Does anything taste better than a BLT on old-fashioned, homemade bread?
The beginning of BLT season is something we eagerly and impatiently anticipate all summer long. For us, it's a momentous occasion that ranks right up there with birthdays and Thanksgiving.
The sandwiches, which we have for dinner, are always made the same way, with juicy and flavorful heirloom tomatoes from the organic kitchen garden, meaty smoked bacon from a locally raised hog we had butchered to our specifications, crunchy iceberg lettuce (hey, it's August in the Midwest), plenty of Hellman's mayonnaise, and perfectly toasted slices of freshly baked Farmhouse White.
We've eaten more BLTs this summer than we have in years, and neither of us is tired of them yet.
If you've been longing to learn how to bake your own sandwich bread, my easy Farmhouse White is the perfect place to start, and the recipe includes detailed instructions for beginners. I also offer lots of bread baking tips here and here.
Made with milk instead of water, this is a simple, traditional loaf that's nice and soft, but not too soft. It's great for just about any kind of sandwich and brings peanut butter and jam—a staple around here—to a whole new level. It's wonderful toasted, smells heavenly while toasting, and makes an awesome BLT.
The best part is that once you're comfortable with the basic recipe, you can go on to experiment by adding other ingredients to the dough. This can be a lot of fun, as even a slight change will often give you a completely different loaf. The bread in the BLT photo above was made using several cups of white whole wheat flour in place of some of the all-purpose flour.
I've been baking this bread for 12 years and have watched plenty of people who claim they never eat white bread gobble slices up. It's one of my most popular recipes, and I've heard from so many former nervous novices who are now confident bread bakers thanks to Farmhouse White. Maybe you'll be the next one!
Have you been enjoying BLTs this summer? How do you like yours?
More bread posts on Farmgirl Fare:
Carrot Herb Rolls (and a wonderful bread baking book for beginners)
© FarmgirlFare.com, where it's not just a sandwich, it's a freshly baked, bacon-filled adventure.
I actually have BLTs planned for supper tomorrow night, on homemade honey wheat bread using heirloom German Johnson tomatoes. YUM!! :)
ReplyDeleteYeast terrifies me - I am always afraid I will make the water I add to it too hot and thus kill it, so I usually just bake non-yeast breads, but this one looks so fabulous I may have to give it a try. Now that the weather here is finally cooling down, it can be my weekend project. On another topic, Susan, how are you feeling? Seeing LOTS of rain in the forecast for the Midwest, thanks to Hurricane Isaac, but am guessing it's too late for any hay grass to come out of it? Best wishes, as ever, from NY...
ReplyDeleteWe had BLTs yesterday, and I thought, this is great, but it would be even better with some homemade bread!! Bread baking is on my list of things to do this fall. I haven't done any before. I will check out your Farmhouse white....Thank you!!!
ReplyDeleteSusan, I have been following your blog haphazardly of late and was saddened to hear you had been sick. When I saw this article on Yahoo news I thought of you. I hope this is not what has had you ailing but felt compelled to pass it along. I hope you are better now and continue to grace us with your wonderful posts!
ReplyDeletehttp://news.yahoo.com/heartland-virus-discovered-sick-missouri-farmers-213644509.html
Cindy
I was just up in Minnesota and bought a 3lb $10 loaf of cranberry wild rice bread. I toasted up a couple and put an Amy's Organic Chicken Patty on with a smear of mayo. Wow!
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