What to do with an expensive tomato

August 31, 2010

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Have you ever treated yourself to an expensive tomato?

Have you ever treated yourself to a single heirloom tomato?  In season.  Ripe.  Striped with color.  Fleshy.  Juicy.  Sweet.  (I sorta sounds like I’m talking about butts… my apologies).

In any case… have you ever paid nearly $4 for a single tomato?

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I have.

When really good tomatoes are thaaaat expensive, you choose carefully.  You don’t care if you’re blocking the skinny yoga girl who is fluttering about behind you trying to get at the same tomato display.  Excuse me, skinny yoga girl…. I’m going to take my time with this one.  You should go eat a steak anyway.

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What do you do with your ‘spensive tomato once you’ve requested that it be packed in it’s own separate bag, once you’ve placed it in the empty passager seat next to you, once you’ve coddled it all the way home?

You put bacon on it.  It is the only option.

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Ok… so we’re going to put more than just bacon onto a tomato.

We’re making BLT sandwiches, with the best ingredients we can get out hands on.  Because we’re (totes) worth it.

First.  Good bread.  Mine is from La Brea Bakery.  Gimme.  It’s good.

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Organic Red Leaf Butter Lettuce.

That’s a lot of words for lettuce.  See?  Fancy.

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Mayonnaise.

It’s not that fancy.

It’s just mayonnaise.

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Nice, thick sliced, smoked bacon.  Extra slices.  Extra crisp.

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Combine all ingredients in between bread slices.

Marvel at the beauty of your expensive tomato, fancy lettuce, crispy bacon… and the bread that you toasted in the residual bacon fat….

and then shove the entire thing into your mouth.  Slowly.

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Epic.

ps.  if you have your own heirloom tomato plant, i salute you and your fancypants.

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{ 171 comments… read them below or add one }

Lindsay September 7, 2010 at 1:09 pm

add avocado, sub spinach instead of lettuce and if you are really in need, add an egg (fried in bacon grease obviously) I find it really helps with marathon training…no seriously…super recovery food!

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Leslie September 10, 2010 at 9:59 am

Yummy!!! You’re making my mouth water!
Cheers! Leslie

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kk September 7, 2010 at 6:07 pm

I am a tomato nerd. I grew 24 varieties of heirloom tomatoes organically this year (scaled back from 30+ last year) I have been harvesting around 50-70 lbs of tomatoes each week, and have been foisting tomatoes of all shapes, colors and sizes on neighbors, friends, co-workers and family. If you have even a tiny area that gets six hours of good sun, plant an heirloom tomato seedling next year. Choose a bush/patio variety so it doesn’t become a massive plant-beast. Let me know if you want seeds! I always tell people that if you want to feel like a green-thumbed garden goddess, grow tomatoes–it’s easy and highly rewarding as long as you give them water and the occasional TLC.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=8061929

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Mel October 31, 2010 at 3:13 pm

24 varieties!? I didn’t know there were so many kinds of tomatoes. My mom planted a bunch of tomato plants in her garden this past summer, but the tomatoes weren’t very good at all. Who knew there was such a thing as a bad tomato! Are there certain plants you would recommend? Where can I buy them?

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Hettar7 September 7, 2010 at 6:14 pm

Methinks it’s bacon buyin time tomorrow. First another food blogger, then you, post about bacon tomato sandwiches. It’s a sign. The universe is telling me I need to eat one. Ok, probably two.

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Cat @ ButteryBakery September 7, 2010 at 7:56 pm

Hm…what would I do with a crazy expensive tomato? Maybe make a bruschetta….but your sandwich does look epic. :)

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ellie September 16, 2010 at 5:13 pm

Me too …my bruchetta makes my mouth water just thinking about it!! It’s all about very good quality tomatoes. And it’s even better cold ..the next day (or the middle of the night if there is any left over). Hmm ..off to buy an $$$ tomato and maker one now :)

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M September 7, 2010 at 9:55 pm

That looks insanely delicious…a few day ago had a mayor burger with bacon (yum) and seeing your epic BLT and remembering that I will eat bacon again!!!

xx

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Stacey September 8, 2010 at 10:31 am

Mouth, water. Go.

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Claire September 8, 2010 at 4:54 pm

Hey Joy! I made an amazing pie with 1 giant heirloom tomato and I thought I’d share the recipe with you. The link below is to an almost identical recipe to the one I used. All I added was sauteed onion on the bottom of the pie and used vegenaise instead of mayonaise. Otherwise the recipe’s the same. And it was a HUGE crowd pleaser. Even with people that didn’t like tomatoes. And what kind of people are those?! :)

http://www.metrocurean.com/article.aspx?section=1&page=23401

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Lilianna Grace September 9, 2010 at 11:31 am

My favorite thing to do with heirloom tomatoes is to create a simple sandwich. It starts with a toasted sourdough english muffin, I prefer the density of the generic brands. Slice your tomoto so it is at least 1/2 inch thick. Mayo your muffin, top with your thick slice of beautiful tomatoe, sprinkle with some kosher salt and cracked pepper, top it with the other slice of muffin, and enjoy. I think I’ll go make one right now!

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Jane September 11, 2010 at 1:41 am

This post is such a funny, candid snapshot of a food lover’s trip to the market! Don’t worry about the writer’s block cause you’ve got talent!!

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Summer Delilah September 13, 2010 at 12:16 pm

Your sandwich looks delicious.. but I would sub avocado for bacon because I’m vegetarian. It would just be a tomato-avocado-lettuce sandwich.. but it would be DELICIOUS.

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Lucia December 5, 2010 at 8:37 am

I’ll wait for summer and for my big ripe tomatoes. Looking forward to it.

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Christina December 31, 2010 at 2:09 am

Found your website via a post on the blog {This is Glamorous}, and cannot for the life of me stop reading your hilarious posts. This particular post made my heart smile (:

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