Grilled peanut butter and peach preserve sandwich
You’ve seen the lowly PB&J elevated in recent time by food people everywhere. From Peanut Butter & Co., a restaurant in the West Village of Manhattan devoted to the 60’s lunchbox classic, to magazine features adding all kinds of crazy ingredients to the mix.
I’ll be honest with you: I can’t stand peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. My mother would never have packed one for me as a kid because she knows it would have ruined my day. As a adult, however, I realize that the problem was crappy peanut butter and bad bread, which I have since made adjustments for. Also, these sandwiches must be griddled.
I like to keep it simple by not adding a whole lot more than good, organic peanut butter, real peach preserves and a good bread, like Vital Vittles’ Sliced Real Bread, which gets a nice crunch, and a little butter for griddling. The only other things that I might add are sliced bananas or a little grilled ham.
Here’s what you do to make grilled PB&J sandwiches:
1). Melt a tablespoon of butter in a pan that does not stick, over low heat.
2). Spread a good amount of peanut butter on one slice of bread.
3). Droop a dollop of peach preserves on top.
4). Gently press on the top slice of bread.
5). When butter is hot, but not burned, gently lay in the sammie. Cover and keep on LOW flame.
6). After about 3 minutes or when bread is browned, gently turn over with tongs or spatula, first adding a little more butter if the pan is completely dry.
7). Cover and leave on low flame for a couple of minutes or until browned on that side.
8). Remove from pan, cut in half with sharp knife without burning yourself and eat.
home. We love them, and now that they are readily available at Joyco Foods (3288 Pierce Street, Richmond), we are able to have them often. I have also purchased them at Tokyo Fish Market (1220 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley), one of my main sources of sashimi grade fish and such things. Joyco is in Pacific East Mall, and they sell lots of good frozen things – but know your prices before you buy. When I was there the other day there was a guy unloading a large box of fresh hamachi collars, so that’s what I got, paying about $15 for two, huge, full collars, each yielding two servings. The collar is that part of the fish between the head and body, and you get bones and all. A whole collar equals 360 degrees around the fish. I threw them in a bowl with some Soy Vey teriyaki sauce (else just mix soy sauce, chopped garlic, sugar and a dash of pepper to make your own) and allowed them to marinate in the fridge until I was ready to convect-blast them, which you need to do right before service. You can also just salt and pepper them and serve with lemon wedges — it’s up to you. When you are ready, spread out on a rack over a sheet pan lined with foil. Use the foil if you use the teriyaki sauce because this will drip down and the sugar will caramelize into hard candy that you’ll need to blast out with sand. You have been warned. Preheat the oven to 375 F. convection (400 F. if you lack convection) and roast for 10 minutes. Turn down 50 degrees and cook until done, depending upon the size, but don’t overcook. For my humongous collars I added an additional 15 minutes.
