Food writer Michael Ruhlman has a post on his blog challenging his readers to create a BLT from scratch, photograph it and submit it. Creating a BLT from scratch in his mind means curing the pancetta, baking the bread, growing the lettuce and tomatoes and making the mayo from scratch. Despite the fact that I am a vegetarian, I will likely take a stab at the contest and swap something else interesting in place of the bacon.
I have been on a bit of a hiatus from the blog, here, as I change jobs and hone the art of people molding (parenting), but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to spread the word on this challenge. Building the perfect homegrown sandwich has become a bit of an obsession for me, and Michael’s post is pretty much a verbatim recounting of my tactics.
- The summer garden went in early this year just to provide me with a hefty supply of crisp head lettuce and arugula (which don’t do well during the warmer months).
- I upped the number of eggs that we get from the local CSA group to assure that I always have fresh mayo on hand (I use a couple of recipes from Ruhlman’s newest book, one for a pinch and one for more involved recipes).
- I have also been dabbling in some different bread recipes including a wheat and a sourdough on top of my favorite no-knead recipe.
- Even the tomatoes which are ample in Indiana in the summer got an early start.
I have a number of other different ingredients going in the garden as well so I can mix it up with squash, peppers, basil, etc. The big sticking point is the cheese, which I figure will likely come from a local farmer (Carpiole goat cheese can be had at the farmers market – another benefit to being in Indiana) or a stab at making some fresh mozzarella at home.
Of course there will be other food stuffs that emerge from the garden and the bounty of the CSA and the farmer’s market, but at the end of the day it is the sandwich that drives me. It’s a bit sad, too, because my wife doesn’t have the appreciation for the sublimeness of a well made sandwich and to me, there is no bigger gift you can give someone than food that you have nurtured from seed and lovingly prepared into a meal. I suppose that we should all have a bit more appreciation for our farmers with that thought in mind.
On another note, Ruhlman’s new book Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking
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