Fried Green Tomato BLT's

I am pretty sure making fried green tomatoes makes me officially a Southerner.  :)  We got a bunch of green tomatoes in our CSA box and I stumbled across a mouth watering looking Fried Green Tomato BLT recipe.  This has to be the most ingenious idea ever!

I combined two recipes to create what I thought would suite our tastes.  Here's what I did...

Ingredients:
3 green tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup flour + 3 tablespoons (I didn't have cornmeal or I would have added 3 T of that instead)
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground pepper
lettuce
4 slices bread, lightly toasted
4 slices bacon, cooked
1/2 cup mayonnaise
handful of fresh basil leaves

Directions:

I made a basil mayo to go on these sandwiches.  I used about a half cup of mayonnaise, a handful of fresh basil and a few squirts of lime juice.  Puree ingredients together.  Next time I'll double the sauce.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  (This is just to keep your fried tomatoes warm while you are cooking the rest)

Cook the bacon in a skillet, set aside.  Keep the oil from the bacon, that is what you are going to use to fry the tomatoes in.  I ended up cooking a lot of bacon because I knew my kids would want to eat some on the side.  If you don't cook a whole thing of bacon you might need to add some oil to your pan when you are ready to fry your tomatoes.

Combine the flour, salt and pepper.  In a separate bowl combine eggs and milk.

Dip the tomato slices into the egg wash, then flour mixture, back to egg wash, and one more time to the flour mixture.  This ensures they are have a nice coating on them.

Reheat your bacon oil.  Toss the pieces into the hot oil and cook for 2 minutes a side.  Transfer to wire rack in oven while you cook all the tomatoes.

Toast your bread and get ready to assemble your sandwiches.  Bacon, lettuce, fried tomato and a dollop or two of basil mayo, and the second piece of bread.

So yummy.  Wishing I had one right now!

Ian's Bagel Sandwich

(Wow, has it really been a month since I've posted a recipe?! I've been so busy with two children under the age of two, trying to sell our house, trying to keep the house clean for showings, and having a husband who travels every other week, I just haven't had the time to try new recipes :) Plus I packed up all of my recipe books & magazines. Doh! Well, I am hoping to post a little more often than once a month!!)

  


We went to the beach over the summer with Jordan's brother Ian. He made these bagel sandwiches that Jordan an I really liked. There were a few different variations but the one we made at home had pimento cheese, avocado, bean sprouts, and tomato. Great for a weekend lunch and oh so yummy!

We used everything bagels but feel free to use whatever kind of bagel you like. Start out by toasting your bagel.

Add a layer of pimento cheese, bean sprouts, sliced avocado, then salt & pepper.

Top with your tomato slices and the bottom part of the bagel. Flip the sandwich over so the pimento layer is on top. Enjoy!

Beef, Bacon & Blues Wrap

When I first started cooking I would buy the small Betty Crocker & Pillsbury cookbooks that are for sale in the grocery store by the cashier. For the most part many of the recipes weren't anything that I really liked but there were a few that turned out nicely. This recipe happens to be one of them! It's from Betty Crocker and the first time I made this wrap I brought it as a picnic item for a concert in Koka Booth 5 years ago. I kind of forgot about it and hadn't made it since!

I made it today for the moms of a playgroup we do on Monday's. I wanted to make it last Friday for a little Halloween party I was having for the kids but I ran out of time and didn't end up making it. This time I bought half a pound of roast beef and it made 3 tortillas which was the perfect amound for what I needed.

Ingredients:

2 soft cracker breads, 15 inches in diameter or 3 flour tortillas (10 inch)
1 package cream cheese, softened
1 4 oz container crumbled blue cheese
1/4 cup milk
6 slices bacon, crisply cooked and crumbled
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh or 1 Tablespoon freeze-dried chives
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 pound sliced deli roast beef
2 cups lightly packed spring salad greens
2 medium tomatoes sliced thin.

Directions:

I use flour tortillas instead of the cracker bread and usually this recipe takes more than just 3. If you decide to use the cracker bread let them come to room temperature.

Mix cream cheese, blue cheese, milk, bacon, chives & pepper. (I didn't have time to make bacon this morning and it tasted just fine. It's definitely better with the bacon though. ;)

Spread some cream cheese mixture evenly over the bread or tortilla.



Layer the roast beef,



salad greens,



and tomatoes - in that order. (crumbled bacon goes on top of tomato)



Leave a few inches on one side covered with only the cream cheese mixture. Beginning at the side covered with the fillings, roll up tightly. Repeat with remaining tortillas or cracker bread and ingredients.

Cut ends without fillings from each roll. Cut remaining portion of each roll in 3-5 slices depending on the size of the rolls. Serve immediately or wrap securely and refrigerate. I wouldn't refrigerate much longer than 2 hours because the lettuce will start to wilt. Enjoy!