Bacon, lettuce, and tomato. BAM! Slap them between two slices of bread, add a little mayo in there… maybe some Sriracha…

However you like it, the BLT has its own following of loyal fans. Some would say that it has recruited die-hard fanatics. These fanatics will do anything for a BLT. If you need a job done, bribe someone with a BLT sandwich- made just the way they like it. We guarantee you’ll have the trash taken out in no time.

We understand that the BLT is incomparable to other sandwiches. Therefore, the brilliant minds at Frito Lay’s® have created the BLT Flavored Potato Chip! And now you’re thinking, “What’s that you say? A potato chip that embodies the perfection of a BLT sandwich? Say no more. I must have these chips in my lap right now! I drive an automatic! Gimme, gimme!”

This is when we say in our loudest, authoritative voice, “Settle down, BLT fanatic! We don’t need your greasy hands gripping the steering wheel while we’re on the road! But please, don’t hesitate to get these tempting crunchy potato- devils and eat them at home!”

If you’re asking for only a bacon flavored chip, and you don’t want your chips muddled up with any sissy vegetables or fruit, then you’ll just have to make your own… But if you love the flavor of a BLT, check out the Sun-Dried Tomato flavored bacon or the BLT flavored Bacon Jerky. Oh yeah, that’s some good stuff.

   

The nerve.

Didn’t he know I was trying this diet thing? Suddenly I developed an image of me smacking him against the head with my salad bowl, lettuce leaves sprawling out into the wind, and fork scudding across the ground. Grabbing his sandwich, I begin shoving the thick, savory slices of meat candy into my mouth, as his head lay upon our lunch table; silent and unmoving.

Alas, that never happened. I allowed him a peaceful and happy lunch of extra bacon. And now I was paying for my lunch salad mishap. I thought long and hard about what I had in the kitchen. I had cooked Boss Hog Honey BBQ bacon in the freezer. I knew that all I had to do was pop that in the microwave. But then there was that package of Bacon Jerky I had hidden in the high reaches of my pantry. The Bacon Jerky was ready to go. No microwave needed.

My stomach let out a loud growl of affirmation. I couldn’t handle it any longer. Throwing up the fluffy white down-filled comforter and tossing aside my beloved bacon pillow; I slipped on my piggy slippers and proceeded to shuffle into the kitchen. It was dark and quiet throughout the house. I didn’t want to turn on any lights because my guilty mind felt I was being less mischievous if I cheated in the dark. Although concealment was key, I still needed to see. I grabbed the flashlight on the kitchen counter, switched it on, and opened the pantry door. I unfolded the little wooden ladder at the foot of the walk-in pantry and climbed to the top. I could see the Peppered Bacon Jerky package on the top shelf, peeking out from behind a pack of bacon pancake mix. As I reached up and pulled down the pancake mix, I heard a thump outside my kitchen window. I paused. BOOM. More forceful and louder this time, I jumped; fumbled with the pancake mix, and dropped my flashlight as puffs of powdery mix spilled onto my face. I heard a soft squealing noise as my flashlight rolled along the tile kitchen floor. The flashlight stopped rolling, then rocked back and forth; the beam of light flashing along the walls. It then rested to a stop and highlighted something peering at me through my kitchen window.

There, on my neatly manicured front lawn, was a beast much larger than any of its kind. It must have been the size of a bear! It had flopped pink ears, a squiggly tail, large red eyes, and an enormous snout. The snout had a red, wet substance smeared across its pink skin. It looked to be blood. I could see its hot breath in the cold night air as it exhaled. With large, crimson eyes, it scanned my kitchen carefully until they found me. The calculating eyes narrowed as it focused on me reaching for the Peppered Bacon Jerky.

