It's BLT Season

The tomato plants we planted at the beginning of the summer are finally coming into their own. This year, we planted black and yellow cherry tomatoes and Mortgage Lifters. There are not a lot of foods I don't eat (which this blog can attest to over the years), but I am not a fan of cherry tomatoes. Ariel loves them, though, so more for her. In general, raw tomatoes are not something I tend to seek out, but growing them at home has slowly brought me around. The Mortgage Lifters have been particularly good. BLTs are one of my favorite use of homegrown tomatoes, and have been a big part of my journey to tomato appreciation. Our BLTs are based on Kenji's "BLT Manifesto," with a couple personal touches.

We've recently been playing around with our bread machine, and one of our house staples has been a crusty loaf made with the whey left from making farmer's cheese. Homegrown tomatoes and homemade bread really upgrade the BLT experience. We don't have access to particularly high-end bacon, but a thick-cut bacon from the supermarket does fine here. Ariel got me a set of Chef's Presses for our anniversary. They are a handy tool to add weight to food in a pan, in this case preventing the bacon from curling up. As usual, we use Kewpie Japanese mayo, which has largely overtaken Hellman's for most uses in our house.

Chef's Presses in action

I'm not posting a full recipe here, and will instead encourage you to read Kenji's excellent article. I do have a few tips. Seasoning the tomatoes with lots of Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper makes a huge difference in bringing out their flavor. Toasting the bread helps the sandwiches keep their shape. Tomatoes are a very wet ingredient to have in a sandwich, and they will be a mess. Lean into it and have a stack of napkins on hand!