Hello Again! I hope your holidays were as wonderful as mine. I spent a lot of time in the kitchen, but it was with family and friends and there just wasn’t time to document all the happenings! I have a ton of new recipes and ideas to share so I am glad to be back! Speaking of recipes…

Fewer things bring me more joy than fried green tomatoes. Growing up they were my favorite thing my mom made in the kitchen. Here’s the thing about fried green tomatoes though, if you aren’t burning yourself trying to eat them then you are eating them wrong! I had many an embarassing moment trying to swipe one of my moms fried green tomatoes before they were cool. Burned tongue or not, I still say they were worth it! Memphis style BLT sandwiches are served with a fried green tomato in place of the traditional raw tomato. All I did was add a burger, haha! I just have to say, God Bless you Memphis, because I love this burger! I was really sad, however, when I got the craving for fried green tomatoes and realized I didn’t have any corn meal. Well they say necessity is the mother of invention, so while I was digging through my pantry I realized I had an abundance of jiffy corn muffin mix so that is what I used for my coating. It eliminated a step on a busy night and they tasted great.

Memphis BLT Burgers

burgers
1 lb ground beef (I use chuck, but whatever you use will be fine)
2 cloves of garlic peeled and minced
1 tablespoon of pesto
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

fried green tomatoes
2 green tomatoes ( 1 is all you need for 4 burgers, but you should have some to munch on while cooking)
1 box of jiffy corn mix
1 teaspoon garlic powder
salt
2 cups vegetable oil

8 slices of bacon mayonnaise
lettuce
4 hamburger buns

Fry bacon and set aside on a paper towel lined plate and cover to keep warm.
In a large bowl mix ingredients for burgers and form four patties. Pan fry or grill your burgers to your desired doneness, or slightly underdone and cover to keep warm while you prepare the fried green tomatoes. (The burgers will carry over some heat and cook more as they are sitting)
Slice green tomatoes into thin slices. If you slice them to thick they will fall apart or become mushy. A thin fried green tomato gets a little crispy, while it is still juicy in the center (perfect!) Mix jiffy mix and garlic powder in a bowl, whisk to mix.
Heat 2 cups of vegetable oil over medium heat in a large skillet. You can test the oil with a little of the cornmeal to make sure it is hot enough to fry. It should begin to bubble and fry immediately when testing.
Coat each tomato really well with the jiffy mix and pat it on to make sure a nice coating has formed, gently add tomatoes to the oil- watch carefully to adjust for heat. If they are getting dark quickly, turn the heat down slightly. They should take about 1-2 minutes per side and should be golden brown. When removing from the pan, place on a paper towel lined plate to absorb any extra grease and sprinkle with a little salt. Great news here. This is where you can test taste and perfect the last tomato for your burgers!
To assemble: stack the burger on a nice toasty bun with mayonnaise, lettuce, 2 strips of bacon and top with as many fried green tomatoes as you can stand.

Enjoy!