It let out an enormous growl that slightly resembled a baritone squeal. As it growl-squealed, I saw sharp incisors the size of my fist. Blood dripped from the fangs onto its pink chest. The crimson eyes became fiercer and seemed to glow. The beast was morbidly grinning at me. It was huge; its “squeal” shaking the glass of my windows. Saliva dripped down the corners of its mouth, ironically reminding me of the way I drooled over my friend’s bacon sandwich earlier that day. It was only a matter of time when it would lunge at me from behind my patch of begonias. Shakily, I grabbed the large butcher knife on the lower shelf of the pantry closet. I checked my exists. I didn’t have any. My stomach growled again, this time almost as loud as the beast’s. I then smiled too. I was hungry. And man, that thing would make a seriously good amount of delicious slabs of the other white meat.

Suddenly, I heard the glass shatter. I tightened my grip on the knife. It was time.

http://www.baconscotch.info/?p=1868

So you’re out in the woods, getting your nature walk on, maybe on your way to the fishin’ hole, or back from a covert underground chainsaw carving competition, when hunger strikes. You reach into the pocket of your bear-scratch riddled Carhartt jacket for something to silence the ferocious growling of your mighty stomach. What do you pull from the depths? Granola? Hardly, dolphin hugger. Power Bar? No way, Lance Armstrong. Beef jerky? Maybe once upon a time, back when the world was in black and white. No! You draw from your pocket, like Excalibur drawn forth from its scabbard, a mighty strip of Bacon Jerky!

So the mad meat candy geniuses over at Bacon Freak have taken one of the most manly dehydrated meat snacks and pushed it to the next level. I had the good fortune to get a pouch of the peppered flavor and one of the Summer Tomato BLT and I am here to report my findings.

Unboxing: So the 2 ounce package offers up 6-7 thick slices of bacon. The slices were nice and thick and clearly cut from proper slabs of bacon, not some flimsy machine-shaped hunk of lop-grade pig. Bacon is not as lean as beef so I immediately noticed that the slices did have a bit of a greasy feel to them. I would suggest keeping some napkins on hand.

Consuming: So I tried the Peppered flavor first. The first bite was interesting. The consistency was not what I was expecting. It’s much softer than beef jerky. No gnawing or tearing required. You can just bite it right off with your front teeth. No need to worry about jaw fatigue whilst working your way through a bag of this stuff. I’d almost describe the mouth feel as a little bit mealy. It’s hard to explain but you definitely cock an eyebrow. Not a bad thing, just different. I chose to tear hunks off for some co-workers and I noticed that, as with bacon prepared almost any other way, the fat wants to separate from the meat. More on that later.
The cure on the bacon must be very light because the flavor seems to primarily come from the pepper rub (which is very heavy and comes off on your hands in quantity; another reason to keep those napkins handy). The flavor was a little non-descript and less salty than I was expecting. You can taste the pepper but overall it was a bit bland in my opinion. Also, you want to make sure that you get meat and fat in the same bite. As mentioned before the meat and fat like to separate. I ate the meat first and then followed up with the fat. Not so great. While the meat has a nice mild flavor, the fat, while rich, tastes like, well, fat. Get it all in one bite and you’re good to go.

Next up, the Summer Tomato BLT. Wowzers. This stuff was an onslaught of flavor. It was sweet and tangy with some interesting seasonings and had clearly been glazed so the flavor was more uniform and the meat/fat separation was a non-issue. While people were hot and cold on the peppered flavor, the BLT was a unanimous hit.

So, the next time you’re stocking up the ol’ cooler for a trip out into the wilds, leave the gorp at home and order up a couple bags of bacon jerky to fuel both yourself and your sense of adventure.  Pick up one flavor or try all 6 at Bacon Freak. 

http://www.baconscotch.info/?p=1868

Those wise words come from the intelligent and matronly Marion Cunningham. When I moved out of my parents’ house to go to college, they made time in between cheering and celebrations to bestow some gifts upon me, and one of them was Learning to Cook with Marion Cunningham. This book is full of common-sense, easily practiced cooking advice and great, accessible recipes. She answers questions you might be embarrassed to ask about basic cooking staples, like scrambled eggs and hamburgers, but hey if no one teaches you that stuff, you’ll never learn for yourself. For instance, the less you handle hamburger meat, the better, cause the oils in your hands dry the meat out and make it tough. See? Good advice for aspiring grill masters and seasoned chefs alike. The sign of a good cookbook is when it’s covered with spatters and stains from lots of use in a messy kitchen; as you can see from my distressed version, it’s served me well for many years.

