A Dish from "Back Home": Fried Green Tomato BLT

{This is a contribution to the Tomato love recipe exchange, organized by Gimmie Some Oven and Bake Your Day, and supported by Hamilton Beach Can't say no, right? Even better, the recipe exchange is spreading awareness by supporting the International Justice Mission's Recipe for Change, which is working towards eradicating labor slavery within the United States, especially on tomato farms.}

Lately, all I can think about is down home Southern food. I have dreams of fried catfish, encrusted in that crunchy corn meal breading, golden with specks of black. Sauces a plenty, mostly involving mayonnaise and some sort of spice. I want barbecue until the sun goes down and a blues band starts playing. Soon I will be eating enough corn cobs to refill the cornfields. You know what I mean...it is summer in Louisville and these are the things we can all share.

I'm starting the "back home" tour with a Fried Green Tomato BLT, inspired by Lynn's Paradise Café. Lynn's is easily one of my favorites to have breakfast/brunch in Louisville (next to Highland Morning!). Their lunches are fabulous as well. The ambiance is playful, unique, colorful, and super fun. Then you talk about the great service and you have a complete package, including a fun little store with hard to find gifts right when you walk in. Anyways, I am enamored with their Fried Green Tomato BLT, and I decided to make my own version for the Handsome Spaniard before I left BCN. It turned out amazing and I can't wait to make it again.

Some notes on my experience: I fried the bacon on the grill pan because I thought it would be a good idea--and I was very very right! The bacon did not curl up on itself and I was able to reserve the drippings without a ridiculous mess. I reserved some of the drippings and used them to grill-toast the bread for the sandwich. I used fresh spinach leaves for the lettuce part. The fried green tomatoes were made with breadcrumbs (European-style), but I would traditionally go with my Nana's recipe using corn meal, of course. I also modified the mayonnaise into a sandwich sauce because I was making my own anyway. Okay, enough of this, let's just teach you how to make it!

Fried Green Tomato BLT 

with a 

Spicy Sandwich Sauce

Green tomatoes

Buttermilk

Corn meal (breadcrumbs work too)

Salt

Black Pepper

Bacon

Spinach, rinsed and stems removed

Slices of hearty bread (we used a multi-grain, but just use your favorite sandwich bread!)

Egg

Olive oil

Salt

Vinegar -or- Lemon

Ketchup

Chili powder (yes, I used Chimayo)

1 Garlic clove

I'm going to recommend preparing the sauce first, so you can chill it while you are assembling the rest. The base of this recipe is basically the Aïoli sauce that I made in a previous recipe exchange post. Get out the immersion blender, crack a beautiful orange-yolked egg in the bottom, fill it up with quite a bit of olive oil (as much as you want mayonnaise...if you want a ton you can use two eggs, but one should definitely be enough for these purposes), the garlic clove, and a splash of vinegar. Whizz that until you have a beautiful mayonnaise. To keep it from breaking, start the blender from the bottom and slowly blend up as it turns to a creamy mayonnaise--this technique is nearly break-proof and it has never happened to me before (knock on wood).

When your mayonnaise is ready add a few tablespoons of ketchup, until you get a light salmon color. Add chili powder, black pepper, and salt to taste. I mixed it with a spoon and it turned out beautiful.

Next, fry up your bacon until it is crispy. Don't argue with me on this one, you must have crispy bacon on any version of the BLT or you are committing a gastronomic crime. Let them drain on paper towels until you are ready to assemble your sandwich.

Toast the bread on the grill with or without bacon drippings. Alternatively you can also toast them naked in a toaster or in a pan or.... let's be honest--we prepare things with whatever we have. If your spinach is washed, dried, and stemmed then set everything aside for the main event...Fried Green Tomatoes!

