Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

T R E 4 5 O N

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

The willow is too close to the house.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

You cannot shame the shameless.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

You are here: Home / Food & Recipes / Cooking / Friday Recipe Exchange: Happy 80th, Elvis

Friday Recipe Exchange: Happy 80th, Elvis

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tamara fools-gold-sandwich

From our Food Goddess, TaMara:

Yesterday would have been The King’s 80th birthday. I like Elvis, but I’m young enough that I missed out on the frenzy of all things Elvis. Though, I’ve managed my own six degrees of separation…

My friend has an adorable, sweet story of how he hit on her (she was very much engaged at the time) when she worked on a film with him. She remembers him as a complete gentleman and had a lovely conversation between takes.

I met his step-brother years ago and he also had only wonderful things to say about him, especially when he was just a young boy and Elvis was already an American icon. Family was important.

So how does this get us to the recipe exchange tonight? All over the news last night was the story of how one of his favorite sandwiches was created right here in Denver. It had bacon, so I had to try it.

I’m not well versed in Elvis’ favorite foods. Fried banana sandwiches (recipe here) were about it, but I searched around, turns out there is a whole cookbook of his favorite foods, recipes and links here. Seems to be a lot of bacon involved.

How about you, what unusual things do you like to make into a sandwich? My brothers like peanut butter and dill pickles. I love lettuce, tomato and mayo on whole wheat. What else is on the weekend menu?

Tonight’s featured recipe is my take on Elvis’ favorite Mile High sandwich and you can find the whole story and video here.


Fool’s Gold Sandwich

1 foot-long loaf Italian, French or Sourdough bread
2 tablespoons butter, melted
16 ounces creamy peanut butter (I used crunchy, because that’s what I liked)
16 ounces grape or blueberry preserves (I used an all fruit style, no added sugar)
1 pound bacon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice the bread in half, length-wise, coat with butter. Place on a baking sheet and bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes

While the bread is in the oven, fry the bacon until crispy. Drain on paper towels.

Hollow out one of the bread halves, fill with an entire jar of peanut butter and an entire jar of preserves. Top with bacon and top with the other half of the loaf. Slice to serve. I have no idea how many this would serve, I made enough for 2 servings instead of the entire recipe.

That’s it for this week. For the pet lovers, here’s some new Bixby, and here and his favorite new treat here. Next week…I think something chocolate – TaMara

Reader Interactions

119Comments

  3. 3.

    schrodinger's cat

    Favorite sandwich. Green chutney (think of it as a cilantro pesto with coconut and ginger) sandwiches with tomatoes and cucumber. You can add boiled potatoes and eggs if you want to make the sandwich more filling.

  5. 5.

    Mnemosyne (iPad Mini)

    @raven:

    Drugs suck, and they’ll kill you if you let them. I remember that when Michael Jackson died, his ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley wrote a really sweet essay about their brief marriage, and reading between the lines, her take was, I fell in love with him because he was a hugely talented drug addict just like my dad.

  8. 8.

    Lymie

    BLT on toasted wheat with BACON!!! And the beauty is that every diner can do it. Don’t forget the mayo.. Try eeet..

  9. 9.

    Deecarda

    Just finished a rare roast beef with provolone & roasted red peppers on multigrain, simple standard but delicious.

  10. 10.

    donnah

    Well, food folks, I just got a brand new electric pressure cooker, an InstantPot. Today I got a cookbook with recipes specifically for pressure cookers. So tomorrow I get to experiment!

    Any advice, tips, recommendations?

  11. 11.

    Ruckus

    Mine’s a heart wrecker.
    Multi grain bread(or sourdough), mayo, swiss cheese, smoked turkey, salami, peperoni. You can class it up a bit with spinach/herb 50/50 mix but that moves it up healthy scale a notch or so and that will never do.
    Damn, now I’m hungry.

  12. 12.

    Tree With Water

    No Elvis, no Beatles, and I’m a Beatlemaniac. A beautiful cat and southern gentleman was old Elvis, and ears everywhere on the planet are a little better off for his visit. Even those dumb movies he made will never dim his reputation. Well, maybe a little.

  13. 13.

