Sun
Aug 24 2014
06:31 pm
By: michael kaplan

A couple of months ago I had what I thought a miserable BLT at Aubrey's. Sandwiched between slices of tasteless bread were shredded lettuce, a pale tomato and a few slices of bacon, with mayo served on the side. And ... it was expensive, so I decided to make my own next time.

The one illustrated is on Tellico Grains Italian bread, with Applegate natural bacon, local organic lettuce and homegrown tomatoes. The mayo, properly spread on the sandwich, is JFG.

BLT copy.JPG

bizgrrl's picture

Yummy. I do love a BLT.

Yummy. I do love a BLT.

michael kaplan's picture

Splendid Table did a short

Splendid Table did a short piece today on BLTs.

Pam Strickland's picture

They had some great ideas,

They had some great ideas, too. I only use Benton's Bacon.

oldnorthknoxhippy's picture

I used to love BLT's before I

I used to love BLT's before I became a vegetarian. Still can't resist pork tenderloin on the pagan holiday called Christmas that honors the man-gods Mithras and Jesus. Though most folks have forgotten about Mithras.

Vicky's picture

BLT's - The only mayo

to use on any sandwich is Dukes. Toasted english muffin bread from VG's Bakery elevates a sandwich from the mundane to the sublime.

michael kaplan's picture

I used to put these on VG

I used to put these on VG sourdough buns (the best I've ever tasted) but he stopped selling these individually and now packages them in plastic bags -- not the way to sell bread.

rht's picture

english muffins

regular Thomas' English muffins very tasty and perfect size for a slice of big heirloom tomato

michael kaplan's picture

only problem is that these

only problem is that these are still being made with preservatives (shelf life!) and, who knows, maybe GMOs. but they do taste good ..

update: Thomas's muffins DO contain ingredients with GMOs

(link...)

Bbeanster's picture

Benton's is a little tough

Benton's is a little tough for a good BLT, IMO. I like it for other things, but the B, L and T should be of similar tenderness so you'e not gnawing through a thick hunk of bacon when you take a bite of sandwich.

michael kaplan's picture

it's tough and very salty,

it's tough and very salty, throwing everything a bit off balance. i like the natural, celery-cured variety. it may also be healthier ..

benton's is great for benedict or baked beans.

Bad Paper's picture

too much salt

I like Benton's. But that is too much salt for a BLT. And I can't get it crisp enough. Even with oven baking. My favorite is Oscar Meyer's thick cut bacon. 9 minutes per side in Pyrex at 400 degrees and you have perfect bacon with easy cleanup. And as important is Duke's for the mayo and a Grainger county tomato or homegrown. Arnold's Italian bread from Kroger's. I like mayo on both slices of bread.

You would think a BLT would be one of the easiest sandwiches to get right at a restaurant. In my experience, it is one of the few things restaurants do well. Either the tomato is awful or the bacon is not cooked crispy enough.

Bad Paper's picture

it is one of the few things

it is one of the few things restaurants do well should read:

it is one of the few things restaurants don't do well.

redmondkr's picture

Neil deGrasse Tyson Says:

michael kaplan's picture

the NON-GMO project

bizgrrl's picture

Thanks, Michael. I no nothing

Thanks, Michael. I know nothing about the GMO issue. It does sound like it should be, at least, be highly regulated and monitored. People should be completely aware of what they are eating.

According to Michael's link:

Most developed nations do not consider GMOs to be safe. In more than 60 countries around the world, including Australia, Japan, and all of the countries in the European Union, there are significant restrictions or outright bans on the production and sale of GMOs. In the U.S., the government has approved GMOs based on studies conducted by the same corporations that created them and profit from their sale

Hildegard's picture

No time to link all the

No time to link all the articles that explain why those decisions were based largely on politics and not science. I am just as (probably more) suspicious of corporate motives as the next leftie, but nobody has demonstrated anything unsound about the science behind GMO's, which have been in use for over FORTY YEARS. More later.

