Admittedly, I’m too mush brain tonight to do anything approaching a serious post, so instead, I’m going to share one of my “mush brain” ideas I had today: The red onion hamburger bun PB&J.
That’s right. I’ll pause here to allow you the time to read that sentence back again.
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Ready? Let back up.
One of my idiosyncrasies I’ve previously mentioned on the blog is that I enjoy watching basic how-to videos. Sure, I enjoy ones that actually cover something complex, but the true jazziness comes from the notion that someone took the time to film and upload a how-to of tying one’s shoes, or pouring a glass of water (one of the best videos on YouTube covers this complex topic, as far as I’m concerned!), or whatever the case. I find it fascinating.
Among my favorite topics of “how-to basic” concerns food. I love watching recipe videos to get ideas for what I want to play with in the kitchen and try. I’m game for trying virtually anything, so long as it doesn’t involve me eating anything too exotic (think insects, for example).
Recently, I went down the YouTube rabbit hole watching how-to videos on how to make the best peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The great thing about looking up how-to videos on something basic is that you might learn you’ve been “doing it wrong this entire time.” There’s an entire subgenre of “how-to” that essentially covers the latter, and that’s no different with the PB&J. They will contend that you’ve not been getting the right texture and consistency and whatever else.
One of the ideas I co-opted from YouTube was to toast my PB&J almost like it was a grilled cheese, but instead of cheese, it’s PB&J. Skillet on medium heat, butter the skillet, flop your PB&J on there until brown, flip and remove once that side is also brown. Easy enough and a way to liven up the PB&J with toasted bread and gooey peanut butter. The toasted bread adds a more pleasing crunch than regular sliced bread, too.
That was one of the inspirations for looking into the PB&J as well: How can I liven up the PB&J? What can I do differently? Not that I have anything against a basic PB&J as we all know it, but why not expand the parameters a bit?
So, of course, I did add my own little “twist” to the grilled PB&J. I added cinnamon! That was fun.
In the past, I’ve added banana and/or a drizzle of honey to my PB&J sandwiches. A banana PB&J is among the greatest foods ever concocted, let’s be honest.
Other than those variations, I can’t say I’ve tried anything else, other than obviously switching up which kinds of peanut butter (honey, crunch, creamy, smooth, etc.) and jelly (strawberry, blackberry, raspberry, etc.).
What’s your favorite way to make a PB&J and with which ingredients specifically?
Today, as I was getting ready for work and preparing to make my lunch, I already knew I was going to try another alteration on the PB&J. Instead of using the traditional sliced bread I have to platform the peanut butter and red jam jelly, I was going to use hamburger buns I also recently purchased (for hamburgers, not for this in particular!).
Again, just to try something different. But I still wanted to go a step further. I really like the idea of shooting for sweet and spicy or sweet and savory. But I don’t have any condiments that would quite get there. I don’t think salt, black pepper, garlic, Italian seasoning, oregano and so on, would be a good idea with PB&J.
Then, I remembered I bought a container of pre-sliced red onions to go with my hamburgers. Welp. A new concoction was born for the PB&J (probably not, I haven’t researched that question). I lathered each bun like I normally would and then added a nice heaping of red onions onto one side and SMASHED them together. No toasting this time.
The featured photo and the photo at the top of this post is what it looked like pre-smashed. I’m not known to take appetizing-looking food photos and even I have to admit, this one looks particularly unappetizing.
However, hours later, when it was time to eat at work, I tried it. I LIKED IT. I mean, full disclosure, I could just sit there and eat red onions with nothing else. I like the taste, the crunch and the slight heat, if that’s the right word.
Add in some peanut butter, jelly and a bun? A tasty little, weird snack. That’s another way to spice up the PB&J, though. I’ve tried potato chips or pretzels as add-ons inside the PB&J, just to mix up the texture and add some crunch. Well, this was a way of mixing up the texture and adding some crunch, only with red onions, of all things.
If you’re adventurous with your PB&J sandwiches, go ahead and give this a bite! Come back here and curse me out.
Milam's Musings 