(Successful) Food Experiment: Peanut Butter & Banana on Pumpernickel & Rye

It's rainy today. I don't mean just rainy I mean like, the Hollywood version of a rainy day.  It's dark - so dark I need to have lamps on in every room - and there's a delightful pitter-pattering outside that's providing a nice soundtrack to my work.

One thing that I can't avoid on a day like today is a desire for warm and hearty food.  Mid-morning, I got it in my head that I should make a warm grilled sandwich.  It was too early for grilled cheese; I wanted something sweet.  And so my mind immediately turned to one of my old favorites: grilled peanut butter and banana.

I discovered grilled peanut butter and banana sometime in high school.  There's a cool little restaurant in a town near my house that makes it.  It quickly became a staple in my life  - a warm cozy blanket I rely on three times a year or so to deliver a delicious serving of satisfying comfort.  Usually, I make it like a grilled cheese - white bread, butter, peanut butter, and bananas.  But today I didn't have any white bread. Once I get an idea in my head though, I have to go for it, so instead of giving up the dream of this sandwich, I decided to experiment with what I did have: marble bread - rye and pumpernickel.

This was actually quite delicious.  The flavors of the rye and pumpernickel actually undercut the sweetness of the banana and peanut butter in a way that was rather perfect.  I'd definitely suggest trying this, regardless of whether you have some white bread in the house!  This really added new depth to an old classic.  And it somehow felt a little more "grown up", too.

Instructions for this sandwich are below.

You will need: 

-  Two slices of rye/pumpernickel marble bread

-  1 banana (less ripe can be better so it's not too sweet)

-  2 tbs of peanut butter

-  A tiny bit of butter

-  A frying pan

Heat your frying pan to medium.  Don't go any higher - it may cook faster, but slow and steady wins the race here.  

Put your butter in the frying pan and melt it.  While that's melting, assemble your sandwich by putting the peanut butter on the bread and cutting the banana into "chips".  Put the banana chips in the peanut butter and put the other slice of bread on top.

Throw your sandwich into the butter and let it grill slowly.  It should take about three minutes on each side.  There's nothing to really cook here - it's all about the bread toasting and the peanut butter melting. 

Enjoy! I like to eat the leftover banana chips that didn't fit into the sandwich on the side.  A nice cold glass of milk is also a nice accompaniment. 

What's your favorite rainy day food? 

❤Lauren