Fried Green Tomato BLT
with spicy mayo
Sometimes a little mess in life is a good thing and a good ole’ messy Fried Green Tomato BLT is as messy and delicious as they come. Perfectly ripe tomatoes, crisp fatty bacon, and crunchy lettuce smooshed between two slices of toasted white bread and then slathered in mayonnaise are the main components to a classic BLT. Nothing is sweeter than that first bite of utter bliss.
But as always, I got to thinking the other day as to how I could take this favorite sandwich of mine from awesome to amazing and it was like a light bulb burst in my head: Fried Green Tomatoes! Every girl growing up remembers the scene in the cult classic Fried Green Tomatoes where Mary Stuart Masterson, and Mary-Louise Parker get in a food fight over the horrible tasting tomatoes Masterson’s character Idgie fries up and forces Ruth (Parker’s character) to eat. “To Wanda,” right?!
Green tomatoes to begin with are just under ripened tomatoes that are a little tougher (more firm), with little to no juice and kind of a sour taste, however when cooked they transform and prove to be quite the surprise taking on rather a blended sweet and sour taste. Their meatiness allows them to not turn into a ball of mush when fried, pickled, baked or cooked making them the perfect alternative for bread when making a BLT. I will admit though, I am not the best person at frying things. I lived in the south for awhile when I was younger, and was never able to master this skill so many southern belles are able to do with their eyes closed. My Fried Green Tomato BLT definitely required a fork to eat it, which I could care less about. When something tastes so good who cares about a fork, just eat it and enjoy!
Ingredients: Yields about 4 sandwiches (depends on tomato sizes)
- 2 Large Green Tomatoes, slice 1/2 inch thick
- 4 Bacon Weaves
- 4 Slices of Bib Lettuce
- Spicy Mayo for topping
Batter for Frying:
- 2 Eggs
- 1/4 c. Heavy Cream
- 1/4 c. Cornmeal
- 1/2 c. Bread Crumbs
- 1/2 c. Flour
- Salt/ Pepper
- Oil for frying
Directions:
- Prepare your bacon weaves. Click here for directions. While cooking in the oven fry your tomatoes.
- Whisk eggs and heavy cream together in a medium-size bowl. Scoop flour onto a plate. Mix cornmeal, bread crumbs and salt and pepper on another plate. Dip tomatoes into flour to coat. Then dip the tomatoes into heavy cream and egg mixture. Dredge in breadcrumbs to completely coat.
- In a large skillet, pour vegetable oil (enough so that there is 1/2 inch of oil in the pan) and heat over a medium heat. Place tomatoes into the frying pan in batches of 4 or 5, depending on the size of your skillet. Do not crowd the tomatoes, they should not touch each other. When the tomatoes are browned, flip and fry them on the other side. Drain them on paper towels.
- Remove your bacon weave from the oven and let rest for a couple of minutes. Assemble your BLT by placing a fried green tomato on a plate, then layer with the bacon weave, top with the lettuce and some spicy mayo and finish with another fried green tomato on top.
- Serve!