Set up an assembly line. First set a frying pan with about 1/2-3/4 inch oil on med-high heat. Prepare a shallow bowl with buttermilk and another shallow bowl with your breading, be it breadcrumbs or corn meal and season it with salt and pepper. If you don't have buttermilk, you can use a mixture of vinegar and milk or lemon and milk to sour it, you just have to wait about 10 minutes for it to get nice and thick--however real buttermilk is always better if available. Dip the slices of green tomato in buttermilk first and then flip them around in the breading until they're well covered. Then, you can start frying them. You know the oil is ready when you flick some of the breading in the oil and it sizzles away. Fry until golden brown on both sides, you can do multiple flips, don't worry. Drain the finished beauties on plenty of paper towels. When they're all finished, you are ready for sandwich assembly!

B=Bacon, L=Spinach, T=Fried Green Tomatoes...S=SAUCE!

On the toast, spread your beautiful Spicy Sandwich Sauce. Top the sauce with the fried green tomatoes. Top that with bacon and spinach and the other slice of toast. All layers are accounted for and your taste buds are about to have the time of their lives!

Mmmmm Fried Green Tomato BLT!

This is not a meal to have everyday, for obvious reasons, but it is a fantastic treat--especially if you have been craving a little piece of southern-fried heaven on your plate. Enjoy with a fresh salad or cole slaw and a tall, frosty glass of iced tea.

Listening to WFPK Radio Louisville with Kyle Meredith

Tomayto, tomahto recipe exchange

As I am a newbie to the blogosphere, I thought I would get involved with the community by contributing to the Tomato love recipe exchange, organized by Gimmie Some Oven and Bake Your Day, and supported by KitchenAid. Can't say no, right? Even better, the recipe exchange is spreading awareness by supporting the International Justice Mission's Recipe for Change, which is working towards eradicating labor slavery within the United States, especially on tomato farms. Through my volunteer work at Oxfam, an organization for fair trade, I am already a vehement supporter of human rights and the fairness of labor and trade practices all over the world. So, let's join all of the efforts of international fair trade, labor fairness on US soil, and absolutely delicious food and we'll see what we can muster up as a contribution.

As a side note: if you are interested in these issues, go and educate yourself about them, involve yourself, and volunteer if you can sacrifice the time. There are so many ways to stop and reverse the injustices we hear about and often see everyday all over the world. Just beginning to learn about them and start the conversation with others is a step closer to widespread awareness and real change. Your contribution is greater than you know.

Today's recipe will be a double-whammy! We will be preparing two Spanish recipes, which I think are choice for using that scrumptious summer fruit, the tomato. First is a recipe from Catalonia, the region of Spain where I live now, called Pan amb Tomaquet (Catalán for: Bread with Tomato). Second is a recipe from all over Spain called Patatas Bravas (Potatoes Brava, and oh yes, they deserve a BIG brava for their immense flavor). Both of these can be served as appetizers, which is how I am going to submit them. However, Pan amb tomaquet is generally served as breakfast, much as we would toast. Patatas bravas is also a typical tapa...the Spanish answer to appetizers, and can be devoured throughout the day.

Pan amb Tomaquet//Pan con Tomate (Bread with Tomato)

Two delicious red-as-you-can-get-them tomatoes, washed and cut in half at their equator

High quality olive oil (Spanish is my recommendation)

Sea Salt

One whole baguette, halved lengthwise and crosswise

Garlic (optional*)

First, take the pieces of baguette that you've prepared and either toast or grill them. I love the taste of grilled bread, and because it is summer and the grill is probably rockin' out in the backyard anyway, just throw the bread on for a few minutes and you'll have something beautiful. If not, the toaster works as well, and so does a pan heating on the stove. However you do it, you need that bread to have a nice golden toast (or black char, if that's what you're in to). Drizzle as little or as much extra-virgin olive oil on the toasted bread and let it soak in.

Now we have two approaches to distributing the tomato!

Option 1:
While the bread is basking in its golden oil, prepare the tomato. I use a cheese grater to make my tomato spread, and it works like a dream. An immersion blender or other blender/food processor would work too, but it just doesn't achieve the same texture as with the cheese grater. You want that semi-rough pulp and you want some of that juice. Half the tomatoes and grate them like that, the flesh will grate straight from the skin, and you should be able to get most, if not all, of that juicy goodness out. To the tomato, add a teaspoon or two of olive oil and salt to taste. Spoon this mixture on top of the baguettes as you would butter and jelly (but you can go crazy with this one because it isn't so high in sugar).

