French Peanut Butter Sandwich

Ah, food of French Provence! Well, sort of. The next internationally inspired peanut butter sandwich combines French cheese and herbs with creamy peanut butter for a bright sandwich with peanuty undertones. Maybe we should call it pain avec le beurre d'arachide et le fromage de chèvre.

There's a bit of prep involved with this peanut butter sandwich variation. Start with about two tablespoons of chèvre (goat) cheese. Mix in about 1/ 4 teaspoon dried basil. Next, peel, seed, and thinly slice 1 cucumber. You'll only need about half of it. Get out the creamy peanut butter and a couple of slices of good French bread.

With this prepped, spread a layer of peanut butter on the bread, then a layer of the goat cheese mixture. Top with slices of cucumber, and then sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper over the top.

You can serve this as an open face sandwich, as I have, or closed, with peanut butter and cheese on both sides. You'll probably only want one layer of cucumber in this case, though.

You can use cream cheese instead of the chèvre, but the flavor won't be as interesting.

Korean Peanut Butter Sandwich

International Peanut Butter Sandwich Month has been extended, in case you didn't guess. This time, we're heading to the Korean peninsula and asking, “What would a Korean peanut butter sandwich be like?”

Take a heaping tablespoon of peanut butter and mix it with a tablespoon of soy sauce. This will be enough spread for two sandwiches.

Toast four bread slices (I used white bread this time), and spread the peanut butter mixture on each slice, one side only please. Alternately, you could use puffed rice cakes instead of bread.

Now, don't let this next part freak you out. Put a layer of kimchi (Korean pickled cabbage) on one slice for each sandwich and then sprinkle on a bit of green sliced green onion on, as well. Put the slices together like a normal sandwich and cut in two pieces, if desired.

This peanut butter sandwich variation is tastier than your brain thinks it is.

Peanut Butter Quesadilla

“What would a Mexican peanut butter sandwich be like?” I asked myself one day. I'm not a huge fan of Mexican food, but some of it really peaks my taste buds. So does peanut butter. Duh. I kicked my brain into gear, putting together flavors, ingredients and cooking techniques from “south of the border,” and came up with a tasty peanut butter sandwich variation.

Before you think my taste buds have gone wonky, let me assure you that the rest of my family thought it was pretty tasty, too. I even taught my middle daughter how to make them. She did quite well, thank you.


Equipment Needed
Cast iron skillet
Cutting board
Kitchen knife
Spatula
Mixing bowl

Ingredients
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup re-fried beans
2 teaspoons ground cumin
4 tablespoons tomato-mango salsa (any sweet tasting tomato and fruit salsa will do)
pinch of onion salt
1/2 cup grated queso blanco, or use grated cheddar
2 flour tortillas
1 tablespoons cooking oil
Extra salsa and sour cream for dipping, as desired

Directions
This recipe makes two peanut butter quesadillas.

Combine the peanut butter, re-fried beans and ground cumin in a mixing bowl. Mix until well combined. Spread the peanut butter mixture onto one side of two flour tortillas. This mixture will want to stick more to the knife than the tortilla, so you'll want to pat it down.

Spread the salsa on top of the peanut butter, about 2 tablespoons per tortilla. Sprinkle each with a pinch of onion salt. (If you want, you can use chopped green or yellow onions, here. I just didn't have any the last time I made this and the onion powder seemed to work really well.)

Divide the grated cheese between the two tortillas, sprinkling evenly, and fold each one in half, making a classic quesadilla.

Heat the oil a cast iron skillet over medium heat. You can use a regular skillet if you don't have a cast iron one. Cook the peanut butter quesadillas on each side until crispy and brown, about 2-3 minutes per side. Cook one at a time so you don't crowd your pan.

Remove the cooked quesadilla from the pan and let it cool slightly, about 2 minutes. Cut each one in half and serve with extra salsa and some sour cream, if desired.

I know. It sounds crazy. Maybe it is, but sometimes, crazy can be delicious.

Makes 2 servings.

Peanut Butter and Tomato Sandwich – Southern Comfort

A classic peanut butter sandwich variation hailing from the South, peanut butter and tomato sandwiches are a must try. At least once, anyway. Maybe you've already had one. They're not all that uncommon.

The classic sandwich is simply peanut butter, a slice of tomato, and a bit of salt. This is nice, but I felt like it needed a bit of an update.

In my version, you start by toasting the bread. While that's going, mix about 2 teaspoons of tomato powder into 2 tablespoons of creamy peanut butter. (Tomato powder is very versatile and deserves a place in your food storage.) Spread this mixture on the toast, followed by a thin layer of mayonnaise. Top with a thin slice of fresh, beefsteak tomato. Sprinkle on a little onion salt and some cracked black pepper and enjoy, open faced.

You can make a closed face sandwich as well, if that's your preference.


If you really want to get sophisticated, try mixing the peanut butter with sun-dried tomatoes instead of topping with a fresh one.

Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich - the "Elvis"

Peanut butter and bananas, baby. The PB&B. What a great peanut butter sandwich variation. Jaqueline, of Purple Chocolat Home, came by last time and reminded me taht Elvis Presley loved these. I do, too. I like to slice the bananas thinly and overlap them on the bread. On toasted bread is nice, too.

Besides the peanut butter, honey or strawberry jam are great additions to this peanut butter sandwich. Chocolate syrup is, too. It takes about one half of a banana to make one of these. If you really want to get crazy, why not serve the sandwich with slices of the the other half of the banana and some chocolate sauce? Yum.


Want to enter Adventure Land? Try grilling one of these. As the peanut butter melts into the bread ... ooooh ....

International Peanut Butter Sandwich Month

Inspired by blogs such as Peanut Butter Boy and Scanwiches, I've decided to make April International Peanut Butter Sandwich Month at Mormon Foodie. The idea is to create and share your favorite peanut butter sandwich variations based on international cuisines. Or not. As long as they have peanut butter, that's fine.

The Max Special

I first got the idea of a month of peanut butter sandwich variations while watching an episode of Gourmet Magazine's Diary of a Foodie on PBS. Ruth Reichl, the magazine's editor-in-chief, made a sandwich she called the “Max Special.” Simply put, it's a sandwich made with peanut butter, mayonnaise, and sliced green olives. I thought it sounded disgusting, but Ruth seemed to enjoy herself eating it. After trying it, I realized that my first impressions were mostly right. I'm not a huge fan of this sandwich. If it's not actually disgusting, at least it's an acquired taste. My oldest daughter disagrees with me, however. She quite liked it and has made them for herself from time to time every since.

Now it's Your Turn

So, here's the challenge. Create and share your own peanut butter sandwich variations and share them with us as comments. If you find a sandwich variation you like, let us know that, too. I'll post the ones that I like best, or get the most good comments, as a “winners” post next month.

Here are the submission rules.

1. They have to have peanut butter as a main ingredient. No chicken sandwiches with peanut sauce, although that sounds pretty tasty.
2. They have to be wrapped in some kind of bread/grain product, at least enough that it can be argued that it's a sandwich. Tortillas are fine. So are rice crackers. Lettuce or nori wraps won't cut it. Anything that actually has “bread” in the title is perfect.
3. They have to contain only food. No non-food items, such as Pokemon cards or plastic twist ties, are not allowed.

That's pretty much it. Anything else goes. They can be fresh, grilled, broiled, raw, or whatever. Contest winners will get … well, I don't know. Five minutes of fame? A link to their own websites, if they have one? My undying gratitude? I don't know. Maybe I'll think up something good later.

Photo credit: David Villarroel