And of course, her recipe is peppered with delectable bacon recipes. Here is one of my favorites, offered in tribute and with some minor changes I made. Don’t be alarmed: I may not be Cordon Bleu material, but with a meal like this, you pretty much can’t go wrong. If anyone could, I could, and I didn’t, so you won’t either.

 Avocado and Bacon Super Supper Salad Sandwiches

Mix together the dressing: 1.5 tsp lemon juice, .25 cup sour cream, .25 cup mayo. (Already you know you’re in for something good. Tasting the dressing is fine, but don’t eat it with a spoon, people will look at you and you’ll hate yourself later.)

Fry up .5 pound of bacon (about 8 slices).

Discard the roots from 1 bunch of green onions and cut the white parts into thin slices, .25 inch or so.

Peel and seed 2 ripe avocados and cut lengthwise into .25 inch slices.

Rinse 1 head of iceberg lettuce. Cut the lettuce in half from top to bottom, remove the core, and then slice into bite-size pieces.

Toast and butter some slices of whole-wheat bread. Pile 1 cup of chopped lettuce, avocado slices, and bacon pieces on top. Salt and pepper bacon slices, spoon dressing on top, and top off with sliced green onion. Serves your 4 new best friends.

Wholesale prices for fresh pork bellies hit an all-time high of $1.35 a pound, according to a recent report in the Wall Street Journal. That’s more than 50 percent higher than they were a year ago. And those price hikes only mean one thing—bacon prices are going up for consumers, too.

The Journal reported that demand for bacon tends to peak in summer months as supermarkets promote it to coincide with a seasonal jump in consumption of BLT sandwiches by Americans.

“We are seeing a price increase for bacon,” Jim Kenny, an analyst at Urner Barry’s Yellow Sheet, a livestock and poultry research firm, told the Journal. “The question is how much will retailers be able to pass along to consumers.”

We fear those price hikes will be substantial. Besides, sales of bacon have jumped in recent years as restaurants of all kinds have been adding the fatty delicacy to salads, sandwiches and hamburgers.

For example, the Wendy’s chain of quick-service restaurants is beginning to offer a higher-end bacon as part of its “You know when it’s real” marketing efforts. Its new Applewood Smoked bacon is prepared fresh in restaurants, unlike its predecessor, presumably to evoke the bacon’s natural goodness.

A solution: We haven’t considered giving up our beloved bacon, and of course we never will. But we have pulled out the old piggy bank so we can drop our extra change into it for grocery days. Hey, it’s an old strategy, but we never run out of sweet, sweet bacon—no matter the price.

As an added bonus, Sara also sent us the FULL recipe for the bacon BLT created by mixologist Brent Jones of Library at Hotel Jerome in Aspen, CO. You’ll find it at the end of Sara’s article.

– Mike

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Ahhh Bacon…a beloved American classic that drums up images of sizzling, crunchy strips accompanying eggs, on a sandwich or in a cobb salad. Not typically thought of as a cool thirst quencher…until now. Brent Jones, a molecular mixologist at the famed Hotel Jerome, A RockResort in Aspen, CO, has taken his love of bacon to a whole new level with his innovative BLT cocktail.

The unique cocktail, which is causing quite a buzz in Aspen, is created with bacon fat washed vodka, fresh juiced organic tomatoes, and a foam lettuce topping. Brent creates the components from scratch.

The inspiration: One evening while tending bar at the recently renovated Library lounge at Hotel Jerome, Brent noticed a new food item on its seasonal menu…A completely organic BLT made with fresh tomatoes, crispy bacon and iceberg lettuce. After serving a few of the sandwiches to patrons during his shift, his BLT craving began. By the end of the night it dawned on him to concoct a drink recipe that breaks down the sandwich into its three main components. What Brent developed was a distinct replica of the BLT flavors combined into one exciting beverage.