Option 2:
Also while the bread is basking in its golden oil, prepare the tomato. Cut the tomato in half on its equator, but this time, instead of grating it, press the tomato half onto the sliced baguette and rub the juices and flesh into it. The bread will soak up a lot of the juice, so don't be afraid to squish and squash all the goodness on there.

As per Spanish tradition, I currently have the liberty to put nice slices of Jamón (Spanish cured ham from pigs that are only fed truffles and acorns...not lying) on my tomato bread. And so I did. These products are slowly making it into the American market, so keep your eyes open. At least in Louisville, I know that Fresh Market sells Spanish cured meats, and I saw it at 732 Social, when it was still open. I bet if you go to any other upscale cafés or restaurants you should be able to find it featured with the charcuterie.

*You can also rub a clove of garlic on the bread after it has been toasted and before you put on the tomato, or if you're into infusing oils, throw a garlic clove into the oil before you use it for this bread.



Next is a recipe for:

Patatas Bravas 

(recipe adapted from José Andrés, my Spanish culinary hero...look him up!)

Bravas sauce:

Fresh tomatoes

Spanish extra-virgin olive oil

Sugar

Bay leaf

Pimentón (Spanish smoked paprika)

Chili powder or cayenne (I used Chimayo, of course)

Sherry vinegar (I used white wine vinegar and it was fine)

Salt

Bravas potatoes:

Spanish extra-virgin olive oil

Potatoes (I used about 8-9 smallish Yukon golds) peeled and cut into cubes

Salt 

Aïoli sauce:

1 Egg

Olive oil

1 Clove garlic

Lemon juice

Salt

Start with the sauce. The tomato needs to be grated on a cheese grater, much like the tomato bread up top. However much tomato you grate will be however much sauce you get out of them. Just know that the amount will need to reduce down by 2/3 in order to make the ideal bravas sauce. I myself used 3 tomatoes that were a bit larger than my fist. To the tomato, add about a teaspoon or so of sugar, a bay leaf ( I used one plus a little baby one), 2 teaspoons of pimentón, and a teaspoon of chili powder. Heat some olive oil in a saucepan over the stove. When it is hot, add the tomato mixture and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat at that point to a simmer and let those flavors waltz around for about 20 minutes. In 20 minutes the sauce should be reduced and take on a beautiful deep red color. Stir in your healthy splash of vinegar and salt to taste. Reserve this sauce for the potatoes!

The potatoes should be cooked in a good amount of oil, as if you were going to deep pan fry them. Let the oil get hot enough to cook, but not hot enough to brown the potatoes. This is called oil-poaching, and the potatoes are done when you can stick a fork through them. If you prefer browned potatoes, heat up the oil at the end and brown them a bit. The oil-poached come out fine enough for me. Drain them on a paper towel.

Now it's time to whip out that immersion blender. Mmmm MmmmmM! Pop an egg in the bottom of the measuring container that came with your blender. Add about 3 inches of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, and a clove of garlic, peeled. Now stick your blender head right over the yolk and go to town whirring that olive oil and egg into creamy heaven. Start blending at the bottom and slowly move up as the mayonnaise is formed. In a matter of seconds, you will have the most incredible aïoli sauce you have ever tasted.

Okay, let's put this all together:

Put the potatoes in a bowl that already has bravas sauce in it. Toss and coat the potatoes until they're covered in that ruby red glory. Then, put a dollop of aïoli sauce on top (or on the side if you want to mix as you go). This is a great tapa for party appetizers, and you can eat the cubes with toothpicks if need be. Tiny cocktail forks are the way to go in Spain, though :)

Enjoy these appetizers with lots of friends, and enjoy the summer bounty of fresh tomatoes. I liked to get mine from my Grasshoppers farm share, and the Douglas Loop farmers market was always abundant with such wonderful picks, not just tomatoes!

 Listening to the Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me! Podcast on NPR