    Mnemosyne (iPad Mini)

    I’m not particularly inventive with my sandwiches — the classic post-Thanksgiving turkey and stuffing sandwich (with cranberry!) is about as crazy as I get. Though, as I have mentioned many times before, I do believe that the bahn mi is the world’s greatest sandwich invention — Asian flavors on a nice crunchy piece of baguette.

    Random overhead sandwich comment the other day: “I don’t mind eating a hamburger from lettuce, but a sandwich has to have bread.”

  14. 14.

    MomSense

    My favorite sandwich is a grilled cheese with Swiss, provolone, veggies, avocado and a touch of cucumber dill dressing.

    I also like to make warm wraps with eggplant, roasted red peppers, provolone, and some garlic mayo.

  15. 15.

    Gravenstone

    My weird sandwich, first cobbled together at some point when I was in high school, and thus subject to the seemingly endless teenage hunger. Chunky peanut butter, iceberg lettuce and Miracle Whip on buttered toast. Yes, it had to be MW because I am a midwesterner and that’s simply what we eat. I’ve not experimented with other lettuces or actual mayo, let alone fancy breads, but it’s a nice occasional burst of nostalgia for me. It’s pretty much universally decried and denounced by everyone I ever mention it to.

  18. 18.

    jl

    I’d be game for a nibble, but not sure I could get through 4 pounds of bread, p-butter, jelly and bacon.

    But in the recipe above, you very considerately only have 16 ounces of jelly and p-butter and only one foot of bread. I’ll start out small and try that.

  19. 19.

    NotMax

    Fool’s Gold Sandwich

    That recipe sounds both revolting and disgusting, not to mention blatantly salty. All that’s missing is dipping it into the bacon grease as if it was some perversion of a French Dip sandwich.

  20. 20.

    jl

    @NotMax: No, melted butter. Salted butter. Now we’re talking! Heavy cream would work to, it’d go nice with the blueberry jelly.

    Then there is chocolate.

  21. 21.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @schrodinger’s cat: I’d go with red. But then, I have a strong preference for reds. However, with a brie, I wouldn’t go for something too overpowering. A nice merlot, perhaps? Or a pinot noir? I think a Beaujolais would be too sweet. YMMV.

  26. 26.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @MomSense: I used to live just down the street from a place in Germany that had a wonderful baked Camembert appetizer. It was served with a mixed berry preserve and toast.

    ETA: By itself, it made a very good lunch.

  29. 29.

    MomSense

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I bet apricot would be good, too. I may have to bake some brie tomorrow. One of my neighbors gave me some plum preserves she made from her own plum trees. I’m thinking that might work really well.

  30. 30.

    jl

    @NotMax: You got me there. I guess I’ll have to try one, and if I like it, then watch out, I’ll go through all the variations.

    Gooseberrry jam would go best with the bacon.

  31. 31.

    Kay Eye

    Fried green tomato BLT at the Slice of Life in Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard. This is worth the trip.

  32. 32.

    jl

    The BJ wine connoisseurs need to come up with a pairing for the sandwich.
    Hell with baked brie, that sounds easy. Pair us something with the Fool’s Gold Sammich, Suckers!

  33. 33.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @MomSense: The combination of flavors and textures is wonderful. What was great about this place is it was just a neighborhood joint. I lived too close to my kaserne for the neighborhood to be posh.

  39. 39.

    ixnay

    PB and mayo on anything was for some reason (need for calories?) a fave of a dancer friend. It’s actually OK, if the PB is not too sweet.

    Raven: this is why FSM invented strainers. I once had a client whose pup ate a diamond earring. My only advice was: watch closely and rinse through the strainer.

    If eating a nice, rare roast beef (or any other sort of beef, for that matter) horseradish is a nice addition.

  40. 40.

    Gin & Tonic

    The Reuben is the perfect sandwich, when done correctly. I’ve had more than I can even think about (including the worst Reuben in recorded human history.) Second, only because of the challenges of getting a good one, is a Hue-style banh mi.

  44. 44.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @NotMax: I should have said neat, not straight. With a sandwich like that, one may as well just grab the damn bottle and guzzle.

  46. 46.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @MomSense: Too much work.

    ETA: A good neighbourhood pub, a local bistro, etc. If one can stumble onto a good one, they are awesome.

  47. 47.

    NotMax

    @ixnay

    If eating a nice, rare roast beef (or any other sort of beef, for that matter) horseradish is a nice addition.

