Reba McEntire’s BLT from Her Oklahoma Restaurant

Reba’s Place — a 15,000-square-foot space — is situated in Atoka, Okla. which is about midway between Tulsa and Dallas.

The below recipe is a home cook-friendly version of the Reba’s Place sandwich. The original BLT in the restaurant consists of a whopping 8 slices of bacon, pickles of several different flavors and carefully crafted garlic aioli!

BLT with Bacon Aioli

1 garlic head, peeled

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 Tbsp. tomato paste or double-concentrate tomato paste

1 large egg yolk, at room temperature

1⁄4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. canola oil

9 slices cooked thick-cut applewood-smoked bacon, crisply cooked and divided

1⁄4 cup fresh basil leaves, finely chopped

½ tsp. kosher salt, divided

4 (½-in.-thick) whole-grain bread slices, toasted

4 green leaf lettuce leaves

1 large (12-oz.) heirloom tomato, cut into 6 slices

1⁄4 tsp. black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 250°. Place garlic and olive oil in a small ovenproof saucepan, adding more oil as needed until cloves are submerged. Cover; bake until garlic is golden and tender, 1 hour to 1 hour, 30 minutes. Remove from oven. Let garlic confit cool, uncovered, 30 minutes.

2. Remove 3 cooled garlic cloves from oil, and place in a food processor. Add tomato paste and egg yolk; pulse until smooth, about 5 pulses. Pour canola oil and 6 tablespoons oil from garlic confit into a liquid measuring cup. With food processor running, gradually pour oil mixture in 2 batches through food chute; scrape down sides and bottom of bowl after each addition. Process until mixture resembles the consistency of mayonnaise, 2 to 3 minutes, adding 1 tablespoon of water at a time if mixture is too thick. Transfer aioli to a medium bowl.

3. Finely chop 1 bacon slice; add chopped bacon, basil and ¼ teaspoon salt to aioli in bowl, stirring until combined.

4. Spread each piece of toasted bread with 1 tablespoon aioli. Top 2 bread slices each evenly with lettuce and tomato slices. Season tomatoes with pepper and ¼ teaspoon salt. Top with 4 bacon slices each. Cover with remaining 2 bread slices; serve.