PB & J's Evil Twin - Peanut Butter & Dill Pickle

My dad introduced me to the awesomeness of a Peanut Butter and Dill Pickle Sandwich when I was very young.  It was a guilty pleasure of my youth to be eaten when Mom wasn't around.  Sort of a male bonding thing. All three of us boys enjoyed them immensely. Seriously, I am not kidding.

I know I sound like I have completely gone off the deep end.  I know is sounds weird and possibly even disgusting.  My mother would agree with that assessment.  Then again, she hates peanut butter to begin with.

Trust me, I am not insane, (OK, maybe a little, but that's beside the point) there is just something magical that happens to peanut butter when you add the sharpness of a Dill Pickle to it.  It becomes sort of sweet.  That combination of sharp vinegar laced with dill & salt works it's VooDoo on the lowly peanut, creating a whole new flavor that is sweet & creamy, yet salty and savory shot with the pungency of apple cider vinegar.   It is a strange phenomenon that I cannot really explain, but it's delicious. (or at least I think so, but I like Balsamic Vinegar Ice Cream too)

Now mind you, I have only eat this sandwich when I'm fortunate enough to be in possession of a jar of my dad's homemade dill pickles.  But even though I cannot personally vouch for store bought Dill Pickles in this application, I am fairly confident they will work just as well as my dad's do.  The most important thing is the  peanut butter. No JIF, Peter Pan or Skippy.   Just good old peanuts, ground into "butter", with a little salt added.  Me, I prefer the crunchy version, but creamy does work.  It's just the Sugar & HFC laced stuff you need to avoid.  As well as those that include non-peanut oils such as soy bean and palm.

I am also a big fan of seedy bread when doing this... Seriously seedy bread.  Like the bread version of an everything bagel. It adds just a touch of heft to the sandwich.

PB & DP Sandwich

2 slices Seedy Bread, toasted
Natural Peanut Butter
1 Dill Pickle, sliced

First Toast the seedy bread and grab the peanut butter. (It doesn't need to be organic, just natural and untainted) ;)

Your gonna have to stir it up of course, cause it doesn't contain any artificial emulsifiers and always separates.

Spread a thin layer of peanut butter on each piece of toast.

Time to unveil the pickle, and slice it thin.

Lay down the pickle slices.

Place one piece of toast on top of the other and slice in half.

Enjoy...  I know I sure did.  The flavor of childhood memories.

Mangia!!
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A Toast! to Belgium - Belgian Toast

Sadly this post is not going to be about beer. ;) Although I think I need to have my brother do a guest post, because he just finished his Oatmeal Stout, but more on that later. It is also not going to be about French toast pressed in a Belgian waffle iron. (an inspired idea to be sure). This is going to be about what *I* know as "Belgian Toast"; better known as "uitsmijter" in it's country or origin.

Granted this is not a sweet dish such as French Toast or a Belgian (Brussels or Liège) Waffle, but it does contain toast and most importantly, CHEESE. And as you all know, anytime there is cheese involved, I am all over it like wax on Gouda. (Har Dee Har Har! Cheesy Humor)

This is really more of a hybrid recipe between Julia Child's Oeufs en Croustades and the ever popular Oeufs en Cocotte; with a twist of course. Cause ya just gotta have a twist. ;) Everything's better with a twist. Scotch and Soda has it; good detective novels have it; some cinnamon doughnuts have it; even Chubby Checker had it.... Well, so too does Belgian Toast.....

OK, I think I have established that this recipe contains toast... and a twist. My personal preference is sourdough, I find it to be great for these sorts of breakfast/brunch type foods containing eggs and cheese. That pretty much sums up the ingredient list as well; Toast, Cheese and Eggs. Oh, and some butter, but that kind of goes without saying I guess. I suppose olive oil would work just as well, that is also a personal preference thing. So It is OK to use Olive oil and Whole Wheat Bread or Canola Oil and French Bread or even cottonseed oil and Buttermilk or Potato Bread..... :) Don't ya love it when a recipe is open to so much interpretation?

While the ingredient list is fairly simple, the presentation is still mighty impressive. Proof positive that you don't need a million different ingredients to make a delectable dish of fluffy heaven. This is primarily to do with the fact that eggs are just about the most miraculous natural food on the planet. (Aside from cheese, though cheese requires human intervention)

Belgian Toast

For each person you will need.....
2 slices of Sourdough Bread
a little butter (or oil of your choice) for a baking dish
2 Large Eggs, separated
Slices of Grana Padano (though Parmigiano-Reggiano works too)
Salt and Pepper
A little Shredded Grana Padano

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
So this morning I sliced up my Sourdough "Long" into 3/4 inch slices.

Then "toast" the bread in the toaster... (Did I mention that I really like sourdough?)