Hildegard's picture

I've stopped trying to talk

I've stopped trying to talk to people about this. It's like talking to anti-vaxers. Anti-science has finally infiltrated the left.

R. Neal's picture

Regardless of whether GMO

Regardless of whether GMO crops are safe for consumption, what people should really be concerned about is a handful of corporations controlling the world's food supply.

According to the USDA, 94% of soybean and 89% of corn crops in the U.S. are genetically modified. So it sounds like it's pretty tough to avoid GMO products.

The seeds for these crops are patented by companies like Monsanto. Monsanto won a Supreme Court case upholding their rights to sue farmers for saving patented seeds from their crops for future plantings, requiring them to buy new seeds every year.

In this case, the seeds are for Monsanto soybeans that are resistant to Roundup, allowing farmers to use Roundup for weed control. Monsanto also sells Roundup.

The ruling restricted Monsanto's rights to sue for "incidental" contamination of organic crops by, for example, patented seeds blowing in from a nearby field. This has raised concerns that Monsanto and others will go back on their pledge not to use "terminator" seeds that won't germinate after the first generation.

Hildegard's picture

I share every bit of the

I share every bit of the concern you express, and btw I hate Monsanto. There are lots of reasons having little to do with GMO's to hate Monsanto, as you've pointed out. What exasperates me is what I see expressed in social media by people I respect, who seem to think that the only thing to fear from Monsanto is the Big Bad GMO. If you see people picketing Monsanto, it's all about GMO. And the problem with that is that it sidesteps the multitude of other, very real and urgent reasons to resist the insidious threat that is Monsanto. When Facebookers and Tweeters and Market Square picketers focus on one specious Monsanto-related target - GMO - it's easier for Monsanto to get away with all that other stuff that too few people are really talking about.

One of the most troubling recurring problems in our increasingly neurotic and fearful society is the tendency to let one boogeyman divert all our attention on a given issue. You see it in food science, in medicine, in all kinds of social justice issues, in education - you name it. And what happens is the really big, dangerous shit hurtling towards a colossal fan just flies right over everybody's heads.

Oh, and environmental science. Anybody checked out the news that came out this week about methane leaks all over the oceans? There's no real point in dwelling on it, and I mean that. What the hell can we do about that? I refuse to be defeatist, but it is hard for me to contemplate the sickeningly precarious position our species has created for itself and still give a shit if my bacon is full of sulfites.

Factchecker's picture

That Monsanto case runs all

That Monsanto case runs all over me, especially when Clarence Thomas should have recused himself for having once lawyered for Monsanto. But I do wonder about the difference between some of these exotic or egregious instances and all GMO in general. Most GMO stuff is probably OK and at least far from being the problem it's often feared to be. We've got enough known problems.

Factory farming and much about meat consumption is more disturbing to me. Pigs are smart, sentient beings. At least that's a harder argument to make for cattle and chickens.

fischbobber's picture

GMOs

Eating them is much like listening to Fox News. It's not that it's all bad or lies, it's just that you're never sure what is and isn't healthy and right. The more organic and GMO free I keep my diet, the easier its been to control my blood sugar. One can make the argument that I'm merely eating better, but I would counter that the non GMO tastes better and seems to reduce craving for junk. I haven't had a doughnut in over a year and don't miss them.

Plus, I find the idea of handing over control of the world's food supply to for profit corporations morally reprehensible. Look what they've done with healthcare.

But, I like bacon and love BLTs.

Factchecker's picture

I'm going to try to zip it after this...

I keep trying to bite my tongue about being too judgmental, but that last statement--which seems to speak for about 97% of this country, just doesn't square up with everything else stated. Y'all do know about the pig factories that produce just about all the bacon as well as ham and--blasphemy notwithstanding--BARBECUE!, and about the environmental waste and the the carbon footprint emitted from eating pork (and beef too)?

Sure, we all have our vices, but that one can wipe out a lot of positive behaviors. If I spoil anyone's appetite, then I've improved the planet. It hasn't? Then I'm not surprised. I must not have ruffled any feathers then. (Mixed metaphor unintentional.) Carry on.

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