Loyal fans celebrate the day with Elvis’s favorite sandwich: a fried peanut butter sandwich with sliced bananas and bacon. (The recipe: Make a PB sandwich on white bread, with sliced bananas and fried bacon. Brush the outsides with softened butter and fry until golden brown.)

Elvis was a big cheeseburger fan, too, so here’s an Elvis Cheeseburger recipe.

But Helen Graves of FoodStories.com put her own spin on an “Elvis Burger”, topping a burger with bacon and peanut butter. She contributed the recipe to the wealth of PB recipes on ILovePeanutButter.com.

Unlike the Elvis Sandwich, banana slices don’t work here. But a side of fried plantains, related to bananas and substituting for French fries, works just fine. See the recipe below.
 
 
RECIPE #1: ELVIS BURGER

Prep time is 5 minutes, cook time is 20 minutes.

Ingredients For 4 Servings

 
There’s no banana, but we can recommend a side of plantain chips, a crunchy alternative to potato chips.

[2 Smooth Operator Peanut Butter from Peanut Butter & Co.

1. DIVIDE the ground beef into 4 equally sized balls, then flatten into patties and set aside. Grill the bacon rasher until crisp, then chop into smallish pieces and set aside.

2. HEAT a pan until very hot. Season the burger patties with salt and pepper and cook for 2 minutes each side, or to taste. While the burgers are cooking…

3. MAKEe the peanut butter sauce by heating a tablespoon of oil in a pan and gently softening the ginger and garlic for a couple of minutes, stirring. Add the chipotle flakes for a further minute, then take the pan off the heat and add the peanut butter, along with a tablespoon of hot water (don’t use cold water). Mix well. When the burgers and sauce are ready…

4. PLACE some iceberg lettuce on each bun, followed by some onion, a burger, then some of the peanut butter sauce. Top with crispy bacon pieces and the top half of the bun. Eat immediately.
 
See more prep photos at ILovePeanutButter.com.

[3] Plantains look like bananas, but they are not sweet (photo © Ladida | iStock Photo).

RECIPE #2: FRIED PLANTAINS

Plantains are cousins of bananas, a staple in most Latin American cuisines. Plantains are larger and green; they don’t ripen to yellow. They are firm and served cooked like a vegetable, not eaten as a raw fruit.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT oil in a large, deep skillet over medium high heat.
 
2. PEEL the plantains and cut them into round slices (coins) or vertical slices (slice in half lengthwise and then into halves again to desired thickness). halves lengthwise into thin pieces.

3. FRY the pieces until browned and tender. Drain excess oil on paper towels. Season with salt as desired.

 
 
How about an Elvis portrait made from toast?