Luxurious BLT

Hot Damn. I just made myself a Bacon Lettuce and Tomato sandwich that was so good that I just had to blog about it. What about your Thanksgiving Leftovers?

Yeah, what about them?

In all seriousness the only part I really like in a Thanksgiving feast is the stuffing. Everything else is basically stuff I can get a Luby's or Jester Cafeteria. Sure, I make a bad ass Turkey-day meal (or rather Goose-day meal) but I'm not a huge fan of leftovers in general. People usually balk and go "but don't you like the convenience?" Kinda. It's just that reheated leftovers never quite taste as good the original. I can reconstitute stuff (I make a pretty good yam, pumpkin and potato cream soup with chopped turkey and french fried onions on top) but that too gets old after a while.

No, this morning I decided to make myself a luxurious BLT. Oh man, it was good. First off, I baked my bacon-- a trick I learned from a coworker, former chef, named Bruce. Just pop in a bunch of strips laid out in a single layer on a cookie dish at 325 for 20 minutes and you will get the most uniformly browned delicious bacon ever without the grease splattering and curled up weirdness. Drain on paper towels as you would normally.

For tomatoes I used some from my friend Ko-Ko's garden. Bright red. Not mealy. Super juicy! What's weird to me is that he managed to grow these indoors. I'll have to ask for more detail on how he managed such good produce in an apartment space.

The lettuce, I used arugula instead (or "Angela" as Jay accidentally called it once which I now refer to it as such around him) with some loose leaf spinach. Not quite as crunchy as the typical iceberg lettuce, but really I just don't get iceberg lettuce in general. It has no flavor, seems to consist mainly of water and I doubt there's much nutritional value to it.

Toast up some nutty whole wheat bread, slather on a thin layer of mayo on one slice and a thin layer of dijon on the other and pile on the Angela, bacon and tomatoes. Viola! The most magnificent BLT sandwich ever. It's so good, I want another one, frankly.

Munchie Mondays: Borscht Soup Cindy Style

I swear this is a really yummy soup, especially in colder weather. Unfortunately, it's just a pain in the tush to photograph.

My version is definitely an adulterated version of the traditional eastern European dish, but still is a borscht, I assure you. Be sure to use fresh beets. The canned stuff just doesn't cut it because this soup is all about the beets and cabbage. If you hate sauerkraut, feel free to omit and use more red cabbage instead, however the sauerkraut gives the dish a nice tangy flavor that goes well with the sweetness of the beets. You can also made this vegetarian by completely omitting the bacon and using vegetable broth. I sometimes make a heartier version by adding potato.

Fresh dill is also a must for this to taste right.

Like with most soups, exact measurements are not that important.

Borscht Soup Cindy Style
feeds a lot of people (8-10...maybe more)

1 lb of bacon
1 small red onion finely diced
6-8 small-medium fresh beets peeled and sliced
1 small head of red cabbage shredded and rinsed (about 4 to 6 cups)
2 cups of sauerkraut
4 cups of beef broth
2 cups of water
1 1/2 cups of sour cream (plus extra for garnish)
1/4 cup of fresh dill (plus extra for garnish)
Salt and pepper to taste

Fry bacon in a skillet until crisp. Drain on paper towels and reserved about 1 tbs of oil. Place oil in the bottom of a huge ass pot and heat. Fry onion until transparent (if you were to use potato too, this would be the time to fry the potatoes). Add liquids, veggies and bacon. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and let simmer halfway covered for about 30 minutes or until beets are soft and cabbage is wilted. The soup will take on a gorgeous fuchsia color pretty quickly.

Turn off heat and then mix in the sour cream and dill until dissolved. Serve with a dollop of sour cream, fresh dill and fresh cracked pepper. There you go! A nice hearty soup for the winter months.