http://blog.ruhlman.com/ruhlmancom/2009 ... lenge.htmlQuote:
A collective challenge for all of you who really love to cook: Make a BLT from scratch. No, this does not mean raising a piglet for the bacon or growing your own wheat to grind into flour. Yes, extra credit for either, but I want this to be a challenge that everyone can accept, whether you live in a Manhattan walk-up or rural North Carolina, Alaska or suburban splendor: make a BLT from scratch, photograph it and send the photo to me. If you blog, blog about it (and please link back to this post to encourage others to accept the challenge).
From scratch means: You grow your tomato, you grow your lettuce, you cure your own bacon or pancetta, you bake your own bread (wild yeast preferred and gets higher marks but is not required), you make your own mayo. All other embellishments, creative interpretations of the BLT welcome.
...it should go without saying that there will be no honor in purchasing bread or mayo or a slab of bacon and not acknowledging it; indeed, this will result in much bad karma.
Entries will be judged in three categories: best photograph, best overall preparation, and best interpretation of a classic.
The last category requires explanation. An interpretation means playing off the original. To make an overly simplistic example, a BLT salad, lettuce and tomato with a mayo dressing, lardons and croutons made from homemade bread; an Alinea-inspired version might be lettuce ice cream served on a crouton, topped with deep-fried mayo and a caramel bacon sauce, garnished with powdered tomato. The interpretation must include one of each of the main ingredients: homegrown tomato and lettuce, a home-cured meat, some form of mayonnaise or emulsified sauce, and some form of yeast-leavened baked good.
I see that NT and Darcie are already rising to the challenge. I never got any vegetables into the ground this summer, so I guess I'm out.
