9.07.2011

Fantasy Football Draft Night

I have been a long-time, regular competitor in two fantasy football leagues: one for the last 12 years and another for the last 10.  My team name changes each year and it often has something to do with food or wine - a couple of years ago, I was "Vino Vixens".  This year?  I'm "Pinot She Daaaan't!"  Clever, if I do say so myself!
Adam, Brian, and me - I think I just picked a WINNER!


Highlighters and spreadsheets are de rigeur.

Draft Night is always an event, but even more so this year since Andrea and Brian (aka the Soul Twin and My Other Husband) live just across the river from us now.  My Other Husband, of course, is a player in one of my leagues...and the Soul Twin...well, the Soul Twin came over to drink rosé and heckle us, of course.  And dance to James Brown while we were trash-talking...

Adam and My Other Husband

What?  You didn't think I'd drink a beer while drafting, did you?

So I made BLTs.  I wanted to enjoy the heirloom tomatoes at the market while they're still around, and I figured that we could eat while we were drafting, if needed.  But it was also important to me to punch up the flavor so I created my own Lemon-Garlic Mayonnaise that I thought was just incredible.


BLTs WITH LEMON-GARLIC MAYONNAISE
Serves 4


Ingredients:


Lemon- Garlic Mayonnaise
  • 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise 
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 garlic cloves, sliced thin
  • kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste (I used about 1/8 tsp each)
BLTs
  • 8 slices brioche (I like the counterbalance of the sweet bread with the salty bacon, but any bread of your choice will do)
  • 3 large heirloom tomatoes, sliced (ideally, different colors)
  • 8 slices of bacon
  • 4 large leaves of romaine lettuce
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.  Cover a baking sheet with foil.  Lay bacon flat on the sheet and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes until browned and crisp (doing it in the oven keeps the bacon flat).


While bacon is cooking, heat a small sauté pan over medium-low heat.  Add olive oil and garlic to the pan.  Keeping a close eye on the garlic to avoid burning, saute garlic for about 2 minutes until softened but not browned.  Set pan aside.


When bacon is done, set aside to cool.  Once cooled, halve each slice crosswide, making 16 half-strips of bacon.


In a medium bowl, combine mayonnaise, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic (and the oil from the pan), salt and pepper.  Stir.  Taste for seasoning.  Set aside.


Spread 8 slices of bread with the mayonnaise.  Place 4 half-slices of bacon on top of the mayonnaise.  Add tomato slices, then lettuce.  Put the top slice of bread on.  (NOTE: the point of constructing the sandwich like this is that the tomato is the wettest part so you want it in the middle.  That way, your bread won't get soggy as fast.)



Lastly, a note on the mayonnaise: this recipe creates A LOT of mayonnaise.  In fact, you could halve it and quite easily have enough for your BLTs.  But I made extra because you can use this for so many meals.  Here are some ideas:
  1. Loosen the mayo with a tablespoon or so of olive oil to make more of a sauce.  Add on top of grilled fish.
  2. Boil some new potatoes.  Add some finely chopped rosemary to the mayo and dollop on top of the potatoes as a side dish to eggs for breakfast or roast chicken for dinner.
  3. Steam broccoli and use this mayo as a dipping sauce.
The possibilities are endless.  So halve it for the BLTs if you'd like...but I'm predicting you'll want to keep using this for a few days afterward.

So the sandwiches were a success.  But what about the draft?  Well, we'll have to see.  Bring it on!

Eat, drink, and GET READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL!

1 comment:

amy said...

1. drink rosé
2. heckle fantasy football
3. dance to James Brown

so many reasons to love that woman.