    Keeping with the Elvis theme, as a sandwich could call that a Love Me Tenderloin.

  48. 48.

    Schlemazel

    Elvis & I share the day though I was about 5 when he was big, pre-draft. Never a fan. I do like peanut butter and bacon though I don’t eat them together much (no great desire to die on the crapper with a paralyzed colon).

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    Baked soft cheese is great, particularly with fruit and a nice white wine. this is 180 degrees from that sandwich.

  51. 51.

    jl

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    ” Rye whiskey – straight. ”

    Thanks. Very helpful. I guess a good beer pairing would be to deep fry the whole damn thing in a beer batter,then?

  56. 56.

    NotMax

    Some here may not be of an age to remember when it was a big thing at delis to name sandwiches after people in the entertainment field.

    In that vein, I’d propose instead of Fool’s Gold naming it the Rob Schneider.

    (Others may well have better suggestions; my familiarity with current celebrities is spotty at best)

  57. 57.

    Schlemazel

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    Somewhere on the net there is a web site that did a taste test between Thunderbird, Ripple, MD20-20, Night Train and Wild Irish Rose. It was hilarious. Read it maybe 5 years ago. If I can find it I’ll post the link

  59. 59.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Schlemazel: It got up to 6 per my car today. I was on the road most of the day, and that was the highest number I saw. Then there was the nice wind coming from the west.

  60. 60.

    MomSense

    @Schlemazel:

    Happy birthday!

    Ok, night juicers. Time to try and sleep. I’m all shook up–literally was in a bad accident tonight when a guy got disoriented, crossed the median and smashed into my car. We are all a little banged up but ok. The other guy was not so lucky and left in an ambulance.

    So, I am going to take some advil and deal with all the car, insurance, and doctor messes tomorrow. I did manage to have my first ride in the back of a police car. That was kind of fun. We were on our way home from looking at some puppies so my son thinks we should name a new puppy Crash.

  62. 62.

    jl

    @NotMax:

    ” naming it the Rob Schneider. ”

    There are lots of things wrong with that sandwich, but a complete lack of taste is not one of them.

  63. 63.

    Mnemosyne (iPad Mini)

    @MomSense:

    If you used to work in kitchens, then it’s not quite as crazy as it first sounded. A lot of home cooks dream of opening a restaurant and fail miserably because they love to cook, but they don’t know how to manage the business of running a restaurant.

  64. 64.

    MomSense

    @Baud:

    One of my friends wants me to open a diner where I just serve pies and call it the crust or something. That could be fun–as long as it has a milk dispenser that keeps the milk really cold and gives it little bubbles. Tastes really good with warm pie.

  66. 66.

    Mnemosyne (iPad Mini)

    @MomSense:

    Yikes! Glad to hear everyone is more or less okay. Watch out for whiplash — you’ll know it because the pain will go from “ow” to “WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?!?!” over the course of a few hours. They can give you muscle relaxants to help — mere painkillers only mask the problem.

  69. 69.

    MomSense

    @Mnemosyne (iPad Mini):

    Tough to make money on restaurants even when you know what you’re doing. I’ll probably never do it because there are already so many fantastic restaurants here. If you ever want to do a foodie vacation, Maine would be a great place to visit.

  71. 71.

    Steeplejack

    I’ve been lusting for a pastrami sandwich lately. Had a dentist’s appointment Wednesday and then treated myself to an early lunch at the Lost Dog Café in Arlington, a place that I’ve been scoping out for a while but hadn’t been to. The pastrami sandwich was darn good, but it wasn’t quite great, so my lust is still not slaked. And it had a little slaw on it. I want lots of pastrami and mustard. Silver lining was that I had a North Coast Scrimshaw Pilsner that was quite good. Bought a six-pack to bring home.

    Last month I took bro’ man’s greyhound to Philadelphia for a spa day at NGAP (National Greyhound Adoption Program)—teeth cleaning and nail trimming. They really know greyhounds and do great work, so it’s worth the trip. I take my old friend and we get caught up on the ride.

    Anyway, we drop off the hound and then always go to South Philly to get a roast beef sandwich at Nick’s. Awesome. Found a YouTube video here. Money shots begin at 3:20. Excellent beef, fresh-baked buns, and the gravy fries are awesome too. It’s a great pilgrimage every six-eight months or so.

