a better blt
the simplest of sandwiches gets a simple upgrade
The sun has finally come out in Los Angeles. To some of you, that sentence makes no sense; after all, this is the land of 72* and sunny. You’d be surprised to know that the City of Angels has already garnered nearly 25” of rain this winter season, up almost a foot from our season normal-to-date. That’s…..a lot of rain. (Quiet up there, PNW. We aren’t the ones who signed up for this bag.)
Anyway, now that the sun is shining and the sky is back to blue, I’ve been dreaming about summer. Summer means beach days, boardwalk bike rides, and my personal favorite: tomato season. I spend my winter seasons slow-roasting my cherry tomatoes to bring out any earthiness and caramelize their sugars and dream of the days when I can simply slice into a tomato, sprinkle it with flaky salt, and enjoy one of the greatest snacks known to man. Even better? Capturing that summertime taste inside a killer sandwich.
The humble BLT is really just that – an unpretentious sandwich composed of ingredients all so simple it’s widely known by only by it’s three-letter acronym. A few simple tweaks make this sandwich even more delectable and don’t make it any more complicated, I promise. A bright squeeze of lemon over the lettuces, an upgrade to the mayonnaise that just can’t be substituted, broken bits of bacon so that crunchy umami is evenly distributed. But let me tell you the biggest hack for the ultimate BLT..…..salt.
Before I tell you the secrets of salt, please promise me this: don’t ever store your tomatoes in the refrigerator! There’s nothing worse than a cold, mealy tomato that’s lost all flavor. A good rule of thumb is to store your produce where you purchased it in the grocery store (ie: your lettuces come from under the mister in the refrigerated section of produce, your potatoes come from a room temperature pyramid, your grapes need a cooler so your crisper is best, etc.) Perhaps there’s room for some kitchen tips of this sort in the future, but find a pretty bowl or colander (for air flow), and keep your tomatoes on your counter for the best flavor and longest shelf life. Now, back to our BLT:
Even out-of-season tomatoes can be saved to taste more like their matured August versions. Right now, mid-April, slice a tomato and taste it raw. This time of year, that bite was likely watery and devoid of any real tomato flavor. Now slice another slab from the same tomato and sprinkle it with a bit of kosher or flaky sea salt. Let that dissolve for a moment and taste again. Feel that difference on your tastebuds? Did you trick your own mind into thinking you were eating a late-season heirloom tomato from your neighborhood farmer stand? That’s the power of salt. It’ll draw out the true flavors of any given food. It doesn’t make your food innately salty, but that all depends on how you’re utilizing it. Salt is your friend. Salt is a culinary game-changer. Salt is my favorite kitchen tool. And toss out that navy-blue canister of iodized salt…the minute you embrace kosher salt1 is the moment your culinary game will change. I’m serious! More to come on salt in a future newsletter, but I’d really recommend seeing the footnotes below.
If you’d like a more professional opinion on why salt is so important and how vastly different the kinds of salt can be, I can’t recommend reading Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat enough (the documentary is very interesting, but you don’t learn nearly as much about technique or culinary science!) The home experiments in that book alone truly changed the way I viewed food and the chemical reactions we don’t even realize are happening in front of us when we cook. We’re definitely #teamsalt in this house. Now get to sprinklin’ that good white stuff and make yourself a summer-ready sammie!
INGREDIENTS
1/2 pound thick-cut bacon
2 cups packed lettuces (looseleaf, mesclun, frisee, escarole, etc)
2 medium ripe tomatoes on the vine2
4 tbsp garlic aioli
2 garlic cloves
2 egg yolks
Kosher salt
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 lemon
4 slices of thick craggy bread (wheat, sourdough, ciabatta, etc)
1/2 lemon
Basil oil
1 cup packed basil
1 cup neutral oil3
Kosher salt
Black pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
Garlic aioli instructions: Grate 2 cloves of garlic into a medium bowl. Whisk in two egg yolks and season generously with salt (you’ll need a lot of salt to counteract all the fat in this aioli. Remember however much salt you use, you aren’t ingesting it all yourself.) While continuously whisking, add vegetable oil in a very slow and steady stream. Take breaks to fully incorporate the oil into the aioli mixture (and rest your poor arms). Once all oil is incorporated, add the juice of 1/2 lemon and whisk again. Season to taste. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 month.
Basil oil instructions: Blanch basil in boiling water and immediately add to an ice bath to cool. Add to a food processor or blender and process until a smooth paste. Very slowly stream in the oil while processing to emulsify. Strain over cheesecloth into a glass bowl; this will take a while. Squeeze out the cheesecloth to make sure you’ve extracted all that delicious flavored oil. If your bowl of green oil is cloudy, strain and squeeze again; repeat until clear. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 month.
Preheat the oven to 425° and arrange bacon slices on a cooling rack positioned on top of a baking sheet. Season generously with black pepper. Once the oven is preheated, add your bacon and cook until desired crispiness. Remove from oven and let cool on a paper towel to drain.4
While your bacon is cooking, slice the tomatoes into 1/4” thick slices and arrange in a single layer on a plate. Season generously with salt and pepper and set aside.
Toss the lettuce with a quick drizzle of basil oil and the juice of 1/2 lemon. Season with salt and black pepper and set aside.5
As the bacon finishes, toast the bread and spread each slice generously with your garlic aioli and set aside.
Once the bacon is cooked, assemble your sandwiches. Add tomato slices to one slice of toasted and aioli’d bread. Top the tomatoes with broken, cooled bacon strips, and add a generous handful of lettuce. Top with the other slice of bread.
To Serve: slice sandwich in half diagonally6 and serve with your favorite chips.7 Side of aioli for extra dipping is totally optional. Also optional: to turn this into a BLAT!8
Kosher salt is an education in and of itself. Not all kosher salts are created equal, and knowing the difference is key. We’re Diamond Crystal users in this house, only because some of my favorite cooks have educated me. The other mainstream option is Morton’s Kosher Salt. This is different than Morton’s Iodized Table Salt, and is ENTIRELY different than Diamond Crystal. Morton’s Kosher Salt crystals are smaller and more dense, making any measurement nearly twice as salty as if you’d used Diamond Crystal. Either is truly great, but you’ll need to learn how to use both once you make the switch. Always taste as you go and know what you’re working with. They’re not interchangeable!
Don’t skip the lecture above on salting your tomatoes – it takes them to the next level and truly tastes just like summer!
Try something really neutral like grapeseed or peanut oil. Canola or vegetable oil is also very neutral but I try to stay away for health reasons. You’ll rarely hear me say this, but: stay away from olive oil for this! Olive oil (while perfect for so many reasons) will incur a fruity, bitter taste and completely overwhelm the basil oil you’re working so hard for!
You can also prepare your bacon on the stove (splatter city!) or in the microwave (such speed!) This is just my preferred method for ease of both preparation and clean-up.
This step is critical – you should always be seasoning your lettuces! Before adding to a sandwich, before mixing together a salad….every single time. The best cooking addresses each ingredient specifically before bringing them all together, and that’s what really makes a simple recipe shine. Putting forward your best lettuce will only help move you closer to the best sandwich you’ve ever created. It’s also why we season the tomatoes!
I mean, you do you, but diagonal is really the only way to go. The sandwich looks bigger, tastes better, and those triangle points are way more fun to eat!
Sandwiches are never complete without chips, just as burgers are never complete without fries. It’s practically a law.
BLAT: Bacon, Lettuce, Avocado, Tomato. That added avocado fat really carries some of the basil oil + garlic aioli flavor! Be sure to slice thinly and squeeze a lemon over top. Skip the salt this time since you’re pairing it with salty bacon.