– Sara

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Bacon Fat Washed Vodka (by Brent Jones)

Fat washing is a method of extracting ?avor from fat, without the greasy texture. I ?rst encountered this method while taking the Beverage Alcohol Resource (BAR) class in New York City.

Ingredients :

1lb of uncooked bacon

750mL vodka

Method :

Cook the bacon, collecting the fat. Dump the vodka into a minimum volume 1 liter container. It should be noted to use a container with a large opening, perhaps a mixing bowl. Heat the bacon fat until it becomes a liquid, and pour it into the bowl containing the vodka. Stir and let the bowl set at room temperature for a minimum of 2 hours. Place the bowl in the freezer for 1 hour to congeal the fat, ?nally strain and ?lter the liquid. A strainer or chinois, and a common coffee ?lter will do the trick.

Tomato Juice

While it seems like a no brainer to use a can of tomato juice or V8, fresh made seasonal tomato juice is well worth the effort.

Ingredients :

1 tomato (or as many as you would like)

Method :

Fill a Large sauce pan ?lled 3/4 full with water, and bring to a very light boil. Blanch the tomato in the hot water for 15 seconds, remove and allow to cool. Peel the tomato using a pairing knife, pulling away the skin. Throw the skinless tomato in a blender or a juice extractor, and strain the juice using a chinois.

Lettuce Air

As a molecular mixologist, I am constantly conducting new experiments on cocktails. Earlier the same day (just prior to the BLT idea) the Hotel Jerome executive chef Chris Keating and I were experimenting with soy lecithin. Lecithin is a phospholipid most commonly used in the culinary ?eld as an emulsi?er and/or to make an air (very similar to a foam). Given this nature, we thought there could be a possible use for it in constructing cocktails.

Ingredients/tools :

4 oz lettuce juice

1/2 tsp soy lecithin

2 oz water

aerolatte milk frother

Method :

Extract the juice from the lettuce using either a blender or a juice extractor. If using a blender, be sure to strain the juice using a chinois. In a container (5 inches wide or larger) combine 4oz lettuce juice + 2 oz water + 1/2 tsp soy lecithin and mix with an aerating device. In this case, the aerolatte milk frother works well. If more air is desired, just add some more soy lecithin to the same solution, and mix.

Making The BLT

Glassware :

Small sherry glass

Ingredients :

1 oz Bacon Fat Vodka

Lettuce Air

2 oz Tomato Juice

Salt & Pepper

Method :

Using 2 mixing glasses, ?ll one with ice. In the empty glass combine a few shakes from both the salt and pepper shakers, the bacon fat vodka, and the tomato juice. Pour the mixture over the other mixing glass containing the ice, and continue to mix by pouring the iced solution back and forth 3 or 4 times. Using a julep or hawthorne strainer, strain the liquid into the sherry glass and top it off with the lettuce air.

*It should be noted, the bacon vodka in a bloody mary cocktail is delicious!!!!

Birch Run, MI is home to Tony’s, which is home to the now famous 1lb BLT. We only get to see a single bite in this video, but what a bite it is.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6u6zw6RyzjQ

Have any of you been to this restaurant? I’d like to see more. Post a video of your 1lb BLT and send us the link so we can share it with the whole bacon community.

Special thanks to Art K. for sending us the link to this one.

-- Mike

This time they give us a set of great alternatives to the basic bacon, lettuce, and tomato (BLT) sandwich. Author Adam Ried, suggests the first step in any great BLT is high-quality bacon and he recommends Niman Ranch bacon, available at Trader Joe’s. Mr. Ried also states that “mayonnaise is the key condiment for flavor, sensation, and structure.”

Ried takes us through 5 great BLT recipes:

• Basic BLTs
• BLTs with Avocado, Radish Chips, and Lemon Mayo
• BLTs with Crab and Scallion-Lime Mayo
• BLTs with Smoked Trout and Caper Mayo
• BLTs with Grilled Mushrooms and Onions and Chipotle Mayo

Sounds like we’ve got this week’s lunch all ready planned. Time to get busy and make these tasty BLTs!

Read the original article on Boston.com.