  72. 72.

    Violet

    The Fool’s Gold sandwich shows up in the movie “What If.” Kind of a nice movie if you haven’t seen it. Daniel Radcliffe is one of the stars.

  73. 73.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @MomSense: To run a restaurant, one needs a great chef and a business wiz who can work together. Sometimes it is one person, but most of the time it is two people. When it is two people, arguments are inevitable.

  74. 74.

    MomSense

    Thanks, everyone. It was really strange. There was lots of smoke and sirens.

    The puppy is crazy cute. She is a chow, saint bernard, border collie mix which is really strange but adorable.

  76. 76.

    Mike in NC

    Favorite sandwich is Philly cheesesteak, followed by Reuben (either pastrami or corned beef).

  77. 77.

    MomSense

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I worked in a five star place owned by a husband and wife who ended up divorcing. They were really good at making the business successful but it ruined their marriage.

  79. 79.

    MomSense

    @NotMax:

    Air bags deployed! The police officers and EMTs said we were extremely lucky. I drove a Subaru which really did well in protecting us. The other guy was driving a Saturn and it didn’t do so well. Earlier in the week a front end loader almost ran me down but I managed to evade it so I’m thinking I should just walk everywhere for a while.

  80. 80.

    Schlemazel

    @Mnemosyne (iPad Mini):
    My mom was a caterer and I grew up in the kitchen. Mom talked occasionally about opening her own place but knew the pitfalls. As you noted the big failure is not understanding the business. The big shock for a lot of them is that cooking for 30 people is actually not that hard until 7 of those 3 want the chicken with sauce, 2 want the shrimp, 13 want the steak (1 R, 5 M-R, 6 M and 1 WD) 3 want the fish but 1 of those does not want it broiled, 2 want something vegetarian off-menu 1 wants the pork chop, 1 wants the meatloaf and 1 wants the chef salad without onions – they all have to arrive on time & perfect, your bartender is drinking up the profits, a waitress called in sick and a waiter is having a fight with the busboy that is interfering with service and your supplier didn’t have all the tomatoes you ordered so he substituted eggplant.

    I worked in 2 restaurants in high school & saw some combination of all of those things more than once. Kept me out of the business!

  84. 84.

    Violet

    @MomSense: Wow, I hope you’re okay. Be sure not to settle any insurance claims related to your physical self for a month or two–they say three–because problems show up later that weren’t evident at the time. Hopefully that’s not the case for you but if they do show up you don’t want to have settled that part of the insurance too soon.

  85. 85.

    Mnemosyne (iPad Mini)

    @MomSense:

    One of the several reasons I bought my Subaru was the safety ratings. I knew two different people who were in crashes that totaled their cars, but they walked away because they were late-model cars with all the latest safety devices. I was driving a 15-year-old Toyota and suddenly started questioning how long airbags are good for.

  88. 88.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @efgoldman: My fraternity used to start its all campus parties with a keg of Beck’s. Then we would go to a keg of Heineken. The next step was opening the second tap. Mainstream Miller/Bud/etc. for us and people we liked and Natty Lite or the like for the less favored.

  89. 89.

    NotMax

    @efgoldman

    Yes indeedy.

    Acquaintances in college would down that swill; these then young bones would occasionally stoop as low as Mateus, but no lower.

  91. 91.

    Ruckus

    @Steeplejack:
    Best pastrami I’ve ever eaten was from a hot truck, which was made from an old school bus. This was back in the 60s Used to come around an industrial area of LA. Italian couple, he drove and served, she cooked. I could have had one of those every day for the rest of my life.
    Now as good sandwiches go, there is a place in Glendale on Victory, small place, eat there is on tables on the sidewalk. Called Pecos Bill’s, family owned, now third generation, opened in 1949. Ate there first time in 1961. BBQ is amazing. Meat, sauce on a plan white burger bun. Somewhat sweet, a bit hot, but oh is it good.

  92. 92.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @NotMax: In my fraternity house, we had a beverage vending machine and one of the buttons gave beer for $0.25. The thing was that the beer selection was random and it included really good canned beer and total crap. One of the beers was Coy International; it was horrible, it tasted like canned, carbonated white wine that had gone bad. Even drunk frat boys would put a Coy on top of the machine and toss in another quarter.

  94. 94.

