The Rundown

The BLT (Pancetta, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwiches)

The P: I will probably never buy pancetta again. It was that good. We all agreed that it could have been leaner, but none of us were under the impression that this was health food. You could taste each an every one of the spices we used in curing it, each lending a little bit of goodness. I have a hunk left that I'm saving for making carbonara. We didn't use juniper berries, but next time, I think we'll try that to give a little contrasting flavor. I am so excited to explore where this can go. N and I are going to cure another belly, but this time, replace the brown sugar with maple syrup and actually smoke it to make bacon.

The LT: We timed this perfectly. When we started talking about doing this, Matt and J planted a new batch of lettuce expressly for this purpose, which the South Carolina sun proceeded promptly to burn up. The lettuce was crispy and firm. The tomatoes tasted like summer and sunshine. I don't think N had ever had tomatoes that fresh before. She usually doesn't like raw tomatoes, but I think we've changed her mind.

The Bread: My sourdough starter was "off" when I broke it out to make the bread, so I was not able to make the kind of bread I had hoped to. So I made a quick whole wheat sandwich loaf using commercial yeast (the horror!). I think the most improvement can be had here. I didn't want to derail the whole undertaking.

The Mayo: J whipped up a batch of mayo using basil and garlic from the garden. It was the star of the night. The first recipe she found had only one yolk in it, but this one used three and used prepared mustard instead of powdered. It was perfect. This was not Julia Child's (All Hail Julia) perfectly pale yellow mayonnaise. This was full bodied, creamy, and sharp. J speculated that the vinegar in the mustard probably gave it that extra kick. The basil added an herbal note, and the barest hint of roasted fresh garlic rounded it out.

Matt and J broke out some nice accompaniments: refrigerator pickles ("from scratch" of course) and fresh raw fries.

Matt and Jane took a bunch of photos, so we should have them up soon.

Our next project: Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches.

Ground Rules

On Saturday, we were discussing what the ground rules might be for making a sandwich "from scratch."

Here are some thoughts:

• Neither of us are up for raising livestock, at least not in Rosewood, so any meat we use is going to be purchased. Where possible, we are going to look for local sources.
• There will have to be a "kitchen staple" exemption for things that anyone would have in their kitchen, like salt and flour. I'd like to limit this to as few ingredients as possible.
  
• Where feasible, we're going to grow any vegetables and herbs we use, but exceptions will be made for things that cannot be grown in SC under normal conditions.
  
• No commercial yeast will be used in any of the breads we make.
  

What does "from scratch" mean to you?

Day 5 of the Curing process

Pancetta/Bacon is coming along well. Thought I'd post the recipe, in case anyone wants to play along. This is happening all thanks to ruhlman.com.

Pancetta

Slab of pork belly (2 lbs)

For the cure:
1 c kosher salt
1/2 c sugar
10 tsp "pink salt" (sodium nitrite)

1/4 c dark brown sugar
3 cloves garlic
thyme
bay leaf
cracked peppercorns

Cover the meat evenly with the cure. Put it in a big ziploc bag with the rest of the ingredients and put it in your refrigerator for a week. After it has cured, wash it off and hang it for a week in a cool dry place. If you are going to smoke it, put it back in the refrigerator uncovered for 24 hours.

Challenge Accepted

Matt and I have decided to take Michael Ruhlman's Summer Challenge. We're making a BLT from scratch. Scratch means: Grow the lettuce and tomatoes, cure the bacon, bake the bread and make the mayonnaise. We're going to blog it for posterity. And for awesomeness.

Tonight we began the magical transformation of pork belly into bacon. 2 lbs of pork will become 1lb of bacon and 1 of pancetta. Pictures of the process tomorrow.