The Elvis Panini!

Elvis Presley's favorite sandwich panini style!

     The combination of flavors in an Elvis Sandwich are hard to imagine for many people.  The original Elvis Sandwich was made with peanut butter, bacon, banana and honey on Wonder Bread and it was grilled in bacon grease, until it became toasted golden brown.  Many people say that honey was added to the Elvis Sandwich later.  A few people say that marshmallow spread was on the original Elvis Sandwich.  

     Marshmallow spread?  Many southerners liked grilled peanut butter and marshmallow spread sandwiches.  Half my family is from the south and I grew up on marshmallow spread peanut butter sandwiches.  Later, as a teenager, my favorite sandwich was peanut butter and honey.  Since I liked peanut butter and honey sandwiches, the flavor of the Elvis Sandwich was within the grasp of my imagination.

     My friend Daisy and I were sitting at a bar in Las Vegas one afternoon.  I was playing a poker machine and Daisy looked bored, so I gave her $10.00 to play a few rounds of poker.  Within five minutes, Daisy had won over $1200.00 on her poker machine!  She treated me to dinner at the Rio Casino's Seafood Buffet.  We wined and dined till we were stuffed like pigs!  Of course, we were doing desserts and cognac at the end of the meal.  

     I chose to try the Elvis Ice Cream for one of my desserts!  The buffet attendant that was scooping the ice cream said that the Elvis Ice Cream was made with the same ingredients that were on Elvis Presley's favorite sandwich.  I said "Including bacon?"  The attendant said yes!  So, two scoops it was!  

     I sat one of the scoops of Elvis Ice Cream in front of Daisy and I said "Try this!"  Daisy started moaning and groaning about how she could not eat another bite of food.  Little Daisy was an ex Playboy Bunny and she only weighed 95 pounds soaking wet!  

     Obviously, Daisy was stuffed to the gills with good Las Vegas seafood buffet food, but I said to her "Remember the $10.00 I gave you to play poker at the bar?"  That was all it took to get Daisy to try the Elvis Ice Cream!  After one taste, Daisy could not stop eating the Elvis Ice Cream.  In fact, Daisy went back for two more scoops of Elvis Ice Cream!  The flavor was addictive!

     Well, back to the Elvis Sandwich topic!  The flavor combination of an Elvis sandwich is hard to imagine for the uninitiated.  Once that first bite of an Elvis Sandwich is taken with closed squinting eyes, a smile gets painted on the taster's face!  The flavor of an Elvis Sandwich hits all of the "feel good" taste bud sensations.  It is like eating breakfast and dessert as one on a warm grilled peanut butter sandwich.  The flavor of an Elvis sandwich is really something to be experienced.  

     Panini sandwiches are made with lightly pressed and grilled Italian ciabatta bread.  The bread for a panini is not pressed as flat as a Cuban sandwich.  The bread is toasted dry on a panini grill, so the top and bottom of the sandwich are toasted at the same time.  In a way, an Elvis Panini is a healthy version of an Elvis Sandwich, because no butter or bacon grease is used to grill the sandwich.  The result is warm peanut butter, warm banana and warm bacon flavors and aroma.  Because ciabatta bread is very porous, the honey easily saturates the bread.  An Elvis Panini is every bit as good tasting as the original Elvis Sandwich! 

     To serve an official Elvis Sandwich of any kind, the sandwich must be cut into triangle shapes.  Elvis Presley liked his sandwiches cut into triangle shapes!  "Uh Huh Huh!"

     The Elvis Panini Sandwich Recipe:

     Heat a saute pan or griddle over medium/medium low heat.

     Grill 4 slices of smoked bacon in the pan, till they become crisp.

     Set the crisp bacon strips aside.

     Cut a 6" to 8" long piece of Italian ciabatta bread from a loaf.

     Cut the bread in half horizontally.

     Spread a generous amount of crunchy peanut butter on both halves of the bread.

     Cut a ripe sweet banana in half, and peel one of the banana halves.

     Cut the peeled banana half lengthwise into thin slices.

     Place the banana slices on the peanut butter on the bottom half of the sandwich.

     Pour a thin stream of honey over the banana slices.

     Place the 4 crisp slices of bacon on the honey and banana.

     Place the top half of the sandwich in place.

     Grill the sandwich on a panini grill that is set to medium heat.

     Lightly press the sandwich in the panini grill, but do not flatten the sandwich as much as a Cuban sandwich.

     Toast the sandwich. till it becomes hot.

     Place the Elvis Panini on a cutting board and cut it into triangle shapes.

     Place the Elvis Panini triangles on a plate.

     Garnish with Italian parsley Sprigs.

     Garnish with pickled okra halves.

     Garnish with small dill gherkin pickle halves.

     The King lives on!  The Elvis Panini is a must try for anybody that desires a new classic taste sensation.  I thought about naming this Elvis Panini by the name of "The Italian Elvis Impersonator."  That made no sense, because this Elvis Panini is the real thing!  Elvis has just left the building!  "Thank you!  Thank you very much!"  Yum!  ...  Shawna