The Elvis, #SeriousSandwich

The Elvis: peanut butter, banana & honey on multigrain. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books.

The year was 1961 and, as my mama tells the story, she touched Elvis. Yes, that would be the real Elvis. Not only the real Elvis, but the young, hip-ripping, teen idol Elvis. As she tells the story, she was a young woman in her early 20's, working in a bank in downtown Nashville, when Elvis Presley, fresh from his stint in the Army, was honored by the Tennessee Legislature.

Mama and "the girls" from the bank went down to the Capitol at lunchtime in hopes of catching a glimpse of The King. She was in the crowd as it surged forward around him, and she swears she touched Elvis. Her hand touched his hand. She's sure of it.

And what does this story have to do with sandwiches, you ask? Well, I like to tell my Mom's Elvis story, but I also wanted to deepen the connection between the King of Rock and Roll and the Baron of Bam. That's right, as I'm cooking my way through Emeril Lagasse's new cookbook (on sale now!), "Emeril's Kicked-Up Sandwiches," I found a recipe for Emeril's version of The Elvis. The classic Elvis sandwich is a peanut butter and banana sandwich that's fried in butter. The recipe, in many variations (some variations add crispy bacon) appears in many books. Nigella Lawson writes about it in "Nigella Bites," in the chapter (ironically, I hope) titled "Trashy." I don't think the Elvis is trashy. I think it's the kind of food that mamas, maybe in particular Southern mamas, will make their baby boys. (And I think we can all agree that the King was a classic Mama's Boy.)

Back to sandwiches: Emeril does the Elvis right, swapping out the white bread for some blood-sugar-diffusing multi-grain and adding a drizzle of honey to the pb and banana. If you're a choosy Mom, go with a pb that's noticeably salty for that sweet-salty vibe that's so 2011.

The recipe is officially titled the Peanut Butter-Honey-Banana and it's grilled to ooey-gooey drippiness. My peanut butter-loving daughter and husband inhaled them.

Here's my mom about the time she met Elvis, in her favorite car, and no, her daddy gave it to her, not Elvis.

Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

This post is part of #SeriousSandwich, a blogalong sponsored by Morrow Books marking the publication of

Emeril’s Kicked-Up Sandwiches (Morrow, $24.99)

Stay tuned for more #SeriousSandwich stories...

If you love cookbooks like I do, you gotta follow The Secret Ingredient Blog from Morrow Books.

Pear and Gorgonzola Crostini from "400 Best Sandwich Recipes"

Pear, gorgonzola and walnut crostini from "400 Best Sandwich Recipes" by Alison Lewis.
Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

The versatile sandwich can be elegant or casual, like a little black dress. It is also a perfect expression of seasonal ingredients. This snappy little number from Alison Lewis’ "400 Best Sandwich Recipes" (Robert Rose, 2011) speaks of late summer to early fall, when the harvest is rolling in and the evenings are cool. A crostini with a shmear of gorgonzola-spiked cream cheese, topped with a slice of ripe pear. A drizzle of honey adds sweetness to offset the pungent blue cheese.

Lewis’ book catalogs 400 recipes from casual wraps to elegant appetizers, all with an eye for nutrition and tastiness. Give the book and this smart little app a try.

Pears. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Pear, Pecan and Gorgonzola Crostini

Serves 8 to 10

8 to 10 baguette slices about ½ inch thick

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

¼ cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese

1 ½ cups thinly sliced pear (about 2 medium)

4 tablespoons honey

½ cup chopped pecans, toasted (I used walnuts and it was delicious!)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Arrange baguette slices on a large baking sheet. Bake in a preheated oven for 5 minutes or until lightly toasted.

2. Preheat broiler with rack 4 inches from heat. In a small bowl, combine cream cheese and Gorgonzola. Spread bread slices evenly with 1 tablespoon of the Gorgonzola mixture. Top with epar slices. Drizzle with honey and sprinkle with pecans.

Broil crostini for 1 to 2 minutes or until pears are tender and cheese is slightly melted. Serve immediately

“400 Best Sandwich Recipes” by Alison Lewis (Robert Rose, 2011), 360 pages with index and 24 color photographs. Paperback, $24.95 list price. A review copy was provided by the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Granola and a good friend

Granola by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

When I was a new mom, I knew one thing for sure: I didn't have the first clue what I was doing. So I did what sensible mommies do: I paid someone to teach me how to play with my baby. I confess here that beginning when my daughter was 5 months old and could barely sit up, I drove 45 minutes from my home to the Gymboree play program, where other new mommies took off their shoes, sat in a circle and clapped and sang and learned how to play all over again. My baby daughter didn’t make friends there, absorbing the colors and sounds and trying to avoid the screaming toddlers was consuming enough, but Gymboree was really all about the moms, and I made a keeper of a friend.

Mary Jo is the girl that everyone wants to be friends with, the leader of the nice pack. I tend to shyness in groups, but Mary Jo is the kind of girl who is everyone’s friend, and she became my first new mommy friend by giving me a compliment that I hold dear to my heart - she said I was a little bit granola. She redeemed this odd comment by saying that she was a little bit granola, too. In fact, she was a full-blown seitan-eating vegetarian. I think she said I was “granola” because my husband and I were building our house at the time (really building our house, as in “my husband comes home every afternoon from his office job, puts on his jeans, work boots, and tool belt, and builds our house.”)

Mary Jo and I spent the next couple of years dragging our babies around Atlanta - the zoo, the museums, the parks. She introduced me to her Merry Band, a lively bunch of mommies from the ‘hood, flip-flop and sunglass-wearing girls who talked about stuff I had no clue about - potty training, SUVs vs. minivans, kindergarten. It was my first taste of the mommy network that I’ve relied on ever since, the women who reach into their well of personal experiences and share.

Granola ingredients by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

When our babies grew old enough to start school, we stopped calling each other. This was before long-distance friendship was easy with Facebook. The excuses were many - she lived so far away, about an hour’s drive in dreadful traffic; she had boys (three of them!) and I had girls; her husband played golf and my husband liked to fish. We still exchange Christmas cards, hers with black and white photos of angel-faced boys. But we don’t call each other anymore.

I miss you, Mary Jo, my granola friend. You’re the reason I have a minivan and why I think of you every time I make granola. And if you read this, get on Facebook so I can watch your boys grow up.

Measure granola ingredients directly in batter bowl. By Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Granola

I make this granola every week or two. It comes together very easily in a batter bowl that has marks on the side - no dry measuring cups needed.

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup honey
3 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup roasted sunflower seeds

1. Preheat oven to 325. Measure oil, syrup and honey into a small saucepan and heat to a low boil; remove from heat and let cool.

2. In mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add oil and syrup mixture and stir in to the dry ingredients. Spread granola mixture onto a lined sheet pan. (I use a Silpat, foil or parchment paper would work). Bake at 325 for 25 minutes (I use convection), stirring once halfway through.

3. Remove from oven and let cool. If you like chunky granola, do not stir during the cooling. If you like a crumbly texture, stir several times as it cools. Keeps well in an airtight container at room temperature.

Dried fruit by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

This granola mom likes granola with dried fruit, which should be added after the granola is baked, or the fruit will burn in the oven. A favorite breakfast or dessert is a yogurt parfait with vanilla yogurt (or plain, if you must), dried fruit and a generous handful of granola on top. This is even better in the summer when you can use sweet local blueberries instead of the dried fruit.

Granola Parfait by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 
Text and images copyright Lucy Mercer, 2010.