Reba McEntire Might Be a Simple Gal, But Her BLT Is Anything But

At Reba McEntire’s Oklahoma-based restaurant, Reba’s Place, the beloved icon mixes live music and fine dining, all while bringing the comforts of homestyle southern cooking to the plates of fans and eager patrons. Unluckily for me, Oklahoma is more than 1,000 miles away, making it a bit further than just a quick drive up the road to taste what she's serving up.

Thanks to a recent interview with People magazine though, the country music mega star shed some light on how to enjoy one of the restaurant's spins on an iconic dish — the BLT — from the comfort of your home. And since I'm always down for a new twist on a nostalgic eat, I knew I had to give it a try.

Get the recipe: The Reba's Place BLT

Ingredients for the Reba’s Place BLT

The list of ingredients are what you’d expect for your traditional BLT, however, things get a little fancy when it comes to what you need to make the bacon aioli. For the sandwich itself, the restaurant’s recipe calls for thick-cut applewood bacon, toasted (1/2-inch-thick) whole-grain bread, green leaf lettuce, and one large heirloom tomato.

For the bacon aioli you’ll need one peeled head of garlic, extra-virgin olive oil, canola oil, tomato paste, the yolk of a room-temperature egg, finely chopped basil leaves, kosher salt and black pepper.

Related: Kelly Clarkson Explains Where She Stands With Former Stepmom-in-Law Reba McEntire

How to Make the Reba’s Place BLT

The whole process is quite simple, but this is not like your typical BLT sandwich that can be thrown together in seconds. Preparing the aioli takes some time, and the process can take anywhere between a full hour to an hour and a half just to roast the garlic.

To start, preheat your oven to 250°F. Submerge the cloves of garlic in your olive oil and allow them to bake for about an hour to an hour and a half. Once done, allow your cloves to cool before placing them in a food processor with the tomato paste and egg yolk. Pulse the ingredients until the consistency mirrors that of mayo before pouring in your canola oil and the remaining olive oil from the garlic confit. Finely chop one slice of cooked bacon, then — along with the basil and ¼ teaspoon of salt — add it to the aioli in a bowl, stirring until combined.

Finally, spread each piece of toast with the bacon aioli and top two slices each with lettuce and tomato. Season the tomatoes with pepper and salt, then top it all off with four bacon slices each. And  Cover your sandwich with the remaining two slices of bread, and voila! You now have yourself a quality Reba’s Place restaurant BLT.

What I Thought of the Reba’s Place BLT

The BLT tasted exactly as I expected it would coming out of Reba McEntire’s restaurant… delicious! I can't say that there's anything that I would change about this BLT (other than my changing of using applewood bacon pork bacon for a non-pork option), and I can definitely see myself making this one again and again.

Tips for Making the Reba’s Place BLT

1. It's OK to use a substitute. As I do not eat pork, I substituted turkey bacon in lieu of pork bacon. If you can stick with the pork bacon as the recipe calls for though, do it. Otherwise, I think next time I will opt for some beef bacon to take advantage of the added fat and grease, which was missing from the turkey bacon.

2. Carve out some time to make it. The aioli takes some time to prepare, so make sure you carve out a little extra time to make this sandwich. I promise it's worth it.

Get the recipe: The Reba's Place BLT

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