Nikki's Ultimate Comfort Food: The Sandwich(es)

When initially presented with the challenge of coming up with a sandwich recipe I started thinking big: maybe a panini with fresh basil, mozarella, sun dried tomatos, a fancy home-made sauce.... Then I really considered it and realized that for me a sandwhich is all about convenience and above all: comfort. Realistically I'm not going to put that much effort in a sandwich, I just throw crap in between two slices of bread and take a big bite... if its not working I add more crap... the other day for example I ended up with sharp white cheddar cheese, 4 bbq chips, 3 cheddar sour cream chips, lettuce & green peppers... it was pretty damn tasty... and about as gourmet as I'll ever get with a sandwich. So rather than create something spectacularly new that I'll never make again I'm going to share my go-to sandwiches for cruddy days:

Grilled Cheese (to be served with tomato soup of course)
Ingredients:
2 slices of good hearty bread (I'm using whats left of my pumpkin oat-nut bread)
1-2 slices of sharp cheddar cheese (NO american cheese allowed!!)
butter
non-stick skillet with a lid
spatula for flipping

Ok now that we've assembled our ingredients, lightly butter the pieces of bread on one side only, place one slice of bread, buttered side down, on a skillet over medium-high heat (if you dont use a non-stick pan I'd spray some pam in there first!) next layer on some good sharp cheddar cheese and top with the second slice of bread, buttered side up and put the lid on the pan (the lid traps the heat and helps the cheese melt... if you MUST use American cheese leave the lid off, it doesn't need help melting... better yet throw it away and go buy some real cheese...). Allow to cook for about 1 1/2 minutes, remove lid and flip. If the cheese is fully melted then leave the lid off, if not then put the lid back on until it is. If you have to put the lid back on you'll want to flip the sandwich over and re-brown the top because the lid also traps moisture and a proper grilled cheese sandwich must have a little bit of a crisp to it :) Allow the bottom to cook until it gets to you liking, I like mine with a little char, then plate it up and serve with tomato soup. Delish and perfect for a chilly fall day!

My next sandwich is one I concocted as comfort food. When I was little my mom would smear peanut butter on bananas for snacks, that has stuck as one of my favorite comfort foods but after seeing a seeing an Elvis sandwich on a menu once (that one had bacon... I'm not so sure about that!) I realized it could be so much more :)

Nikki's Elvis Sandwich:
Ingredients:
2 slices of bread (again I'm using my pumpkin oat-nut bread)
peanut butter
honey
1/3 of a banana, cut into very thin peices
cinnamon

First lightly toast your bread (you dont want it super crunchy, this is mostly just to heat it up) then spread a nice thick layer of peanut butter on one slice of bread, layer on your banana slices and drizzle with honey. Sprinkle just a dash of cinnamon on top and put the other slice on top, and enjoy!

I hope you enjoy my favorite sandwiches :)