"Anything you can do, I can do better…"

It began like it often does, with me being unable to refuse a challenge. I had been contacted by someone working for Mezzetta (a line of Italian-influenced products) and made aware of a sandwich recipe contest that they were running. The recipes, of course, had to use a Mezzetta product, and so she offered to send me a couple of samples to get the ideas flowing. I graciously accepted both the samples and the challenge, figuring I’d try to be cute and create a dessert sandwich. Problem was, the samples I received were of jarred red sauce and sliced peperoncini. I’m good, but I’m not that good.

Later that same week, my husband brought up the fact that he had been jonesing for me to make him his favorite sandwich (a BLT) with some of our garden-grown tomatoes. Problem was, (see a pattern, here?) all the tomatoes were still stubbornly green because the summer had been less than optimal—translate to nearly no fucking sun at all. I turned to him in one of my many wiseass moments and told him if he wanted a BLT it would have to be with fried green tomatoes, because ripe ones were MIA. It’s amazing how many moments of genius are born out of wiseass ones.

The resulting inspiration is what you see here, the Mean Green BLT. Here’s the way it went down: Sliced up a green tomato from the garden, dredged it in a cornmeal mixture (see Recipes section) and put them on a rack for a few, while I fried up the bacon. I then toasted some wheat bread and made the mean green mayo, which consisted of sliced peperoncini and sundried tomatoes finely diced in the processor and stirred into mayonnaise. Lastly, I fried the tomatoes and assembled the bestest, crunchiest, yummiest, spiciest BLT in the history of BLTs—more or less.

So remember, when life hands you a green tomato, enter a contest.

Tagged as: BLT, Mezzetta Contest, Sandwiches