    Anne Laurie

    @jl:

    Then there is chocolate.

    Ya know, peanut butter is good with chocolate. Blueberry jam & chocolate, delicious. Chocolate-covered bacon is an actual Thing, because it’s good. And while I’ve never been impressed with chocolate-dipped pretzels, unsalted pilot crackers dipped in dark chocolate are very tasty…

    Just as well for my arteries that I’ll never get past thinking about putting together the Fool’s Gold Chocolate-Coated Mini Bites!

  95. 95.

    Anne Laurie

    @MomSense: Hope you (& the kids) recover without incident, and that your insurance company does its job properly!

    I ever win a really big lottery, I’ve fantasized about opening a 24-hour diner & paying someone else to run it. And to hire the cooks, with my taste buds getting the final veto.

  96. 96.

    Little Boots

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    oh I don’t know. something about the hierarchy of beers, and the whole insider/outsider thing made me post that.

    but it’s not a thing.

  97. 97.

    Ruckus

    @Violet:
    Very good advice.
    Got rear ended once by a drunk without insurance in his almost new BMW but he had wealthy parents. The DA brought charges and he had to make restitution. His asshole attorney tried to haggle with me on the phone over the amount. Told him I was going to hang up and make two calls. To the DA to complain about his client and why and to the state bar to file a complaint about him. His response was that I would have a check the next day. And I did. So other than my time and two trips up and down the state to retrieve my car, in the end I came out even.

  98. 98.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Little Boots: A good part of it was based on the fact that after a certain point, no one cared all that much. And as for random attendees, they were getting free beer and good music (except for the parties where we offered free hard liquor – where they got that). I think they got their money’s worth.

  99. 99.

    Ruckus

    @efgoldman:
    I see we have similar tastes. HD mint chip ice cream is it. But the stores around here don’t normally carry it. Close second is Graters.

  101. 101.

    PurpleGirl

    After one of the Newman Club parties we had half a bottle of Astor Place Gin left over. A couple of the guys tried to give it away to a couple of bums in Washington Square Park. No one would take it. No one. Most common response was along the line of “I may be drunk but that stuff will rot your stomach.” We emptied in a sink.

  103. 103.

    NotMax

    @Omnes Omnibus

    One of my colleges was in a dry town*. Thus any gathering or party (private, sponsored and put on by the college, whatever) could offer and serve beer or booze but it had to be at no charge, by law.

    Didn’t put a dent in the frequency of such occasions.

    *Also, gas stations were banned from operating within the town limits.

  107. 107.

    cckids

    @MomSense: Hope you feel better, though based on my own experience with the aftermath of car accidents, tomorrow will be full of aches. Get treatment if you need it, and be well.

  108. 108.

    NotMax

    @Omnes Omnibus

    Ah, memories. HoJo’s 28 flavors, served from scoops shaped like upside-down traffic cones.

    Used to be a modest-sized chain in the east called Jahn’s which had ice cream to die for.

    And very little, if anything, beat out Rumplemeyer’s in Manhattan.

  109. 109.

    jl

    @Anne Laurie:

    ‘ Ya know, peanut butter is good with chocolate. Blueberry jam & chocolate, delicious. Chocolate-covered bacon is an actual Thing, ‘

    Sit down. Take some deep breaths. The feeling will pass, I assure you.

  116. 116.

    HeartlandLiberal

    Two slices good, hearty whole wheat bread. Cover one slice with mayo. Cover the other with crunchy peanut butter (I love Peter Pan with partial soy added to the peanut butter). Slice a banana, and fill the sandwich.

    One of the most delicious sandwiches you will ever taste.

    To complete the experience, Wash it down with a glass of really good buttermilk. Does any of this hint at the fact I was born and grew up through college in Alabama???

  117. 117.

    Anne Laurie

    @ranchandsyrup: Groundnut stew (l’arachide ragoût) is a West African staple. I’ve met lots of West Africans who thought mixing peanuts with sweet stuff was like putting onions on your dessert — you could, but why would you want to?

  118. 118.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    My mom would occasionally get a hankerin’ for butter and sugar on white bread. Slimy and gritty at the same time.

    :-p

    Creamed tuna on toast is something that I really enjoy but rarely have. It’s a variation on SoaS, so lots of people react to it like it’s Ebola or something. ;-)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

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