Unfortunately, though, when I got there, I discovered that the Whole Foods on Skillman had apparently closed on June 9th (so says the sign on the front). So, I would have bought some Whole Foods peanut butter, but that location had closed (sorry, Jason!).

As far as natural peanut butters (aka Whole Foods style), I actually saw some at the Target, of all places. Apparently, in addition to their Jif brand, the Smucker’s corporation also has a line of Natural Peanut Butter under their Smucker’s brand. It was available in both “creamy” and “crunchy” — and it had the characteristic oil-floating-on-top, so it appeared to be authentic. In any case, I’ll stick with my reduced-fat peanut butter, so I’ll leave the natural peanut butter choices up to Jason.

Ok, on to the sandwich itself. I got home, and all this thinking about peanut butter really had me jonesing for a peanut butter and banana sandwich.

  • Peanut butter: check
  • Bread: check
  • Bananas: a little green, but do-able

So, I took out two slices of wheat bread and placed them on the plate. Then, I peanut-buttered one side of the bread (being a newbie at this sandwich-type, I wasn’t sure whether I should have peanut-buttered both sides). I then sliced the banana lengthwise. And, to be honest, I felt sorry for the banana for a split-second — I guess I just wasn’t used to seeing banana-guts from a lengthwise-perspective.

I closed the sandwich and elected not to cut it in half. I sat down at the couch futon and took a bite: tasty! In some ways, I was so psyched-up about this sandwich, that the first bite was every-so-slightly underwhelming. But, once I got in the sandwich-groove, I was digging it. Mmm.

In retrospect, I may try peanut-buttering both sides of the bread next time, as the peanut-butter-to-banana ratio seemed just a touch low. In any case, it was a good sandwich; I look forward to eating them more often.

Peanut Butter and Banana sandwich

Ashley Bischoff16 Comments

Jason was musing about a peanut butter and bannana sandwich that he had the other day. He seemed to quite enjoy it, so I asked him about it:

Alex: Seriously, are they any good? I’ve never tried peanut butter and banana together, so I have no idea :-/. Neither product is particularly sweet, though I imagine the slight saltiness of the peanut butter might act as a sort of “seasoning” to the banana?

Jason: Well… I like it. It’s probably just something you have to try and see if you like it yourself. Actually it’s pretty similar to the old stand-by of peanut butter and jelly, except the jelly part is a bit firmer and not quite as sweet ;-)

Alex: So, how much peanut butter do I apply? Just enough to cover the bread, or do I slather it on?

Jason: Um... somewhere in between, I guess :-/ …probably another “personal preference” thing.

Alex: And, about 1/4“ slices for the banana, eh?

Jason: I’ve found that slicing the banana once lengthwise, and then each of those pieces in half, gives you four pieces that fit nicely on a slice of bread, and is easier than cutting it into many coin-shaped slices. Not sure if that makes sense... wish I could do banana-slicing diagrams in ASCII.

Alex: I’m not used to typing “banana”, and you wouldn’t believe how many times I ran into the banana problem during this e-mail <g>.

So, that covers the exposition. Fast forward to the present: I’m jonesing for a peanut-butter-and-banana sandwich. And, I’m stoked because I see that there’s still a banana left on the countertop. So, I trod downstairs and open the fridge — but, there’ no peanut butter! Feh. My hopes are dashed. (Well, ok, there was a smidgen of peanut butter left, but still not enough to make a sandwich)

So, if I go to Kroger tomorrow or within the next few days, maybe I’ll buy some more peanut butter. I'll have to ask Jason which kind he prefers. Really, I haven’t had peanut butter since I was a kid, primarily because of its high fat content (16g/serving, yikes!). However, most of that (13g) is actually unsaturated fat (the less-bad fat) and peanut butter apparently has no trans fatty acids either (the hella-bad fat). So, maybe I’ll have to give peanut butter another chance.

Thinking it over, I recall Jason saying that I could add condiment x to make the peanut-butter-and-banana sandwich even better. Now, what was it? Salt? Sugar? Cinnamon, or something? Maybe I just have peanut butter on the brain, but I just can’t think of it at the moment. Hmm.

Update: In the comments, Jason mentions that condiment x == honey. Aha.