Bacon, lettuce & tomato

Cafe Society
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. . .and other local/garden treats.

Lunch today was a BLT. Not one of those diner types with reheated bacon, square tomatoes and dubious mayo. This was almost entirely local. A fresh French roll from our neighborhood bakery, locally made thick-sliced pepper bacon, slices of ripe-picked beefsteak tomato, and greens from our garden. And Best Foods (Hellman’s) mayo, of course.

Tomorrow, I’m going to make fried zuch from the garden. Slice, dredge in a flour/salt/pepper/cayenne mix, dip in egg wash, back in the flour, fry in fat, garnish with some herbs.

Last night we had a ratatouille: tomato, zuch, onion, olive oil, Parmesan cheese, and a couple of ears of fresh corn.

At breakfast we have halved cherry tomatoes from the garden, with salt/pepper/basil with our eggs.

As I write this, we have 240 Sweet Sue II freestone peaches on our kitchen table, awaiting canning when they reach peak sweetness.

So how YOU doin’?

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Ain’t Summer grand:)

I’ve had BLTs two days a week the last three weeks. PA. peaches came in last week or so. Red Havens. Turn around and they’ll soon be gone.

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We grilled the other night. I asked my fella to pick up a pork roast, and he came home with what I thought was a tenderloin. I was disappointed, as those skinny buggers are flavourless at best and easy to overcook.

Well, I unwrapped it to begin the brining and realized it was a loin-loin, not a tenderloin. Much nicer! So I made chimichurri with parsley and marjoram from the garden, splashed some over the loin and grilled it on indirect heat til it hit 140dg. Thinly sliced, I served it over polenta with cherry tomatoes from the garden and more garlicky chimichurri. Mmm! Have been enjoying the leftovers since.

I hope to pick my first Charleston Gray watermelon from my patch tomorrow! As well as more cantaloupes and cherry tomatoes and, of course, pickling cukes. SO many pickles…

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I never got around to planting a garden this year. And I’ve been too damn busy to make it to the farmers market in a while. But as god is my witness I swear I will have a tomato worth the name the weekend!

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Dinner for me tonight:

3 ears of local corn on the cob. It’s finally ready. No more Jersey or Florida corn for me.

2 huge slices of garden tomato with salt only.

Ahhhhh. Summer eating is the best.

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Sandwich, take two:

Local fresh whole grain bread
Spicy salami made at the local deli
Homemade dill pickles
Slices of ripe beefsteak tomato
mayo
brown mustard
pepper

Glass of peach iced tea.

Heaven in my hand, and surprisingly low in calories.

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Made myself BLTs for the past 3 days, mainly because I don’t want the lettuce to spoil. I put Smithfield thick-cut bacon on the George Foreman grill for 8 minutes and use hot mustard, because I don’t like mayo. Somehow the B L & T go so well together.

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BLT’s are the nirvana of summer.

Unfortunately this year I didn’t get my garden in…

My brick oven is on the fritz…

The neighbors complained about my pigs…

Fortunately, there is a farmers’ market that I go to and I was able to get tomatoes and lettuce picked earlier that morning… fresh baked bread that was still warm… apple wood smoked bacon from a local farm.

I’m pretty sure the only things that came from more than an hour from my home were the salt and the mayo.

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I’m surprised you don’t make your own.

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It’s crossed my mind, but would have to be in very small batches.

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My ode to the BLT, from 8 years ago!

I’ve taken a few years off from raising pigs, so I don’t have homegrown bacon anymore, but I buy it from the guy I used to buy my piglets from.

On the other hand, I’ve upgraded the bread. I bake two loaves every Sunday, so the bread is now homemade.

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A perfectly prepared BLT is nature’s perfect food…garden-grown 'maters, crisp lettuce, peppered bacon, all on thick, dense bread, lightly toasted. Yummers.