Fried Green Tomato BLT's

Good morning friends! It is a beautiful Sunday morning and the air is crisp with fall. As I sit here on my couch with my feet over stretched on my new coffee table and a my newly installed wireless router being put to good use I feel like I'm finally making my little studio apartment a home. This will be my third year in this apartment and I think I'm finally settling in. I just resigned a 15 month lease, eeeck did that feel like commitment, and I'm starting to realize that it's the little touches that make a difference. Thanks to my parents and grand-parents for the early birthday gifts (table and router). I can always count on my family to know what I need.

I'm getting ready for a day up at the apple orchard picking apples with friends and exploring the pumpkin festival. Believe me this blog is going to blow up with everything apple. But I thought I'd share this great end of summer recipe that blew my socks off. It was one of those meals on the fly where nothing was planned but everything seemed to come together. I made this on a Thursday night when the last thing I wanted to do was cook something complicated. I looked at what I had....these gorgeous end of summer green tomatoes that I had purchased at the farmer's market the previous weekend that were just at the beautiful ripening point.  I had known I wanted to make fried green tomatoes with them but I knew that wasn't enough for an entire meal. I checked the fridge and I had some delicious looking turkey bacon and the light bulb went off. Turkey Bacon Fried Green Tomato BLT sandwich. Oh yea, this could be good. And so it began....


Turkey Bacon Fried Green Tomato BLT  (makes two sandwiches)
3-4 small ripened green tomatoes, sliced into 1/2 inch thick slices (they should still be slightly firm to the touch so they don't break down while frying)
1 egg
1 tbsp. water
1/4 cup flour
1 cup Panko Bread Crumbs
Salt and Pepper
1 tsp. Paprika
3-4 tbsp. olive oil for frying
4 slices turkey bacon, cooked until crisp
lettuce
garlic aioli for serving
4 slices whole wheat toast

Take three shallow bowls and line them up next to your fry pan. Heat olive oil in fry pan (you will need to do the tomatoes in batches so be sure to add a touch more oil each time). In first bowl, mix 1 egg and 1 tbsp. water whisk gently. In second bowl, mix flour with a pinch of salt and pepper. In third bowl, mix bread crumbs, paprika, and a pinch of salt and pepper. In assembly line fashion, dredge the slices of tomato in bowls one, two, and three placing into fry pan. The tomatoes should be fried for about 3-4 minutes each side or until the outer crust is golden brown and the inside is cooked through. Assemble the sandwiches so that you have aioli on each side of the toast, lettuce, bacon, and then green tomatoes (I used two but if you want a bigger sandwich go all out!). This will help bind the sandwich together to make it easier to eat.

Here is my classic garlic aioli that I use for everything! It can make the simplest meal feel gourmet.

Garlic Aioli
1/4 cup olive oil mayonnaise
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tbsp. lemon zest
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper
Whisk all ingredients in a small bowl and voila!


I talked about this recipe for literally a week after I made it. The sandwich definitely stuck out in my mind!
 If you have any great apple recipes feel free to help a sister out! I'm going to have a lot of apples and I'm not sure what to do with them. Post a comment here or if you follow me on facebook that works too! I'll be sure to highlight where the recipe came from in my next post. Love you to all! Now go outside and enjoy this weather :)