1414. BIG LOAF BLT

serves four to six


10 slices bacon, cut in half crosswise
1-lb. loaf of San Francisco-style sourdough bread, cut in half lengthwise
1/2 cup mayonnaise, more or less to taste
12 fresh basil leaves
5 ripe slicing tomatoes, cored and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
Kosher salt
black pepper in a mill
3 cups oak-leaf lettuce or shredded romaine lettuce

Preheat the oven to 325F. Fry the bacon until crisp and transfer onto a brown paper bag to drain. Toast the bread in the oven until it is hot all the way through and just beginning to turn golden brown on top. Set the hot bread on a work surface.

Spread the mayonnaise over the cut surfaces of the bread. Arrange the basil leaves on the bottom half of the bread and arrange the tomatoes over them. Season the tomatoes with salt and pepper. Set the bacon on top of the tomatoes, top them with the lettuce, and cover with the top half of the bread. To serve immediately, cut into crosswise sections. To serve later, wrap in aluminum foil and serve within an hour or two.


courtesy of: The BLT Cookbook by Michele Anna Jordan. New York, New York: William Morrow/HarperCollins, 2003, pp. 84-85