Recipe, The BLT
15 June 2009
24 Comments
Not for the faint hearted
The humble sandwich is such an under rated part of the food chain. A good one can make or break a meal, yet it is often inconsistently done. Though the good thing is you can put anything in a sandwich and it can taste awesome. Some of the more weird combinations I’ve had are peanut butter and vegemite, chips with butter, vegemite and marmalade and vegemite with cheese spread. Yes, I love vegemite.
From top to bottom : Bacon, chilli rance sauce, egg, rocket, spinach, caramlised onions, bacon, chilli ranch sauce
You might have noticed there have been fewer restaurant reviews lately mainly because I’ve been on a tighter budget as of late. A combination of copious amounts of medical expenses due to my impending knee reconstruction and trying to eat more healthily has contributed to this, though I’m not doing too well on the healthy part of the deal.
Enter the BLT a sandwich which is found on most cafe and hotel menus. In it’s most basic form it consists of bacon, lettuce, tomato and mayo. My brunch today was suppose to stop me from going out and spending $20 on food and coffee. I might have indeed saved money, but my cholesterol levels have paid for it.
Last night I watched an episode of Anthony Bourdain : No Reservations where he went to Vietnam again. He had a pork roll (banh mi) where amongst other ingredients they put a fried egg in it and poured the remaining oil over the bread roll. After watching that episode, I had the biggest craving for a BLT. This morning, I aimed to fulfil that craving with a bit of inspiration from Anthony Bourdain.
I’m actually missing a few key ingredients such as cheese, but the great thing about sandwiches is that you can substitute things with whatever is in your kitchen. I made my BLT with left over stuff I found in the fridge and it turned out pretty well.
The BLT
Ingredients (serves 1)
2 slices bread
butter
2 thick rashes of bacon
1 egg
Spanish onion
balsamic vinegar
rocket or any mixed leaf salad
sea salt and pepper
pot and fry pan
1 tomato, sliced
- Heat up your fry pan and start cooking the bacon until crispy. When done, transfer onto paper towel to drain.
- While the bacon is cooking sauté onions with a bit of butter until they turn a tad brown. Then add a few daps of balsamic vinegar toss to combine. Let it cook for a few minutes or until onions are caramalised.
- Butter bread on both sides and put it under the grill until toasted
- Fry egg to your liking, I prefer it to be a little runny on the top
If all else fails, use a kettle to bring butter to room temp.
Chilli ranch sauce
ranch dressing
sriracha chilli sauce
1. For the sauce, mix 1 part chilli sauce with every 3 parts of ranch sauce.
Sriracha chilli sauce is my favourite of all chilli sauces. This sauce was inspired by whiteonricecouple’s version.
Assembling …
There is no right or wrong way to put this together as long as everything doesn’t fall out.
.. and the secret ingredient
- the heart attack
This is the secret to my BLT. After I cooked the bacon I left the remaining oil in there and fried my egg with a bit of butter. I then drizzled the remains onto my BLT. The combination of crispy remains of the bacon, it’s oil and melted butter makes a pretty mean dressing. This is surely not good for me, but as the saying goes … ” you only go around once “. If you watch the youtube clip of Anthony Bourdain here you can see where I got my idea from.
Enjoy!
looks good howie. i’ll forward this to jen, so that i can try this for breakie on sunday lol.
haha that is a bit of a heart attack in the making…but so good! Pouring on the leftover oil is a bit genius..and chilli with ranch- i really want to try that!
Steph´s last blog ..Treacle Tart
This looks so delicious. I bought my BLT today and the bacon was all dry and salty, blergh. I’ll be definitely trying your BLT out next time I am craving some runny egg sandwich action
Mr Taste´s last blog ..Sparkle Cupcakery – Surry Hills
First Duck fat and now bacon drippings + butter…… definitely not for the faint-hearted. Anthony Bourdain is certainly not a good influence in promoting health consciousness. I Wonder how he can stay so slim with his boozing and eating habits?
