Kitchen Sink Tomato Sandwich Recipe

Virginia grown tomatoes are finally in, and even with the threat of a nation-wide drought that is sadly affecting crop production for many farmers across the country, Virginia tomatoes have managed to survive, and man, are they good this year. My father-in-law who lives in Nelson County, Virginia stopped by yesterday with a big bag of tomatoes and corn. Oh happy day! These local vegetables came from Stuart's Draft, Virginia and were grown by Dave and Miriam Miller, proprietors of a true gem of a spot, Miller's Bake Shoppe, a Mennonite Bakery located about two hours from Richmond that's totally worth the drive. For starters, you haven't lived until you've eaten this carrot cake....

But wait, there's more, like old fashioned molasses crinkle cookies, fresh blackberry pie, mincemeat pie, Hummingbird cake, homemade soft pretzels, whoopie pies, even salt rising bread. The list literally goes on and on, and everything this family run business creates is made from scratch with all natural ingredients (no preservatives) and is out of this world good.

This morning we dove into the cinnamon buns. Drizzly decadence indeed, and totally worth the extra love handle.

But, back to those tomatoes. I can think of no better way to eat these sweet, drippy Virginia gems than to sprinkle thick, juicy slices with a little sea salt and some coarsely ground black pepper (that is, unless you add in a couple of slices of soft white bread and a generous slathering of mayonnaise).

Behold the Kitchen Sink Tomato Sandwich (as originally penned by Ernie Mickler in his cookbook, "White Trash Cooking" I'm on board with all parts of this recipe, minus the Miracle Whip (too tangy for me) and my mayonnaise has got to be Duke's.

Kitchen Sink Tomato Sandwich 

From "White Trash Cooking" by Ernest Matthew Mickler (Ten Speed Press, 1986).

2 very large fresh picked vine ripened tomatoes
2 slices of bread
Salt and pepper, to taste
Mayonnaise or Miracle Whip

In the peak of the tomato season, chill 1 very large or 2 medium tomatoes that have been vine-ripened and have a good acidity taste.

Take 2 slices of bread. Coat them with 1/4 inch of good mayonnaise. On one piece of bread, slice the tomato 1/4 inch thick. Salt and pepper that layer.

Add another layer of sliced tomato, and again salt and pepper. Place the other piece of bread on top of this.

Roll up your sleeves, and commence to eat over the kitchen sink while the juice runs down your elbows.

So, how do you like to enjoy your summer tomatoes?

©2012 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Bakin' Bacon Recipe

Gets even better w/ poached eggs, buttery biscuits and Mimosas

I'm a bacon fanatic. Certainly, I am not reinventing the wheel with this declaration, but facts is facts. Bacon is a big part of my life, and over the years I've tinkered with many a bacon recipe, from frying it in cast-iron (deliciously greasy, but time consuming and messy) to microwaving (quick and easy, but too dry and often inconsistently cooked) so when I stumbled across this very cool recipe for baked bacon, I just had to give it a try. What intrigued me most about this version of baking bacon in the oven was that the author recommends starting the process in a cold oven, which if you think about it, makes total sense in that it facilitates a slower, more even cooking process from start to finish.

So, New Year's Day became all about baking bacon.

According to the directions, I started by wrapping a large ridged sheet pan in heavy duty foil. Then, I laid out all the bacon side by side. I recommend using quality thick-cut bacon for this recipe. Next, I popped the whole shebang into the oven (center rack) and THEN cranked the heat up to 400 degrees. You must be sure to put the bacon into a cold oven. P.S. If you're really feeling creative, at this point you can also drizzle bacon with molasses or sprinkle it with brown sugar and cayenne pepper before roasting it in the oven for additional flavor. (Thanks Karol Thompkins!)

Next, I roasted the bacon for approximately 20-24 minutes. Obviously, oven temps vary depending on the make, model, age and accuracy of your particular oven, but I ended up somewhere in that time range. Also, about three-quarters through the cooking process, I flipped the bacon over to promote more even cooking. One thing I did notice of culinary note is if your oven is a bit cockeyed (or perhaps the floors of your kitchen slope as mine do) the bacon resting in the rendered fat will cook faster than the rest of the meat. With this in mind, I recommend turning your pan at least once during the cooking process. This should be your end result:

After your bacon is done the way you like it, remove it to drain on paper towels (be sure to save your grease for making cornbread). Once the pan has cooled, simply ball up the foil and toss it away for easy clean-up.

Serve up your bacon with your favorite accoutrements. Store any leftover cooked bacon in ziplock bags in the fridge for BLT's, biscuit sandwiches or nibbling.

©2011 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Greek Yogurt Banana Muffins Recipe

Top these muffins with Red Hots candies for a festive touch.

Confessional. I'm not much of a pastry-gal/baker. I don't have the bread gene either. Unlike most of the women in my family, I'm no expert at the art of making swoon-worthy cinnamon buns, sweet potato pies or Sally Lunn bread. It's just not in my being. Plus, I don't like to bake. As much as I wish I could summon some sort of deep-seated joy when whipping up a batch of glittery Christmas cookies, instead my cooking heart is filled with dread at the thought of covering myself in flour and silver dragees all afternoon. Show me a 6-pound pork butt and then we'll talk.

Like most people, however, I love having baked goods in the house, but let's face it, buying your cakes, pies and cookies from the store is neither cost-effective or nearly as tasty, so on those rare occasions that I decide to pony up and do a little baking, I'm doing so in order to save a couple of ducats and exercise complete control over my ingredients. Did you know that a single slice of a Starbucks Iced Lemon Pound Cake contains 490 calories? That's one hell of a fatty snack to go with that Eggnog Latte (which clocks in at another 460 calories FYI).

My husband simply loves muffins (and Starbucks goodies) so I have been trying to do my part and make more of the coffee treats he would normally buy out at home, so lucky me when this morning I came across a recipe for Banana Yogurt Muffins on Food.com and I noticed that I happened to have a couple of half-rotten bananas lying around along with a container of Fage 2 percent yogurt. Not only do I like banana anything, but what really appealed to me about this recipe was the idea that most of the fat (in the form of vegetable oil) was replaced with yogurt and mushy overripe bananas. Plus, and most importantly in my non-baking book, the recipe is super easy.

In true recipe writer form, I made a couple of changes to the original and added ground ginger, sunflower seeds, vanilla bean paste, and I upped the amount of milk and subbed in the Greek yogurt for the non-fat vanilla yogurt. I also, topped the muffins with a couple of Red Hots candies, because heck, it's Christmas. For more on cooking with Red Hots, check on this piece I wrote for NPR a few years back. Finally, I lowered the cooking temp.

All in all, the muffins turned out pretty good. Not the best muffin I've ever sank my teeth into, but they definitely did the job as a healthier alternative to the grease bombs that can be purchased at the store, and they pair pretty well with a hot cup of coffee.

Greek Yogurt Banana Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

Slice open these muffins and top with a pat of butter while still warm for added decadence.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon of ground ginger
5-ounces 2 percent Greek yogurt (or nonfat)
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1/4 cup 2 percent milk
1/8 cup vegetable oil
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup plain sunflower seeds (unsalted)
Red Hots candies, for garnish

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl mix together sugar, flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and ginger. Mix well. In a separate bowl, mix together yogurt, egg, vanilla paste, milk (adding more if mixture is too dry), and vegetable oil. Add in bananas and sunflower seeds and mix well.

Drop batter by spoonfuls into a muffin tin sprayed with cooking spray and lined with foil baking cups. Top each muffin with a couple of Red Hots.

Bake muffins in the center rack of oven for about 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Note: these are great for freezing in Ziplock bags.

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