BL-Tastic

When I was a kid, my parents took me out to a fancy restaurant for lunch, and all I wanted was a BLT. Oh, to preface this story, I had just lost TWO teeth a few days before. Both my ma, and my dad were trying to talk me out of it, because toast is hard, and probably not a good idea for my recently hole-filled mouth. But no, I wouldn’t budge. I.wanted.a.BLT. Even the waitress tried offering me macaroni and cheese. Lady, didn’t you hear me? I said BLT.

Ok, fine, BLT it is. Well, ten minutes later, out comes my BLT. I was so excited until I realized… ouch. Dammit. This really hurts! I think I may have cried, because I was sad about having lost my teeth, fearing that “big-girl” teeth would never grow in, and on top of it all: I couldn’t eat this delicious sandwich.

Childhood is rough.

Anyway, the possibilities of a BLT are endless:

-What kind of bacon?

-What kind of lettuce?

-What kind of tomato?

-Mayo or other sauce?

-What type of bread??

Bacon-Lettuce-Tomato . That’s it! Simple ingredients, tweak them, and make a fantastic sandwich.

I’m definitely NOT the first person to rock the bacon weave, but I did do something a little… different… with it: I soaked it in whiskey, sprinkled it with brown sugar, and baked it.

Note: this is not an every day sandwich. It has BACON, WHISKEY, and MAYO in it. It’s highly caloric. So feel free to share half of it with a friend, or if you must eat it by yourself, do some extra sit-ups that night.

Let’s start with the bacon:

Ingredients for Special Bacon 3 strips of bacon

1 oz. of whiskey

1 tsp. brown sugar Instructions for Special Bacon Set oven to 350 degrees, and cut strips of bacon in half (so now you have 6, half-strips.). Place bacon in small bowl or container, and pour whiskey on top. Let sit for 10 minutes, and discard leftover whiskey. Take your 6 half-strips of bacon, and weave them together on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle brown sugar on top, and bake for 23-28 minutes, or until desired done-ness. (I know some people still prefer their bacon chewy. I however, like it crispy!)

Believe it or not, there is an art to making a truly GREAT sandwich. A sandwich that contains it’s ingredients and doesn’t slip ‘n slide everywhere, and in every bite, gives the diner a piece of each ingredient so that all of the flavors come together. So this is how I, build the perfect BLT:

1.) I use tomatoes that have never been refrigerated… ever! And I slice them paper-thin. (You can use either a mandoline slicer, or a very sharp knife.)

2.) I use crunchy, COLD, iceberg lettuce. Iceberg lettuce has been given the cold shoulder (pun!) by a lot of foodies. What do they know? It’s crisp, crunchy, and perfect for sandwiches. Save that wilted stuff for some other fancy pants salad.

3.) I don’t mess with the mayo too much. I use a quality mayo (or a homemade one) and add lime juice, and black pepper; some acidity, and some bite!

So to recap: Smoky, tang, zip, bite, crunchy and sweet. That is the perfect BLT.