While perusing the March issue of Food and Wine magazine, I found a clever, new tip for cooking bacon for BLT sandwiches: Weave smaller bacon slices together to form a square. It’s so simple and makes sense. What caught my eye was a picture of a pound of bacon cut in half cross-wise — one way I typically cut and freeze the bacon. (Storing it this way means I don’t have to defrost the entire pound.) I was interested in what they were using the smaller bacon strips for.
This technique comes from Justin Chapple, the star of the magazine’s Mad Genius Tips videos. Chapple called it “bacon lattice.”
I call it clever and yummy.
What’s ideal about this technique is that you use only three regular slices of bacon for one sandwich. But you cut those three slices in half and weave them together into one square. By doing so, you have a bacon piece that fits nicely and covers nearly the entire slice of bread. Depending on the size of bread you use, you will get a taste of bacon in nearly every bite.
Once you’ve woven the slices together, the lattice is baked until crisp. When I cook bacon in the oven on a rack or on a foil-lined baking sheet, it usually doesn’t curl. But Chapple provided another tip to make sure the bacon square doesn’t curl: Put an inverted cooling rack on top of the bacon.
I tried the bacon lattice, making a version of the recipe in the magazine: California BLTs. It was awesome and worked like a charm. My bacon lattices took a little longer to get crispy, but I was also using thicker bacon. Be sure to line the pan with foil or parchment for easier cleanup and to make sure the bacon lattice doesn’t stick to the pan.
This is one hearty sandwich with the addition of avocado, cucumbers and sprouts. If you make this recipe, be sure to thinly slice the avocado, tomato and cucumber. With all the other ingredients, you don’t want the bacon to get lost.
California BLT
12slices of bacon, halved crosswise
1/2cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
1tablespoon finely chopped tarragon
1tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
8slices multigrain sandwich bread, toasted
1avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced
2Persian or hothouse cucumbers, thinly sliced on the diagonal
1medium tomato, thinly sliced
4small Bibb lettuce leaves
1/2cup mixed sprouts, such as radish, sunflower and alfalfa
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. For each lattice, weave 6 strips of bacon, 3 in each direction, on the prepared baking sheet.
Set an ovenproof rack upside down on the bacon to keep it flat. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the bacon, until browned and crisp. Remove the rack, then transfer the bacon lattices to paper towels to drain.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the mayonnaise with the tarragon and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.
Spread the tarragon mayonnaise on each slice of toast. Arrange the sliced avocado, cucumbers and tomato on 4 slices of the toast and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top with the bacon lattices, Bibb leaves and sprouts. Close the sandwiches and serve.
Makes: 4 hearty sandwiches.
Preparation time: 30 minutes. Total time: 45 minutes.
In this recipe, I skipped the sprouts and made sure I thinly sliced the cucumber and tomato. There are several layers to this sandwich and I didn’t want the bacon to get lost among the other flavors.
Adapted from Food and Wine magazine, March 2015 issue.
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