The sandwich to end all sandwiches… literally

After posting the recipe for the Best Deli Sandwich Bread Ever, I remembered one of the first things I ever “cooked” after I left for college was a BLT sandwich. Oh man, I was not prepared to sustain myself in the eats department when I left home. I subsisted mostly on minute-rice, frozen vegetables, and soy sauce. And it wasn’t out of necessity because I was poor (although I definitely was); I just had no idea how to cook. And my tiny studio apartment with it’s eighteen inches of counter-space wasn’t exactly the place to master the culinary basics.  So the night I decided to make BLT sandwiches — which required both the stove and a toaster — was a BIG deal. Hey, we all have to start somewhere.  😉

Well, it turned out to be a much bigger deal than one could ever imagine. I lived in a second-story studio apartment in a building whose electrical system was as old as Tesla himself, so, as it turns out, utilizing both the stove and a toaster was simply too much for this tenement to handle.  I was cooking bacon on the range and plugged in my toaster oven in order to, you know, toast some bread, and apparently this small counter-top appliance was the David to the Goliath that was my entire building!

I plugged it in, turned it on, and poof! Darkness fell. Darkness in my tiny stupid studio, darkness in the three other second-story flats, and ironically, darkness in one of the most popular sandwich shoppes in town.

courtesy of Google Maps

So, yeah…

Nailed it.

It took about an hour to get the lights back on, and I was terrified to continue plodding through my sandwich prep, but I was determined to succeed. So I unplugged just about everything in my apartment and apologized profusely to the guy I was trying to impress with a sandwich, because, you know, sandwiches seal the deal, right? I unplugged my computer, all the lamps, my alarm clock… and then with bitten lip, I turned on the toaster oven. And for all that is good and tasty, the power stayed on! Hallelujah and ham! Victory was mine and it tasted like BLT’s baby!!

Well, things have changed quite a bit since those days. I have gained significant confidence in the kitchen, but it clearly was not without some disasters. And now a BLT sounds about as basic as it can get. Unless…

You fancy that BLT up a bit with roasted garlic and red pepper aioli, some delicious and perfectly ripe avocado, and the best thick-sliced bacon you can find. Oh, and put it all on homemade ciabatta bread and cover it with Swiss and Cheddar cheese and turn it into a melt. A melty, savory, rich, and bright version of your standard BLT. Now that is the way to a man’s heart. At least, my man was a happy camper. Which is good, because a few days later, I would attempt to kill him with my “Give ‘Em A Heart Attack” Loaded Baked Potato.

See below for the Foodie*ish version of the sandwich that blew the power out of an entire building and proved that even the simplest things can present enormous challenges.