Ellie´s last blog ..Stir-Fried Noodles with Chinese Roast Duck
HECTIC!
thats all i can say really..
OMMGG this BLT is genius! Love the drizzling shot
FFichiban´s last blog ..Atomic Espresso – Neutral Bay, Sydney
That’s seriously drool-worthy… but the oil?!?!?! I don’t think even Elvis did that!
Tina´s last blog ..Tripping vivid visuals
Fantastic sandwich, but my arteries tightened at the thought of that last drizzle of the pan fixings! I want, I want but I really can’t my doctor would shoot me!
Moya´s last blog ..GOBLIN TEASMADE !
My arteries are clogging up as I resist the urge to lick the screen…I wonder where Bourdain got that banh mi – i certainly never found anything like that the times I’ve been to Vietnam!
I like vegemite and hard boiled egg actually, and I like the sound of vegemite and cheese spread. I was a cheese spread kid when I was little
Dunno about the marmalade version though. This sandwich looks much more grown up, and very tasty!
Arwen from Hoglet K´s last blog ..Campsie Food Festival
Oh my! That looks like a heart attack waiting to happen indeed. Looks way better than BLT’s I’ve had in cafes recently. And yes, now I want one, complete with bacon fat and butter sauce
lili – pikeletandpie´s last blog ..Chinese Dumplings, Daring Cooks Challenge #2
That is one seriously nice looking sandwich!
You’re insane. Truly you are. (And I say this in the nicest and most please-feed-me-sometime-yes? possible way).
That said, I used the bacon fat and butter from my brekkie fry up to cook the mushrooms in then served the bacony butter as a spread when I went on holidays, so really I can’t talk, can I?
shez´s last blog ..maitre karl
That looks so good, it would be worth the cardiologist fees down the track (or maybe you can just offset one load of breakfast cholesterol with oats for breakfast the next day???)
Suzie´s last blog ..Double Happiness Chinese Steamed Dumplings
i want one of these!
i’m a big fan of vegemite too!
panda´s last blog ..homer’s cafe @ rowe st., eastwood
[...] An Extreme BLT [...]
@Willy : Ask her to make it for your birthday today!
@Steph : Chilli ranch is great, I love mashing up sauces.
@Mr Taste : It only takes one bad ingredient to screw up a sandwich does’nt it ?
@Ellie : I reckon! Bourdain eats so much crap yet he looks so healthy.
@Abercrombie : It was hectic, and epic
@FFichiban : The drizzling shot will contribute to my cholesterol no doubt
@Trina : If Elvis was alive, he’d be wanting some of my BLT I hope!
@Moya : Just don’t tell your Dr, that’s what I do
@Chris : Likewise, I think he had it in Hoi Anh which is away from Saigon.
@Arwen : Vegemite and egg is awesome! Thanks for reminding me about the classic.
@Lili : I’m glad everyone so far approves of my artery clogging creation!
@Kevin : Looks as good as it tastes
@Shez : That’s almost as bad as me, but I agree bacon fat is oh so tasty.
@Suzie : I was hoping the spinach and rocket would be enough to be the offset
@Panda : Vegemite, it’s a love hate thing but luckily you have good taste.
Hello cholesterol!! Hello heart attack!!!! But only if I was there to enjoy it with you together.
billy@ATFT´s last blog ..My perfect breakfast
I NEED ONE FOR TAKEAWAY PLESASE!!!
Yas´s last blog ..quick update: tea break!
@Billy @Yas : I reckon we could cook up quite mean brekky between the 3 of us! Hello heart attack!
[...] Howard’s homemade BLT. [...]
Yum! That is certainly a great start to any day!
You are making me very very hungry looking at that, and I just ate a big lunch. I don't see how that is possible, but you have done it.
Love the look of this BLT and can't wait to make it for my husband. Thank you!