Chef Hunter Lee
Let’s get shakin!!
So I posted on Facebook a picture earlier this week at home making BLT sandwiches. (Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato. Let me tell you everyone went crazy.
I’ve always known everyone on social media had rather see pictures of my food than my face and this I have embraced but this one really caused a stir.
This time of year in the south there’s not much better than good homegrown tomatoes. I have to admit now my gardening abilities don’t match up with my kitchen skills, never have and I’m convinced they never will. I’m okay with that and I still try but it’s usually a bust. So thankfully friends that have the green thumb I don’t and supplied me with the tomatoes that made said sandwiches just perfect.
The BLT was first known to be published in a 1903 in a Good Housekeeping cookbook by a Dr. Evan Mee. The original included a slice of turkey that for southern purposes is usually left off. They have been a hit in the south, almost a summer staple for over 100 years. Due to gardening and roadside stands for produce and the raising of hogs for the bacon.
Although everyone tends to make them a little different here’s my take on the perfect BLT.
Perfect BLT
Ingredients
8 strips of cooked (crispy) bacon
4 tablespoons of Mayo (I prefer blue plate or Dukes)
Pinch of garlic powder
Pinch of fresh ground black pepper
Pinch of salt
Pinch of Benwood’s Surely Southern Seasoning (or Cajun seasoning of your choice but if using Tony’s I would skip the pinch of salt)
4 slices of lightly toasted sandwich bread (I like Texas toast or thicker bread for this)
A few large lettuce leafs (bibb, iceberg, or butter)
1 large beefsteak or Cherokee tomato sliced
Directions
Put the sandwich together and add your seasonings directly to the sliced tomatoes on the sandwich’s and enjoy. (Makes two sandwiches)
Remember, “treat your kitchen, treat yourself”
Uniquely southern, surely the best
—Chef Hunter Lee