Duck Bacon BLT
Cook together. Eat together.
Fun and super tasty little sandwiches for a crowd.
Here’s one more food allergy you may not have heard about: some people can’t eat red meat, including pork. Hard to believe if you haven’t run up against it. Since it’s true for someone in our family, it’s been a challenge to find replacements in certain recipes, especially those that center around bacon.
Sometimes a food challenge forces us to create a novel solution that ends up tasting even better. With our recent success making a variation of potato salad, we decided to create a new recipe featuring duck bacon for the baby shower we were hosting.
We’re about to welcome a tiny human into our family and planned some special menu items, including these duck bacon BLTs, Mini Guacamole Chimichangas, and a couple of gourmet dips we’ll share soon.
Taste Test Kitchen
We paired the delicious flavor of the duck bacon with a hearty, sprouted sourdough bread that we love made by Alvarado Street Bakery. The chipotle mayo and arugula add to the complexity of peppery and spicy flavors and the sweet acidity of summer’s best heirloom tomatoes.
We made the sandwiches appetizer-style for the baby shower, meaning we chose a smaller size bread, trimmed the crusts and cut them in triangles. To distinguish the gluten free bread sandwiches, we cut those out with a round cookie cutter. We also made a few without meat for our vegetarian guests.
It’s difficult for us to find duck bacon locally in stores, so we splurged for the party and ordered some online. Maybe you’re fortunate to have it in your area. (Would love to hear if you do!) We found a post online on how to make your own duck bacon from duck breasts, either in a slow oven or in a smoker. Doesn’t look too hard. We’d like to try making a batch and freezing some.
Duck Bacon BLT
ingredients:
- 2 - 12 ounce packages duck bacon (about 20 slices)
- 2 loaves 4"-size whole grain sandwich bread or gluten free bread (about 40 slices)
- 8-10 small heirloom tomatoes (2 1/2" to 3" in size)
- 1 package arugula
- chipotle mayonnaise
- vegan margarine
- decorative toothpicks
instructions:
How to cook Duck Bacon BLT
- Prepare bread by trimming crusts or cutting into rounds with a cookie cutter. Place the bread slices in a single layer on foil lined cookie sheets. On the second rack from the top under the oven broiler, toast one sheet at a time until bread is light brown. Flip the bread slices and spread a light coating of vegan margarine before toasting the second side - this will be the inside of the sandwich.
- Cut the bacon slices in quarters and cook in a large skillet over medium heat until just beginning to crisp. Remove to a plate and drain well between paper towels.
- Wash and pat dry the tomatoes and arugula. Core the stem end, and slice off the bottom end. Slice the remainder about 1/4" thick.
- To assemble the sandwiches, place two pieces of bread, margarine side up on a work surface. Spread both sides with chipotle mayonnaise. Begin with a layer of arugula on one half, add 2 to 3 slices of tomatoes, top with 2 to 3 pieces of bacon and then the second piece of bread. If using squares of bread, cut diagonally for triangle-shaped sandwiches. Place a decorative toothpick through each half to secure filling. Serve immediately.
