Passionfruit Butter

While my family is at the beach, I’ve got the house to myself until I join them tomorrow. It’s so nice; I get ever so slightly freaked out (thanks to my runaway imagination) when I hear creaky noises at night, but otherwise, I thrive on the peace and quiet and solitude. I listen to music as loud as I want, swim when I want, watch movies without first needing a consensus, and (of course) make my own food.

Eating on a budget can sometimes result in resorting despondently to freezer food, Oreos, or just nothing at all. (It happens to the best of us.) But last night, I had a really delicious salad that I could just throw together: arugula, fresh lemon juice, a drizzle of olive oil, toasted pine nuts, and shaved Pecorino Romano. I also got a crusty baguette, which I ripped (because, really, a knife is unnecessary, ESPECIALLY when there’s no one else around to judge your manners) and swirled in a puddle of olive oil and cracked pepper. For dessert, I had a couple squares from a Vosges Barcelona bar: milky dark chocolate, hickory smoked almonds, and sea salt. Yum.

But really, that’s not what I came here to post about. (While easy and yummy, if you’re REALLY on a budget, you probably shouldn’t buy pine nuts – a tiny bag cost me 8ish bucks.) Because yesterday morning, when I came downstairs and wanted something sweet and carb-filled for breakfast, I came up with this solution – and it’s the quintessence of easy, cheap, and yummy.

You most likely have the entirety of the ingredients list at home already: bread (whatever kind you prefer), butter, peanut butter, jelly. You will be making a grilled PB&J. Many people were in disbelief when I told them; it’s difficult to compute when most of us have grown up with only grilled cheese (and panini, if our parents were fancy). But if you think about it, it’s actually a why-didn’t-I-think-of-that situation. Just as easy, arguably better. (That, of course, depends entirely on what kind of grilled cheese you’re comparing this with.)

I like chewy, grainy bread on grilled sandwiches just as well as I like squishy white bread, but all we had was the latter, so to the stove it was for gooey Whitewheat. I smoothed on some Jif PB and some Dalfour raspberry jam, tossed them in a pan with a bit of butter on both slices of bread, and cooked until ooey-gooey.

Finished product.

The photo is definitely not something to ogle, as I took it under the influence of extreme hunger with the camera on my phone. But if you will, just LOOK at the way that PB&J spills out of the slices. This sandwich has all the joy of grilled cheese — comfortingly melty contents, buttery-crispy bread — with the added satisfaction of that strangely appealing combination of peanut butter and jelly. Extra points if that ooziness spills onto you: your fingers, your shirt, your plate, your countertop.

Enjoy!