Squaw bread or a sweet whole wheat bread,
really fresh.
A little bit of finely chopped sweet
onion. Maybe a teaspoon -- just for seasoning, too much will
overpower the other flavors.
Fresh cracked pepper and a little Fleur de
Sel finishing salt. Penzey's is my absolute favorite. This terrific
finishing salt is an indulgence I cannot resist.
5 slices of smoked bacon. Niman
Ranch Applewood Smoked Bacon from Trader Joe's, but I also
LOVE Farmer John bacon, cooked very crispy. Keep the bacon hot!
Best Foods mayonnaise.
Big, sweet, right off the vine, warm from
the sun, green-when-ripe, red, black, orange or bi-colored
tomato like Aunt Ruby's German Green, Carbon, Chocolate Amazon, Brown
Derby, Cherokee Purple, Goose Cree, Persimmon, Marvel Striped or Dagma's
Perfection, or....
Sliced the tomato ½" thick and as big as the bread or bigger. Or,
if using a smaller tomato, cut several slices to cover the bread. Your
tomato should be on the sweet side with a perfect background of
tang. A rich, juicy, irresistible tomato.
Very crisp and cold
mild-flavored lettuce, like iceberg or butter lettuce, not bitter
lettuce or strong tasting lettuce.
While keeping the bacon hot, spread a
nice layer of mayo on the bread, put the tomato slice on the bread, put
a thin layer of mayo on the tomato. Add
just a little salt and pepper to taste.
Sprinkle with the onion.
Add
the piece of chilled lettuce and another thin layer of mayonnaise. The
mayonnaise will keep the sandwich glued together so you don't have the
slip-slidin' away lettuce/tomato syndrome.
Add 4 ½ slices of the hot, right-out-the-pan bacon, drained briefly, leave a little bacon grease on it
for guilty pleasure, add the other slice of bread.
Eat the other ½ slice of bacon
as an appetizer or save it for dessert. Have a big glass of milk and some napkins
ready. Relax and take a bite of your sandwich
before the bacon cools.
The phone will ring the moment you sit
down , take the first bite and slip irretrievably into reverie.
Ignore it. (The phone, not the sandwich.)
Laurel Garza
Laurel's Heirloom Tomato
Plants
California
BLT: Summer in a Sandwich
From our friend Leslie Land, New York Times Food & Garden Writer
You have to grow the
lettuce in the shade (of the tomato plants, for
instance) but other than that, August and September
are glory time for one of the greatest food items
ever assembled, that lunch of lunches, the BLT.
Can’t really say
there’s only one recipe. Say rather there’s only one
correct set of components .
A Proper BLT:
the Bacon: Local pork. No nitrates. Put slices in
a single layer in a heavy cast-iron skillet . Cook
slowly, turning often, until most of the fat is
rendered and the bacon is well-browned and crisp.
Drain. Save fat for cornbread, fried green tomatoes
and other bacon fat needy items.
( For a while there I was doing the bacon in the
microwave, sandwiching it between unbleached paper
towels according to micro directions. It got very
crisp and was notably un-greasy, but all that lovely
bacon fat was lost and the crispness of the bacon
was an oddly dry, industrial crispness reminiscent
of fake bacon bits. )
the Lettuce: Preferably from the garden. Crisp
but not agribusiness-romaine crisp; it has to play
well with others while adding a light, fresh note to
the ensemble.
the Tomatoes: Ripe on the edge of falling apart
but not falling over it. The ones in the picture
are, clockwise from top: Aunt Ruby’s German Green,
one of the sweetest heirlooms available; Japanese
Black Trifele, a high-yielding, deep-flavored
“black” and Sophie’s Choice.
the Mayonnaise: Homemade mayonnaise is all very
well, but NOT on a BLT, which should be made with
Hellmann’s. period. The jar in the picture contains
a version made with lime juice for the Latino market
and alas not available everywhere. Good though.
And thus we come to the ringer,
the Bread: That’s a ciabatta in the picture and it
did make a tasty sandwich, but a naturally-leavened
bread full of big holes in the European style is not
right for a BLT.
What’s wanted is old fashioned Pullman bread, aka
pain de mie, the bread that got debased into Wonder
Bread. Properly made, the square, soft-crusted loaf
has a very tight even crumb and just a tiny touch of
sweetness to go with the blended flavors of milk and
yeasted wheat.
Here is
a link to Leslie's wonderful Cooking and Gardening
Blog:
http://leslieland.com/blog/blt-summer-in-a-sandwich
Leslie Land, The New York Times
Vintage Wine
Bacon,
Lettuce and Tomato Confit Sandwich
From
our customer and friend, Lora Zarubin, Food
& Wine Editor for LA, the Los Angeles Times
Magazine
The
intensity of the tomato confit transforms this BLT
from the ordinary to the sublime.
Makes 4 sandwiches.
4 slices tomato confit
12 slices smoked bacon
8 slices sourdough, 1/2 inch slices
4 tablespoons mayonnaise
4 fresh romaine lettuce leaves, washed and patted dry
Salt and pepper to taste
Tomato Confit
4 ripe but
firm heirloom tomatoes, approximately 3/4 pound each
6
tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Pre heat
oven to 200 degrees.
Bring a pot
of water, (large enough to hold all the tomatoes), to a boil. Cut an
X across the back of each tomato. When the water is boiling plunge
the tomatoes into the boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove and cool.
