BLTs + HOMEMADE POTATO CHIPS
hi friends, lovers + people probably related to me -
welcome to round two, baby
first things first - rollerblading is still a work in progress but I can now ride my bike to the lake with the kind of confidence that was previously only available in liquid form + that every below average dude on hinge seems to naturally possess
tomato summer sung to the tune of watermelon sugar
Like sticky summer skin + picnic shorts, BLTs are a quintessential part of August - you can eat them other times of the year, no judgement. But, somewhat obnoxiously I’ve become someone who will not stop talking about how great the tomatoes are in late summer + have a “tomato guy” who hooks me up at the farmers market.
Personally my BLTs’ structural integrity is always a little questionable and the no recipe I use is endlessly riffable.
toasted sourdough bread - not super thick, thinner sort of sandwich bread is best
bacon - I buy thick cut bacon, honestly usually the cheapest/on sale brand. For BLTs I like to cook the bacon on sheet pan at 375 till shatteringly crispy but still have little pockets of chew
lettuce - something with some crunch, romaine is good (when it’s not being recalled), iceberg, there’s this lettuce from gotham greens called windy city crunch
tomatoes - preferably aesthetically pleasing colored heirlooms fresh from the farmers market (tell them when you want to eat them + they will give you the ones that will be at peak ripeness for that time) but grocery store tomatoes - especially now are still really good, so whatever is easily accessible to you. I like to slice them, then salt + pepper them.
spicy mayo - I want to be one of those people who makes aioli at home, but honestly I’m not - so I mix a lot of cholula with a little hellmans mayo till it’s slighty drippy + the salmon pink color of preppy dude’s shorts. Doesn’t have to be cholula, valentina or franks would also be good.
avocado - In college I wrote a collection of food-centric flash fiction stories called Five for Five. In the first story pretentiously titled Champagne Brunch, a BLTA makes an appearance as the order of private investigator named Marlowe. Let me know if you want to read it, I can dig it out of my closet, along with my 4th grade year book and high school model un paper. That being said I do like an avocado on my BLT it’s a nice, little creamy + fresh addition. Sometimes I just slice it, salt + pepper other times I mash it with lemon, salt, pepper + red pepper flakes. But if you don’t have a ripe one or are not feeling it - the sandwich is still delicious.
If you haven’t already - maybe pour yourself a glass of wine. With this I like to have what I call picnic wines, the type you put in a water bottle with some ice + bring to the park, the beach or your friend’s car at the drive in. When I made this dinner for one of my roommates + I, we drank a cloudy light pink wine on ice called Pet Nat : Field Recordings - it’s delicious, dry + found at the grocery store around the corner from us - but I’ve also seen it at whole foods.
Fries are good with BLTs: sweet potato, skinny, crinkle cut - whatever, but for me I categorize BLTs in the same category of a turkey club, and for that I want potato chips. If I’m buying potato chips - then they are some sort of cape cod salt + vinegar situation and they don’t last more than two days to be completely honest. But if I have some time, let’s address the elephant in the room we all have some time at the moment - then I make homemade potato chips.
My mom made these when I was a kid and taught me how to do it - she didn’t use a mandolin or a deep fry thermometer so neither do I, frankly wouldn’t know what to do with them. I use the slices side of a box grater to get thin potato chip like pieces + I heat the oil in a deep heavy bottom pot, a wok also works great if you have one. To see if the oil is hot enough I toss a potato piece in there - if it starts to bubble + look like it’s crisping up than your oil is hot enough.
But first you need a few things:
potatoes - Just the Idaho brown ones, if you’re making these for 5 people or more I would buy a 5-7lb bag, if it’s a personal serving or maybe you and just a love interest, roommate, friend or two than 3 or 4 decent to bigger sized loose potatoes will work.
neutral oil - I use inexpensive canola or vegetable oil, you want something with a high smoke point.
Let me walk you through the frying process, plz relax, tie your hair back + maybe change out of the crop top you’re wearing.
a couple hours before you want to start making dinner - wash the potatoes + then either grate them on the slice section of the box grater like I told you I do, use your mandolin, or if you have an inordinate amount of patience slice them v. v. v. thinly.
put them in a bowl one layer, then paper towel, then one layer, than paper towel - etc. till done - put them in the freezer. COLD THINGS FRY BETTER!
hang out, cook your bacon ahead of time, call your sister, avoid putting away your laundry, online shop for things you don’t need but seem to want.
okay - so you’re starting to get hungry, heat your oil - you want a lot we are practically deep frying here, so don’t skimp. If you’re using a large pot that maybe you’ve cooked pasta or chili in then fill it a less than half way. Turn it to the second or third setting past the highest one, you want it to get hot but not so hot that by the end it burns.
sip your wine + chat with your roommate (dog, cat, fish + ghost) and wait for the oil to heat - it takes longer if you’re staring at it, get’s a little shy. get out a sheet pan, a plate lined with paper towels, salt + old bay, a slotted spoon - the kind that are metal at the bottom with a plastic handle. pre-heat your oven to 200.
pull the potatoes out of the freezer + test the oil, looks good then add a few more potato chips - you want a light golden brown color.
Working in batches fry all the potato chips. You don’t want to crowd the pot at any time - so just have enough in there that they are creating one layer, give them a stir and keep an on them you want them to float to the top. When they start looking good - scoop them out and put on the paper towel lined plate to drain. Then transfer them to the sheet pan.
From personal experience if you get a little hot oil on yourself (clothes, use dish soap + water, skin - run under some cold water + it will be fine)
Season them with salt + old bay - well I feel the salt is obvious, I like cracks of sea salt just after I pull these out of the pot while they are draining on the paper towel. Then I sprinkle them generously with old bay. I didn’t have old bay till college when I went to school in Maryland where it’s basically the state seasoning + the cafe at the Mount had these chips that were v. good + covered in old bay. I haven’t looked back + you can easily buy this at any grocery store, so get one for you + one to keep at your parents/best friends/lovers house. It adds a spicy saltiness that is damn near addicting.
Also taste them as you make them - you know for quality control
pop them in the oven at 200 to keep warm till everything else is ready
Assemble your BLT, fill the other half of the plate with chips. In separate small bowl put a dipping sauce of your choosing for the chips. I like ketchup, heinz, of course, it’s delicious - don’t knock it till you try it - but ranch is also v. good with these.
particularly good things i consumed this week
1 perfect chocolate milkshake from Spinning J for lunch after a 15 mile run on sunday
Luster: Raven Leilani - poetic + captivating, worth all the hype + then some
seven spectacularly furry peaches from the logan square farmer’s market
Buffaloed - I watched this a couple of months ago + again this past weekend, it’s too great
great conversation about books + everything else, burrata, brussel sprout salad, cacio e pepe ravioli + lots of chilled wine at book club
this article about the whiteness of true crime, that I found through Rachel Monroe’s twitter, fall down into the internet rabbit hole of all the longform stories it links + google Rachel Monroe’s writing while you’re at it
2 slices from Pizza Friendly Pizza (pepperoni + reuben’s special, naturally) THIS PIZZA IS SO GOSH DARN AIRY
Anyway so whatever the newsletter equivalent of an Irish goodbye is what I did last time, which in retrospect is not entirely out of character.
later dayz
-MK