If you stop by here often enough, its pretty obvious that most everything I make is from someone else’s recipe.

I am a capable cook and could definitely put together meals without following recipes, but I LOVE recipes. I love the whole deal of making something the way it was imagined to be by another person.

Well, today is one of the rare days where you have a recipe from yours truly.

Emily from today’s band, Mahoney & The Moment, had this to say when I asked what I should pair their music with:

“Steve and I are sandwich lovers. We love them big and full of stuffings- pulled pork to coronation chıcken to hummus and veggie. As this is a firey album and we’re half brit/half yankee- fancy making a spicy sarney from somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic?”

How about the traditional flavors of an English Ploughman’s lunch tucked into a sandwich with aged Vermont cheddar and spiced up with some jalapeños? Throw in NY Deli staples pastrami and dill pickles and US diner favorite chipped beef, then grill the whole thing up.

The verdict?

This is a sandwich I would proudly serve to Emily and Steve along with a few pints of Whistling Pig Red Ale from Norwich, Vt’s own Norwich Inn and Theakston’s Old Peculier Ale flown in from England.

With any luck, after lunch they might offer to play a few songs in my kitchen. :)

Spicy Grilled Ploughman’s Sandwich

Ingredients:

2 slices whole wheat bread
Creamy Dried Beef Pickle Spread (recipe follows)
3 slices beef pastrami
4 thin slices of plum tomato
Sliced aged Vermont cheddar cheese
Sliced pickled jalapeños
Butter, for cooking the sandwich

Directions:

1. Spread one slice of bread with some pickle spread. Top with layers of pastrami, tomato, cheese and jalapeños. Cover with second slice of bread.

2. Heat a griddle pan. Place a pat of butter on hot pan. When melted, place sandwich on top. Cook for about 2 minutes until bottom is golden brown. While sandwich is cooking, place a few pats of butter onto top bread slice.

3. Flip sandwich so that buttered top becomes the bottom. Lower heat and cook for about 3 minutes longer, pressing on sandwich with a spatula, until the cheese is melted and the bottom slice of bread is golden brown.

Makes one sandwich

Creamy Dried Beef Pickle Spread

Ingredients:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
6 dill pickle spears, chopped
2 ounces dried beef, chopped

Directions:

1. Mix together the cream cheese, pickle, and beef until well combined. Chill until ready to serve. Use in the Spicy Grilled Ploughman’s Sandwich or serve as a spread with crackers.

Makes about 1 cup

Recipe from AllRecipes.com

Mahoney & The Moment have a new album out, their second, titled ‘Don’t Say No!’. It is a brilliant mix of folk, bluesy alt-country and breezy rock.

I think the entire album is fantastic, but I adore the opening track and how it draws you right in. Such fun horns, too.

“I don’t like you
I don’t like you
I never did
Never kept it hid

It’s a case of friction
A real contradiction
A deeper shade of blue
Confession of the truth

Archie Lane
I came here to explain
Leaving on a jet plane
Never coming back, here

You’ll get through
With everyone around repulsed by you
Archie Lane
You’re a loser”

And showcasing their softer side, gorgeous voices and lovely harmonies, here are Mahoney & The Moment in a video performed on a Manhattan skyscraper.

Check out Mahoney & The Moment on the band’s Website and Bandcamp, where you can buy their music and learn upcoming UK tour dates.

Oh, and I love this. Such a cool and fun idea. The band has a Stress Management Kit for sale that includes:

Their full CD album
Mahoney & The Moment badge / button
Mahoney & The Moment mint chocolate
Stress ball
Groucho disguise
YoYo
Connect 4
and many more surprises in a specially assembled ‘stress box’

Cheers!