With gardening season in full swing, it's time to use those wonderful homegrown tomatoes and greens to make BLT's.
Any good cook will tell you that the secret to making delicious food is to use the best and freshest ingredients and a BLT is no exception. In our house, we convert the "Classic BLT" to the "Ultimate BLT" by kicking the ingredients up a notch:
- Tomatoes - Let's face it, most tomatoes from the supermarket are hard and tasteless; they don't add much to a BLT. But if you use a homegrown tomato, you have an entirely different experience because the sweet of the tomato compliments and balances the salty-fatty taste of the bacon. If you are like me, you are beginning to harvest the first tomatoes from your garden, so now is a great time to make a BLT. If you're tomatoes are not ripe yet, you may be able to get the next best thing from your local farmer's market.
- Lettuce - you can use any variety in your garden, but my wife and I actually prefer changing out the green component of the sandwich entirely. We use either arugula or watercress to make our sandwiches. Both of these greens add a spiciness not found in traditional BLT's. Although, I suppose a Bacon, Arugula and Tomato sandwich should probably be called a "BAT" and one made with watercress a "BWT" .
- Bacon - If you follow my posts, you know we cure our own bacon using mesquite, alder, hickory and other woods. I have to say, this bacon is sublime. We use this for our BLT's, but if you don't have the time to mess with making your own bacon, just buy a good grade of bacon from the store or your local butcher. One more thing.... fry your bacon on a medium heat so you don't overcook it. (Burnt bacon tastes wretched and you and your sandwich deserve better)
- The Staff of Life - You can use white bread to make BLT's, but a tastier approach is to use a fresh baked bread like a ciabatta, batard or boule. Don't worry if you don't recognize these names; they are just different styles of bread with crusty tops similar to French bread. We buy our bread at our from the store because we've found that commercial bakers do a better job than what we can at baking these loaves. High quality, fresh bread is becoming more widely available these days and many of the better supermarkets now bake it on the premises or source it from a local artisinal. baker. If you have the option, use a nice crusty top bread to make your BLT's.
- Mayo - Slather it on. Yes I know it high in fat. For Pete's sake, live a little.
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