BLTs (Without the Hot Kitchen)

August brings the best of two worlds: too hot to cook in the kitchen, and luscious ripe tomatoes from the garden. Menu: BLTs. A whole meal in one handheld bit of heaven. Even better if you score some fresh Corn on the Cob to go with it.

I’ve always loved having BLTs for dinner in the summer. We used to go through an obscene amount of bacon on BLT night when the kids were little. The thing is, sometimes it’s just too hot & muggy to want the house smelling like fried bacon (a new vent hood with some real horsepower is on the kitchen wish list), and waaaaay to hot to cook bacon in the oven. Grill to the rescue! And now that I’ve done bacon on the grill, I don’t know that I’ll ever go back to cooking it indoors. I suppose maybe if I have a lot of people, I might go the 2-fry-pans-on-the-stove method, but otherwise, the grill rules! Easier to do, less time consuming (hands-on, anyway), easier cleanup, & no smell or heat indoors. I have a gas grill, by the way. If yours is charcoal, google grilling bacon for your how-to.

Ingredients:

Bread

Fresh, local tomatoes – heirloom or beefsteak if available

Lettuce

Mayonnaise

Preparation:

1.) Preheat your grill on low.

2.) Lay your bacon in a single layer on a cooling rack or other heat-safe grid, and place the rack in a rimmed pan. Make sure the bacon doesn’t hang over the side, so you don’t have to deal with flare-ups galore & a messy grill. Put the whole shebang on the grill, close the lid, and wait about 5 minutes before checking on it.

2.) Depending on your grill & how much you crowded your bacon, you’re either done, or can flip the bacon & cook a little longer. Mine took about 10 minutes per side. I did it once on higher heat to save time, & wound up with overcooked bacon and a pan that was a real bear to clean.

3.) When the bacon is done, remove the pan to the kitchen. Transfer the bacon to paper towels to drain a bit more. You should be able to just carefully pour off the grease & pop the pan in the dishwasher. Even if you have to hand wash, with some hot water & decent dish soap you really shouldn’t need any elbow grease.