Now, crack and separate your eggs, making sure that no yolks contaminate the whites.

Butter an oven proof dish and arrange the toasts in the dish.

Lay thin slices of Grana Padano on each toast.

Beat the egg whites, with a pinch of salt, to firm peaks.

Divide the fluffy egg foam between the toasts. (I have no idea what else to call it, cause it's not a meringue due to lack of sugar)

Make a well in each egg foam mound with the back of a spoon.

Carefully ease the yolks into the wells.

Sprinkle the yolk with shredded Grana Padano and season with fresh ground pepper, if desired.

Bake for 15 minutes or until the white is nicely browned.

Remove the dish from the oven and gently move to a plate.

MMMMMMM Cheesy golden goodness on a fluffy cloud of deliciousness!

Mangia!!
~~

Homage to Julia Child - Oeufs en Croustades a la Béarnaise

There is really not a whole lot to say about this, except that I love poached eggs, I love toasty bread and I loved the movie, Julie & Julia. Since I have a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, I went through the egg (oeuf) recipes. This one caught my eye... Although Julia's original recipe calls for a Béarnaise, my favorite sauce is Hollandaise. And Julia was very fond of changing her recipes. The book even offers myriad of combinations. So, in the spirit of Julia and all things improvised.....

Oeufs en Croustades a la Hollandaise

First the Sauce Hollandaise
OK, I need to be honest, this is not Julia's recipe, this is the way that I usually make it, because it seems to work best for me. It is slightly different than the 1/2 batch that I made for my Eggs Benedict Pizza. I do not normally use clarified butter, I use butter chunks, because they melt slowly, thus controlling the rate of liquid butter being added to the sauce and preventing 'breakage'.

1/4 cup Egg Yolks - This is approximately 3 - 4 Large Egg yolks (If 4 is a little over 1/4 cup, just use the 14 TB of butter)
1/4 tsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
Pinch of Cayenne Pepper -or- a Dash of Tobasco
12 - 14 TB Unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1 TB freshly squeezed Lemon Juice

Bring water to a simmer in a small sauce pan.

Whisk yolks, sugar, salt, and cayenne together.

Move everything to a stainless steel bowl and whisk until the yolk begin to pale & thicken slightly.

Place the bowl over barely simmering water and continue whisking until the mixture becomes smooth, creamy and thick enough to leave a clear line on the back of a spoon (Trace, in Soap-makers terms)

Do not heat the yolk mixture too much or you will end up with scrambled eggs; the proteins will re-bond with each other if the yolks get too hot.

Remove from heat and begin adding the butter 1 piece at a time, continuing to whisk until the butter has completely melted and emulsified before adding the next piece.

If your sauce begins to cool to the point that the butter is having difficulty melting and incorporating you can return the bowl briefly to the simmering water to warm the sauce again.

When all the butter has been added and the sauce is smooth, whisk in the lemon juice to loosen the sauce a little.

Place the sauce in a thermal carafe to keep it warm.

And unused sauce can be placed in a small bowl and refrigerated for up to 2 days, with Plastic wrap on the surface to prevent crusting.

Simply re-warm the sauce over gently simmering water, whisking constantly.

Toasts and the Poached Eggs
The above Hollandaise recipe is enough for 8 toasts and eggs, but since this was a late lunch for me, I made 3 for myself, and thankfully had hollandaise left over. Cause when it's cold, I like to spread it on toasted bread, instead of butter. I am only going to touch lightly on the poaching of eggs. I covered the process better in my Eggs Benedict Pizza post so I didn't take many pictures this time. Although the timing is important here as you want the toast to come out of the oven just after the the eggs are finished poaching and have drained slightly. So...

Place 2 inches of water in a saute pan or a deep skillet, add 1/4 cup vinegar and a pinch of salt, placing it over medium heat and bring to a simmer.

Crack eggs into little ramekins so they can be eased into the water; set aside and let them warm up a little to room temp.(I am using Jumbo eggs I picked up when I was on my way to Julian last weekend)... The one on the left is a large egg from Trader Joe's for comparison.

And how awesome!!! I got a double yolker!!!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Slice bread about 1 inch thick.

Julia removes the crust, so I did.

Using a fork, scrape out a hallow, stopping about 1/2 inch into the bread.

Brush all over with olive oil.

When the oven is heated and the water is simmering, place the bread in the oven for 8 -10 minutes.

Slide the eggs into the simmering water.
When the whites of the eggs are set, remove from water with a slotted spoon and place on paper towels to drain slightly. Seasoning with salt and pepper to taste

Remove toasts from the oven and place on the serving plate, very carefully tucking an egg into the hallow. (I almost broke the middle one)

Pour or spoon Hollandaise over the top and garnish with paprika if desired. I was too hungry to bother....

I just dug into that golden deliciousness.

Mangia!!
~~