I wasn't sure where to put this, but since there is bacon involved, I figured I'd put it here.
We were in a quandry as to what to have for dinner. Noticed we had the makings for BLT's, so the decision was made. Then I started thinking...."Hmmmm, I wonder what Emeril would do?"
Obviously, he'd kick it up a notch or 2.
For the bread, we have the usual (around here anyway) home made variety that many of you know as Roller's Amish white bread. Mine's a little tiny bit different in that I add some vital wheat gluten to it, giving it a slightly chewier and softer texture. I also made a sponge and let it ferment for 24 hours for this last batch, so it has a sourdough flavor as well.
Since most everyone usually puts mayonnaise on a BLT, that was my next notch. I made a basic mayo recipe, but used lime juice instead of lemon for a little added punch and added about a half teaspoon of cracked mustard seeds in addition to the half teaspoon of dried mustard powder. This was all well and good, but in order to make it truly epic, it was going to need something extra. So I removed 3 TB of the oil from the 1 cup the recipe called for and replaced it with BACON FAT. I'll admit to having made this before with all bacon fat, and it was actually kinda gross. The 3TB is the perfect amount. It's bacony, but still tastes like mayonnaise. The zing of the lime juice plays well with the sultry smokiness of the bacon.
Then there was the bacon itself. There certainly wasn't time before dinner to take a cue from some of the bacon gurus on here and buy, brine and smoke a pork belly. And frankly, I've never had any luck trying to add seasoning to bacon. I decided rather than to try to change anything about the bacon, I'd just change the way it's implemented. One of the things that bugs me about a BLT is the fact that there's either not enough bacon, or you pull an entire slice out with every bite. So, I took 4 pieces of bacon, cut them in half and made a 4x4 bacon weave, which I then baked in the oven. There are 2 sitting nest to each other in the pics below.
The result was a perfectly shaped and sized "patty" of bacon, that stayed put and provided each and every bite with the crunchy goodness of BACON.
This is now my new favorite sandwich.
We were in a quandry as to what to have for dinner. Noticed we had the makings for BLT's, so the decision was made. Then I started thinking...."Hmmmm, I wonder what Emeril would do?"
Obviously, he'd kick it up a notch or 2.
For the bread, we have the usual (around here anyway) home made variety that many of you know as Roller's Amish white bread. Mine's a little tiny bit different in that I add some vital wheat gluten to it, giving it a slightly chewier and softer texture. I also made a sponge and let it ferment for 24 hours for this last batch, so it has a sourdough flavor as well.
Since most everyone usually puts mayonnaise on a BLT, that was my next notch. I made a basic mayo recipe, but used lime juice instead of lemon for a little added punch and added about a half teaspoon of cracked mustard seeds in addition to the half teaspoon of dried mustard powder. This was all well and good, but in order to make it truly epic, it was going to need something extra. So I removed 3 TB of the oil from the 1 cup the recipe called for and replaced it with BACON FAT. I'll admit to having made this before with all bacon fat, and it was actually kinda gross. The 3TB is the perfect amount. It's bacony, but still tastes like mayonnaise. The zing of the lime juice plays well with the sultry smokiness of the bacon.
Then there was the bacon itself. There certainly wasn't time before dinner to take a cue from some of the bacon gurus on here and buy, brine and smoke a pork belly. And frankly, I've never had any luck trying to add seasoning to bacon. I decided rather than to try to change anything about the bacon, I'd just change the way it's implemented. One of the things that bugs me about a BLT is the fact that there's either not enough bacon, or you pull an entire slice out with every bite. So, I took 4 pieces of bacon, cut them in half and made a 4x4 bacon weave, which I then baked in the oven. There are 2 sitting nest to each other in the pics below.
The result was a perfectly shaped and sized "patty" of bacon, that stayed put and provided each and every bite with the crunchy goodness of BACON.
This is now my new favorite sandwich.
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