Cold BLT Soup

When I was a child, I looked forward to spending part of each summer at my paternal grandparents’ house in Milwaukee.  Often I spent several weeks there, usually visiting them by myself.  As the oldest of five children, doing anything alone was a rare treat, and having the undivided attention of my grandparents was wonderful.

Highlights of these visits were trips with my grandma, or Nana as we called her, from their home in west Milwaukee to downtown Milwaukee.  A trip downtown was an event, one that required wearing dresses, and a hat and gloves for Nana, and taking two city buses to get there.

After our shopping or appointments, we often ate lunch at a downtown diner, sitting at the counter, and I ordered the same meal every time—a BLT sandwich. 

A BLT is still my favorite sandwich and one I don’t intend to “gourmet-itize” either.  Once I had a fleeting thought of an upscale version with heirloom tomatoes, homemade mayonnaise, baby greens, applewood smoked bacon—you get the picture.

But I just couldn’t compromise my memory of a few strips of Oscar Meyer bacon, a leaf or two of iceberg lettuce, a slice of tomato, a slathering of Miracle Whip, all on toasted and buttered “store-bought” bread.  That’s how I’ll always make my BLTs. 

If I tweak the sandwich at all, it’s only by slicing it diagonally and sticking in ruffled toothpicks in the halves—just like they did in that downtown Milwaukee diner.

While I don’t fiddle with the sandwich, I have used its flavors as an inspiration for two other dishes.  One was a BLT quiche which I created for my Summer (Jazz) Brunch, and another is this cold BLT soup.

This soup is on the order of a gazpacho.  You'll notice that the "L" of this soup is not lettuce but cucumber.  That's because, of course, after a few minutes lettuce wouldn't fare well swimming around in the soup--think of the sogginess of an overdressed salad.  But I think the cucumber works well providing the pleasant crunch without an overpowering flavor.

I served the soup with my second-favorite sandwich--grilled cheese.  

Cold BLT Soup

Source:  original recipe

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

6 slices bacon

1 can tomato soup, undiluted

1 cup water

2 c. tomato juice

2 c. spicy V-8 juice (or 2 additional c. tomato juice)

2 T. balsamic vinegar

2 T. red wine vinegar

1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, chopped

4 plum tomatoes, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

2 T. Miracle Whip

2 T. sour cream

4 slices bread

Butter

1 green onion, chopped (green part only)

Process:

Slice the bacon horizontally in ½- inch pieces.  Brown the bacon in a non-stick skillet until brown and crispy.  Remove and drain on paper towel.  Pour off most of the bacon grease, leaving a “coating” on the bottom of the pan. (If making ahead, store the bacon pieces in an airtight container in the refrigerator.) 

Butter the bread on both sides and cut into 1-inch squares.  Brown the bread in the skillet until browned, crisp and dry.  Remove from pan.  (If making ahead, store in an airtight container at room temperature.)

In a large bowl or plastic container combine the soup, water, juices, vinegars.  Whisk to blend.  Add the vegetables.  Refrigerate until serving.

Combine the Miracle Whip and sour cream together in a small bowl.  Refrigerate, covered, until serving.

To serve, ladle the soup into bowls.  Place a tablespoon of the sour cream mixture on the center of each bowl of soup.  Divide the bacon, croutons, and green onion evenly and sprinkle over the soup.