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

by Katie Gomez on September 16, 2009

in Cooking

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.

GreenBLTThe 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.GreenBLTsideGreenBLTInside

{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Sasha September 16, 2009

Great. Now I’m hungry.

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2 Katie September 16, 2009

Love when being a wise ass pays off. Well done!

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3 Linsey September 16, 2009

damn that looks good and i dont like tomatoes or lettuce lol

mind you the tomato relish i made the other week was fantastic – brilliant spread on chicken breast and roasted with a bit of mozzarella on top

btw whats special about peperoncini bread?

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4 Katie Pizzuto September 16, 2009

Peperoncini are medium-hot Italian peppers…they came jarred sliced…not bread 🙂

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5 Linsey September 16, 2009

lol – oh ok – read sliced and assumed … 🙂

can i just have a bacon sandwich then lol dont like peppers either

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6 castello September 16, 2009

You’d better open a sandwich shop and call it the MEAN GREEN BLT! Looks yumbo!

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7 Linsey September 16, 2009

good idea!

side order of beef jerky in teriyaki marinade please

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8 The Wine Commonsewer September 17, 2009

Peperoncini…..mmmmmmmmmmm

Din’t know you wus from the south. Maybe south Joisey?

Speaking of that, I’m sorry, but I love Stephanie Plum.

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9 Katie Pizzuto September 17, 2009

@Castello/Linsey…sandwich shop? I couldn’t handle serving people all day…”can you make it without bacon please”, “can you give me mayo on the side please”…screw you…eat it the way i make it 🙂

@Mike…The peperoncini is what made the sandwich “mean” cuz it gave it a great kick. You mean Stephanie Plum as in the book character?!

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10 Mark September 17, 2009

mean green mayo -frickin’ brilliant idea. Can’t wait to make my very own green monster!

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11 Katie Pizzuto September 17, 2009

Let me know how it turns out, Mark!

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12 Linsey September 17, 2009

I spent 18 months cooking breakfasts all day – not the best job in the world – would prefer sandwiches

Mind you in the uk we arent as fussy with ‘can u do it with this, can you leave this off!’ stuff

personally dreamed on a small coffee and cake shop in a tourist trap when i was younger

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13 castello September 17, 2009

I tried some Horseradish flavored hummus on my salami sandwich. Awesome. No need for mayo or mustard. Now, if I put some minced peperoncini in, it could get very spicey.

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14 Katie Pizzuto September 17, 2009

They make a chipotle hummus that’s delicious. I spread a little on wheat toast and top it with sliced tomatoes. YUM!

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15 Drew September 19, 2009

I freakin love it! If I had a sandwich shop I def would take that one!

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