Adam Richman’s Perfect PB and J
The Travel Channel host tells us it’s all about bread and ratios.
The Travel Channel host tells us it’s all about bread and ratios.
Food enthusiast Adam Richman is traveling across america looking for the perfect sandwich on the Travel Channel’s aptly named Adam Richman’s Best Sandwich in America. But for those stuck at home with just peanut butter and bread, you can still make something amazing. Richman walks us through perfection.
Step One: The Golden Ratio
ADAM RICHMAN: My PB and J recipe varies. It depends on the peanut butter and it depends on the bread. I like a softer, nutty wheat bread. If it’s creamy peanut butter, I do a 55/45 ratio, peanut butter to jelly. The jam would be seeded raspberry. If it’s chunky peanut butter it’s going to be 50/50 ratio that would use whole fruit strawberry jam, raspberry or blackberry. And I like it on toast or warm bread.
Step Two: Use the World’s Greatest Invention
Remember those dope sandwich maker things? They would make a triangular pocket and toast the bread. Every college kid had one. And tuna melts or fluffer nutters in that thing? That was like crack on crack. I want to meet the man who invented that. He should get some variant of the Nobel Prize! No joke, I’m going to buy one today! For making PB and J’s in that thing, it would be amazing if you could find a way to keep the jam cool. Maybe keep the jam in the freezer before you make the sandwich, and then the jam would just melt in the sandwich maker and not get too hot.
Step Three: Bread Is Important
Bread is the most overlooked part of the sandwich. It’s more than just the thing that delivers crap to your face. It should have flavor and texture and character. I’ve judged competitions where bread has propelled an otherwise mediocre sandwich to a win, and I’ve seen bread destroy great ingredients.
Ode to Peanut Butter
My sound guy has a borderline erotic infatuation with peanut butter. That doesn’t mean he’s stuck it in the jar or anything like that. I told him about a place in New York called Peanut Butter and Co. It was like telling a little kid, “You’re going to meet Mickey Mouse at Disney World!” We ordered like four different types of sandwiches and split them. And Peanut Butter and Co. makes dark chocolate peanut butter and white chocolate peanut butter. They need to put a sign on that which says, “Not to be used as a marital aid.”
Best Non-Peanut Butter Sandwich Ingredients
For favorite ingredients, I’m going to break it into three categories. For vegetable, I’m going with avocado. For protein, I’m going to say a fried egg with a runny yolk. It has to be runny. For condiment, I’m going to say sriracha…it’s a vietnamese spice.
Worst Sandwich Ingredients
I hate little alfalfa sprouts. It’s like veggie pubes. They don’t belong on a sandwich. Bean sprouts work, but not the little alfalfa sprouts
Adam Richman’s Best Sandwich in America premieres June 6th at 9 on the Travel Channel.
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