This is an excellent September the 2nd supper. My tomatoes are heavenly right now. They never go into the fridge. The fridge is death to the taste of ripe, out of the garden tomatoes. Room temperature, glorious red orbs of health and happiness are September the 2nd tomatoes. Winter tomatoes are tasteless, hard, shouldn't-even-be-consumed, useless imitations. That takes care of the "T."
Now for the "B". I have discovered a great way to fry bacon. It doesn't involve a frying pan or a microwave. Instead, I line a big cookie sheet with tin foil and make a little wall all around the outside to contain the grease. I bake the bacon in the oven. You just turn it on to 400 degrees, stick your tray of bacon, laid out (not touching) on tin foil in the oven, and keep watch for several minutes. The bacon comes out flat, crispy and delicious. I transfer it to doubled over paper towel to soak up some of the grease before it goes on the sandwich.
For the "L" I just used romaine lettuce, but it could be ice berg or leaf lettuce from the garden. Nothing special there.
I prefer Miracle Whip to mayonnaise, but all we have right now is mayonnaise. For that purpose I also salted my tomatoes a little. If I was using Miracle Whip, I might not have bothered with extra seasoning. I use lovely whole grain (ancient grain!) bread, lightly toasted. I like to have the whole thing assembled while the toast is still warm and the bacon hasn't cooled off too much. The combination of crunch from the bacon and lettuce, and the soft, smooth texture of the tomato makes for a perfect sandwich.
But the whole point is that this is the only time of year that I really make or enjoy BLTs. I know I wouldn't get the same pleasure when I'm not harvesting tomatoes out of my own garden. And you also get the feel good aroma of bacon in the house! (And for the "are you sure you're my child?" son who hates tomatoes, he gets bacon, lettuce, and cheese).
And that, people, was a post about a sandwich. ( I need to lead a more exciting life).
I have been making bacon that way for years but it is just because I am lazy.
ReplyDeleteI think it is so much better than even microwaving (which is how I used to cook bacon).
DeleteI cannot believe I know of another BLC child. Laura hates tomatoes. She had one BLT in her life, in order not to go hungry, and never since. Her descriptors for tomatoes are not very nice.
ReplyDeleteYes, our son loves ketchup and spaghetti sauce, but a tomato in its true form is something evil. He doesn't even like when he has to pick tomatoes out of a salad because he says they leave the "essence" of the tomato on the other food!
DeleteI bake my bacon too - always have done! Mainly because I'm too lazy to stand watching it on the grill, and you throw away the foil - no washing up!
ReplyDeleteWell, tomatoes were once thought to be poisonous so maybe your son (and others) had a bad experience in a previous life. ;o}
ReplyDeleteAs a sandwich lover of many kinds, BLTs rank right up there near the top. They are gourmet-ish in my book.
I just learned how to make oven bacon as you do recently. Hubby claims it tastes so much better this way. Bacon that curls in a frying pan used to drive me bananas, so you can know I'm loving my now flat bacon!
BLT's I love them. Here in western Maine mountains tomatoes never quite ripen. I was raised down south (Mississippi) and I remember the way tomatoes are suppose to taste before all the genetic manipulation.
ReplyDeleteI do my bacon on a microwave bacon sheet that drains the grease away while cooking the bacon crisp. In the military galleys and I believe in most restaurants bacon is baked.
Friends of ours from Massachusetts that have camps here in Maine always bring us heirloom tomatoes they grow (Massachusetts has a better growing season) and right now we have ten beautiful tomatoes on the kitchen counter that my wife and I are going to have to eat quickly before they go over. Not complaining... I can see BLT's today for lunch in our future.
the Ol'Buzzard
Save seeds from those tomatoes you love!
DeleteI always cook my bacon in the Aga - it is the way Aga recommend and I agree with you it comes out perfect every time.
ReplyDeleteI also agree about tomatoes - they are mostly tasteless.
Okay, thanks, now I'm CRAVING and I'm about to head out the door to take my grandkids school shopping. It's going to be a LONG miserable afternoon, LOL. My stomach will never forgive me.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the winter tomatoes. They are quite horrible. Those summer homegrown are the best. I didn't grow any this year but other years, the extras were thrown into a freezer bag whole. Then I'd take out as many as needed when I made a meal in winter that required tomatoes. I'd rinse them under the sink and the skin would slip right off. Then into the pot they'd go. Delicious!
ReplyDeleteAh...you're making me hungry! If I only I had some bacon in the house, we'd have these for supper tonight. I bake mine in the oven also...on a stoneware jelly roll pan. It's such a lovely smell, and it's also a great way to "season" a stoneware pan.
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