As usual from Serious Eats, a detailed article about making what in this case is a pretty simple sandwhich. Some of the points they emphasize:
- A BLT is a tomato sandwich seasoned with bacon. This is their prime directive. Use the best tomatoes possible thickly sliced, and salt them. In my case I grow my own tomatoes and only make this sandwich when I have ripe ones.Growing your own tomatoes is kind of a pain since it spoils you; the only other tamatoes I will ever use are canned tomatoes in appropriate recipes. They comment that BLTs are a seasonal treat and that of all the fruits and vegetables in the world, the tomato is the one that shows the greatest seasonal shift. I thought that was very well said.
- They're pretty fussy about the bacon - thick, cook it flat and crisp.
- Don't use fancy breads, hard or chewy. Good quality pre-sliced supermarket sandwich bread (they like Oroweat/Arnold Country Buttermilk), although they also like Japanese shokupan.
- Toast the bread in the bacon fat. Why Didn't I Ever Think Of That.
- Use your favorite mayonnaise or better yet homemade.
- Lettuce is not superfluous. Don't use any fancy greens either (no arugula). In fact - use iceberg, shredded iceberg.
- Layer carefully. They say lettuce on the bottom, tomato, bacon, and another lettuce layer on top.
- Cut in triangles because they taste better.
Click here for their recipe.