I consider myself to be an above average "cook". Not to be confused with "chef". My concept of chef is someone who has to measure every little ingredient to the last grain/drop and fuss over insignificant details and appearance. You know...tiny, tiny portions on an overly large plate with little dots and squiggles of some colorful condiment or other.
A cook is someone that has the "feel" and instinct and basic understanding of cooking to combine the proper ingredients in the right amount at the right time. A cook can intuit what might be a good change in a pre-existing recipe or come up with a totally new one. A cook doesn't usually have to concern himself overly much with appearance, if he gets it right that will take care of itself.
AAAAnyway. I woke up very hungry this morning and was overcome with a rare moment of clarity. I was able to temporarily step out side of my usual creative boundaries and expand on a classic and long time favorite sandwich of mine.
Y'all remember Dagwood from the funny papers? He was a real sandwich aficionado and I do believe he'd be proud of me for this'n.
I refer to the BLT. I would guess that most people like a good BLT. After all it has BACON on it, right?
I am really excited here. This was not just a flash in the pan for this morning, I'll be able to enjoy this from now on. If I was 10 years younger I'd do a back-flip right now. But if I did it now I would surely wind up in the emergency room. So...I'm going to give y'all the long winded version of this recipe.
Pencils UP:
First of all you will need to bop on over to your nearest HEB and get a bag of the large square onion rolls from the bakery. They are made fresh daily right there in the store. No substitutes will be accepted. With sharp or bread knife slice it open and slather a generous amount of BUTTER on both sides. Pop it in the oven under the broil element and keep your eye on it until it starts to crisp up on the edges and turn golden brown in the middle.
Slap 3 strips of the thick market sliced bacon in the skillet. While it is cooking slice the center cut out of a LARGE tomato and set aside. Also lay out the crispy end of a leave of Romain lettuce, a slice of American Cheese.
Slice up about 1/4 of a large sweet yellow onion and saute it in BUTTER.
Hard fry one Jumbo egg.
After all the ingredients are cooked and sliced etc you are now ready for the assembly process. I consider two things to be important here. I like to have it so that every bite contains some of every ingredient and with this many ingredients you need to have a care about the best way to assemble it so that it will hold together while you eat it. I have experimented with this and given it much thought. Here is what seems to be a good way to put all this together:
Lay the roll out open face and break each strip of the bacon in half. lay down 3 of the halves on one side of the bun and then trun it 90 deg and lay the remaining 3 halves across the others.
I would next place the hard fried egg on top of the bacon and the grilled onions on top of the egg then the cheese. This way as the cheese softens and melts a little it helps hold the onions in place. Next I place the tomato slice and top it all off with the crispy end of the Romain lettuce leaf.
Gingerly place the other side of the bun squarely on top and pushing straight down apply a little gentle pressure. You will have to pick it up very carefully but that would be true of any sandwich that would be considered "Dagwood" quality.
Bon Appitite
I know I should have taken a pic of this masterpiece but there just wasn't time....I'uz hungry!
A cook is someone that has the "feel" and instinct and basic understanding of cooking to combine the proper ingredients in the right amount at the right time. A cook can intuit what might be a good change in a pre-existing recipe or come up with a totally new one. A cook doesn't usually have to concern himself overly much with appearance, if he gets it right that will take care of itself.
AAAAnyway. I woke up very hungry this morning and was overcome with a rare moment of clarity. I was able to temporarily step out side of my usual creative boundaries and expand on a classic and long time favorite sandwich of mine.
Y'all remember Dagwood from the funny papers? He was a real sandwich aficionado and I do believe he'd be proud of me for this'n.
I refer to the BLT. I would guess that most people like a good BLT. After all it has BACON on it, right?
I am really excited here. This was not just a flash in the pan for this morning, I'll be able to enjoy this from now on. If I was 10 years younger I'd do a back-flip right now. But if I did it now I would surely wind up in the emergency room. So...I'm going to give y'all the long winded version of this recipe.
Pencils UP:
First of all you will need to bop on over to your nearest HEB and get a bag of the large square onion rolls from the bakery. They are made fresh daily right there in the store. No substitutes will be accepted. With sharp or bread knife slice it open and slather a generous amount of BUTTER on both sides. Pop it in the oven under the broil element and keep your eye on it until it starts to crisp up on the edges and turn golden brown in the middle.
Slap 3 strips of the thick market sliced bacon in the skillet. While it is cooking slice the center cut out of a LARGE tomato and set aside. Also lay out the crispy end of a leave of Romain lettuce, a slice of American Cheese.
Slice up about 1/4 of a large sweet yellow onion and saute it in BUTTER.
Hard fry one Jumbo egg.
After all the ingredients are cooked and sliced etc you are now ready for the assembly process. I consider two things to be important here. I like to have it so that every bite contains some of every ingredient and with this many ingredients you need to have a care about the best way to assemble it so that it will hold together while you eat it. I have experimented with this and given it much thought. Here is what seems to be a good way to put all this together:
Lay the roll out open face and break each strip of the bacon in half. lay down 3 of the halves on one side of the bun and then trun it 90 deg and lay the remaining 3 halves across the others.
I would next place the hard fried egg on top of the bacon and the grilled onions on top of the egg then the cheese. This way as the cheese softens and melts a little it helps hold the onions in place. Next I place the tomato slice and top it all off with the crispy end of the Romain lettuce leaf.
Gingerly place the other side of the bun squarely on top and pushing straight down apply a little gentle pressure. You will have to pick it up very carefully but that would be true of any sandwich that would be considered "Dagwood" quality.
Bon Appitite
I know I should have taken a pic of this masterpiece but there just wasn't time....I'uz hungry!
