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Contest: Raise your own BLT (vegan versions welcome)

3:54 AM Thu, Jun 11, 2009 |
By Sheila Lennon    Email this author |   Email this entry

blt1.JPG
MCT
A BLT with heirloom tomatoes.


BLT From Scratch--Summertime Challenge! from food writer Michael Ruhlman.

A collective challenge for all of you who really love to cook: Make a BLT from scratch.

From scratch means: You grow your tomato, you grow your lettuce, you cure your own bacon or pancetta, you bake your own bread (wild yeast preferred and gets higher marks but is not required), you make your own mayo. All other embellishments, creative interpretations of the BLT welcome.

 

blt2.JPG
AP Photo/Jarlsberg Norwegian Cheese
Jarlsberg cheese, shredded and grilled until crisp, is a vegetarian's substitute for bacon in the traditional BLT.


Further refinements:

Entries will be judged in three categories: best photograph, best overall preparation, and best interpretation of a classic.

The last category requires explanation. An interpretation means playing off the original. To make an overly simplistic example, a BLT salad, lettuce and tomato with a mayo dressing, lardons and croutons made from homemade bread; an Alinea-inspired version might be lettuce ice cream served on a crouton, topped with deep-fried mayo and a caramel bacon sauce, garnished with powdered tomato. The interpretation must include one of each of the main ingredients: homegrown tomato and lettuce, a home-cured meat, some form of mayonnaise or emulsified sauce, and some form of yeast-leavened baked good.

Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free interpretations are welcome! If there are enough, they may warrant their own category.

Deadline is Aug. 28th. Get your tomato plants in now.

There'll be Net glory and maybe more for the winning scratcher. I can't see myself curing bacon or whipping up http://blog.ruhlman.com/ruhlmancom/2009/06/home-cured-pancetta.html. I can make crisp cheese in the microwave, which sounds a lot easier and less intense. The other parts, I know how to do.

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