Always On My Mind (And When I Say Mind I Mean Stomach)

'You know Pauline, I'm not hungry.  I just feel tired.  I just want to rest.'  These words spoken at about 7am on August 16, 1977 were the last that Elvis Presley would utter to another human's face.  A few hours later he was found dead on his bathroom floor, a victim of both the gargantuan cocktail of drugs that had become part of his daily routine and his one true love, food.

Elvis's love of food ultimately destroyed him and left him virtually bedridden at the end of his life.  He would spend his time flat on his back watching the TVs at the foot of his bed and eating the food he loved best.  If you try and picture it you can imagine what a challenge that would be to most people.  Lying flat and eating poses certain logistical and safety problems.  Elvis though, an ingenious man when it came to satisfying his hungers, created the TV glasses.  These were glasses with a mirror inside positioned at an angle of 45 degrees, which allowed him to watch the TV with his head flat on the bed.

The last chapter of one of my favourite cookbooks, 'Eating The Elvis Presley Way' by David Adler, chronicles Elvis's last day from the point of view of the kitchen at Gracelands.  Here's what the King's ate just before he died.  It was one of his favourites and as is typical of the kind of food Elvis loved.  It is enormous, unhealthy and betrays an almost childish love for flavour.  I should point out that the recipe below is a modest version of the dish as Elvis's cook was so worried about his health.

                                                     Elvis's Last Supper

2 scoops Peach ice-cream (Sealtest was the preferred brand)
2 scoops of your favourite flavour (the actual second flavour is lost in the mists of time)
6-8 chocolate chip cookies (Chips Ahoy brand)

Mix together the two flavours of ice-cream until soft then use the cookies to dip.

The East End Sarnie

Stuff You'll Need:

About 50g butter

A tablespoon of vegetable oil

Two slices of bread

Lots of your favourite cheddar

Some of the most delicious ham you can get hold of

Dijon mustard

What You Need To Do:

We British are a funny old bunch, we get through over 11 billion sandwiches a year and yet we seem to lavish almost no thought, love or care on something we seemingly adore so much.  I suffer enormous envy when I think how well other countries do the sandwich.  Picture the perfection of a medium rare burger, a Friday night kebab delight, or even an oozing quesadilla.  Yet despite it forming the basis of most of our lunches, we seem content with mealy-mouthed squares of plastic bread spread thinly with meat paste, or canned tuna or (my own personal nemesis) stinky over-boiled egg.

Well, I for one want to reclaim the sarnie as a thing of beauty.  No longer should a sandwich be something to be ashamed of.  Make these babies and I promise you will fall in love with the sandwich all over again.  Also, your family will want to kiss the ground you walk on.

I would say that pound for pound this is one of my favourite recipes in the world.  Essentially all you do is make a cheese and ham sandwich and then shallow fry it in butter but like all the great things in life, the devil is in the detail.  I absolutely insist that you use white bread of whatever kind you like but somehow brown bread just won’t do for this.  The cheese should be one that you love but I find the hit of some Snowdonia Black Bomber or really hits the spot.  Get some ham from a decent deli or butcher and watch them carve it for you.  Remember that the thing with simple recipes is that the ingredients you use need to be as good as you can get because if you skimp the only one who loses will be you.

Put the butter and oil into a nonstick pan and place on a high heat.  Smear a side of each slice of bread with the mustard then place the cheese and ham on one slice and place the second slice of bread on the ham, mustard side down.  When the butter is hot and bubbly put the sandwich in the pan and leave for a couple of minutes.  When the first side is golden turn it over.  Place on a warmed plate and serve with a green salad, some chips if you can be bothered, and a beer.

I have also made this with strawberry jam and peanut butter to bring out my inner Elvis.  It was the devil in disguise (in a good way).