I was working in my garden this week trying to find the perfect tomato for a BLT.  Okay, it was the ONLY tomato in my garden that was willing to sacrifice its life for my sandwich.  (Mother Nature continues to play havoc on my garden this year.)

Now THIS is a garden fresh tomato!
Now THIS is a garden fresh tomato!

As I plucked this bright red beauty from the vine and inhaled that earthy essence only a tomato plant can emit, I thought to myself why is a BLT called a BLT? 

Now I know the obvious reason…it is an abbreviation for the sandwich ingredients of bacon, lettuce and tomato.  But my brain started to wonder why THIS sandwich only goes by an acronym.  What makes a BLT so special?

There are other sandwiches in this world that have multiple ingredients but they aren’t solely known by their ingredients.  (Okay, a PBJ is an exception to the rule.) 

But why was something like a ham and cheese not referred to as a HC?  And if my ham and cheese had lettuce could I call it a HCL?  Maybe that doesn’t work because people might think I am serving hydrochloric acid.

How about a Bahn Mi?  I could ask for a BM….nope…I guess that isn’t too appealing either.  (Hmmmm, trying to decide if I need to explain what a BM is to my readers?)

Maybe because some health-nuts out there that think bacon is unhealthy, they call it by an acronym so the “healthy factor” is over looked.  Now before the health-nuts all start writing in….let me say if you eat a little bacon now and then…it isn’t going to kill you.  (BUT if you try to take bacon away from this blogger…you may be in jeopardy of losing your life.)

So as picked my tomato, I decided that I not only wanted to make a BLT but I wanted to make a BLTTJwTO.  (Bacon, lettuce, tomato, tomato jam with truffle oil!!) Hmmm, maybe this is why every sandwich doesn’t get an acronym….it gets too confusing!

BLTTJwTO Sandwich

Ingredients

Tomato “Jam” *MAKE THIS EARLY IN THE DAY!!!!(

*Roast a pint of grape tomatoes with olive oil in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes.  Chop the tomatoes in a food processor.  Add the tomatoes, 2 TBSP balsamic vinegar, 2 TBSP brown sugar and 2 cloves of chopped garlic in a saucepan.  Cook over medium heat for about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Cool in fridge. It isn’t REALLY a jam but it is jam-ish”)

4 slices good bakery bread (you know, the stuff you slice yourself and doesn’t come in a plastic sleeve)

12 pieces of cooked bacon

1 beautiful tomato from your garden (or your neighbor’s garden when they aren’t looking)

Lettuce

 Truffle oil

Truffle salt

Directions

Slice the tomato into thin but not paper thin slices.  Sprinkle with a smidge of Truffle salt.  (If you don’t have truffle salt, good salt will do.  The Truffle salt gives a nice umami-ish flavor to the sandwich.)  Set aside.

With a pastry brush, give one side of each slice of bread a swipe with Truffle Oil.  (I’m guessing if you don’t have Truffle salt, you probably don’t have oil.  So brush the bread with your favorite olive oil.)  Just a light swipe…you don’t want the sandwich to be oily.

Toast the bread under the broiler for about 2 minutes.  Make it crispy but not a deep brown color.

With the oil side of the bread down, spread on some tomato jam, add some lettuce, a few tomato slices and 6 slices of bacon.  Top with final piece of bread (oil side outward).

Slice in half and sit back and enjoy!!!  This is the quintessential summer sandwich.  The tomato jam allows you to skip the mayo because it makes the sandwich moist but not mushy.

FYI…I think there is a place in this world for acronyms but if you really want people to know what you mean…just say it plainly.  Life is too short for misunderstandings especially when it comes to food.  TTFN!  (Ta-ta for now!)