What’s wrong with a Bacon and Peanut Butter Sandwich?

Yesterday, I was in the south part of Huntsville, so I stopped in at Fresh Market to pick up my favorite bacon.  I stopped at Ayers Market on the way home to get some “Fredbread.” They were out of that but had a sourdough loaf from another baker, so I bought a loaf.  Had a conference call at 11AM, so I rushed home and attended the call.  In the meantime, I posted this on Facebook and said that I saw a Bacon and Peanut Butter Sandwich in my future for lunch!

I NEVER expected the response I got to that posting.  They ranged from “have you made an appointment with the cardiologist” to the succinct “Ewww.” Very few postings I’ve put on Facebook have had that many comments!  What was it about the combination of Bacon and Peanut Butter?  It certainly isn’t that common, but if you combine really good bread with really good bacon and lettuce and tomato it makes a fantastic sandwich and almost everyone thinks that is a good combination.  Replace the lettuce and tomato with peanut butter and  you might as well have two heads!  If you ask me, there isn’t hardly a food around that isn’t improved with a little bacon!  My other favorite peanut butter sandwich is peanut butter and banana – before someone put that combination together, it sounded really strange too!

I will say, this combination was not my idea.  In fact, when it was presented to me, I had much the same reaction.  I was at the Culinary Expo during the annual conference for the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) and this was one of the samples.  The person working that booth told me, “you won’t know if you don’t try” – and from the reaction of others, I wasn’t alone.  So what the heck – gave it a try and it is a WONDERFUL combination.  These days, the gourmet trend seems to be putting together ingredients or flavors that at first though don’t seem like they would go together.  Then you’ve got shows like “Chopped” and you never know what combinations are going to show up there.

So there I am at lunch, with my Neuske’s Applewood Smoked bacon (and if you’ve seen my other posts, you know I think it is the best brand I can get in town!) and the bread.  No good tomatoes or lettuce around, so why not peanut butter.  Now I like to cook my bacon on a lower heat – the three slices in the pan took over 25 minutes to cook.  I think it renders out more of the fat from the bacon and makes it just the right crispy.  (If I’m doing a lot of bacon, then I’ll cook it in the over on a rack in a baking sheet.)  Sliced the bread nice and thick, spread on the peanut butter and I enjoyed my sandwich.

Before you think me completely crazy – try it – you may find out that it is really, really good!  Oh – and if someone offers you a taste of a combination that sounds pretty strange, try that too.  Sometimes combinations like peanut butter and bacon are delicious.  Please tell me about any other combinations that you think I should try!

Note: Since there are three ingredients to this sandwich, I don’t think you need a recipe……if you do, it may not be safe for you in the kitchen!