When the tomatoes are cool enough to handle peel off the skin. Cut
the tomatoes in quarters. Carefully with a sharp knife cut along the
inside of each tomato and remove the heart and seeds.
Place the
tomatoes cut side down in a non reactive baking pan large enough to
hold all 24 pieces. Drizzle the olive oil over the tomatoes. With a
pastry brush baste all the tomatoes with the olive oil. Bake
uncovered for 1 hour. Remove and cool. Place the tomatoes in a
container and cover with remaining oil. Refrigerate until ready to
use.
Heat a
skillet large enough for all the strips of bacon, or heat two
skillets so that you can cook all the bacon at once. Cook the bacon
until golden brown and crisp but not totally crisp and brown. Place
the bacon on a plate lined with paper towels and place in a warm
oven (175 degrees) until ready to assemble the sandwiches.
Toast the
slices of bread and place on a chopping board in two rows. Spread 1
tablespoon of mayonnaise for every two slices. Place the romaine
leaf folded on the bottom row of toasted bread. Place 4 slices of
the tomato confit over the romaine leaves.
Remove the
bacon from the oven and place 3 slices of bacon over the tomato
confit. Cover with the top slice of bread and slice in half. Serve
immediately.
Lora Zarubin
LA, the Los Angeles Times
Magazine
Pink Brandywine
The Ultimate California
Tomato Sandwich
4 slices
Nieman Ranch Applewood Smoked Bacon, fried crisp
Thick slices large Heirloom tomato (Aunt Gertie's Gold,
Brandywine, other favourite)
Freshly ground 5-colour French peppercorns
Slices of just ripe Hass avocado
2 slices lightly toasted Sourdough San Francisco bread
Best Foods Mayo slathered on the bread
Daikon sprouts
Butter Lettuce leaf, optional
Open wide and enjoy! Hold over sink or plate while
eating.
Glass of California Chardonnay!
Mary-Anne
Durkee,
Alamo CA
Big Beef
Whole grain bread spread
generously with mayo. Three or four slices of really crisp bacon. Thick
slices of tomato. Don't bother with lettuce.
Carolyn Ford from Arkansas
Black Prince
Texas Ham & Cheese & Tomato
My favorite tomato sandwich
is Prosciutto ham, smoked provolone cheese, sweet onion relish and
sliced Black Prince tomatoes on whole wheat bun. Add a few pickled
peppers and it magically disappears!
Carol Moss, Texas
Cherokee Purple
Dev's Oklahoma Spam & Mater Sandwich
Slice the Spam ¼" thick and brown in an
olive-oiled pan. Toast the bread, (Oatnut is an excellent choice.)
Slather real mayo on the toast--both
slices. Sprinkle with Chimayo chile powder (smoked Ancho
powder is a close second.)
Two or three just-picked lettuce leaves.
Half inch slices of Cherokee Purple, still warm from the garden.
Make the sandwich. Uncork a Sam Adams.
Take the whole shebang out to the picnic table. Let the juice run
down your elbows.
Repeat as necessary.
Dev in Oklahoma
Anna
Russian
Janet's Mom's Maryland Favorite
My late mother's favorite was
an open faced, grilled cheese sandwich with crisp bacon and a big
slice of tomato. She did them on a stovetop in a skillet but
ran them under the broiler for a minute at the very end.
I am definitely needing a
vine ripened tom in the worst way...
Janet Searcy Wintermute of
Maryland, in honor of her mom, Josephine Murphy Searcy
(Editor's note: Janet
confesses that during those days Velveeta was the cheese of choice.
I confess, too. Hi, my name's Laurel and I like Velveeta. My family ate a lot of Velveeta in the 50's and 60's,
eventually I learned about the delights of real cheese...wouldn't
turn down a nice slice of Velveeta, though. ~ Laurel)
Striped German
Some
Canadian Variations on
the Basics....
Boy, a person would think
all we tomato lovers think about is tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes....
It looks like the basic
sandwich is tomato, bacon, lettuce, mayo. That is a good base to
start with. The little differences are the breads. White bread,
pumpernickel, sourdough, rye, brown, toast, Italian.
The bacon must be smoked,
though. You can have bre'-fass bacon, side bacon, pee-meal
bacon. Oh!!!! and the bacon must be semi-crisp/crisp.
The lettuce has to be fresh, leaf lettuce, iceberg lettuce, head
lettuce.
ANDS lots of mayo....you
know what? You could throw a fried egg in there and nobody
would complain. Condiments could be salt, pepper, ketchup...does
life get any better than this?
What about if we fry the
bacon, then fry three large shrimp until tender. Put that on the
lettuce, tomato, Mayo, and put that on a Hoagie bun??? Or as we say
in Canada, on a submarine bun.
OOOOHHHHHHhhhh.... I'm almost tempted to go the A & P and buy
some tomatoes....
Come on summer..
Stan in Canada
Sunset's Red Horizon
Sunny's No-Bread Hawaiian Special
One thick slice big, red,
juicy delicious tomato.
Fresh ground Mediterranean
Sea Salt.
Fresh ground black pepper.
Put salt and pepper on
tomato slice. Kick back, eat and enjoy!
Sunny Hills of Lahaina,
Maui, Hawaii
