Joe's Tomatoes

Last May, when we were in Vegas, our neighbor highly recommended we go to Joe's in Ceasar's Palace.  Specifically, we were to order "the tomatoes".  We asked her to specify which tomatoes and she just replied, "Just ask for the tomatoes, they'll know what you mean".  And so we did.  In my opinion, Joe's was only ok, but the tomatoes were indeed memorable.

Last night we set out to recreate them.

Ingredients

4 slices beefsteak tomatoes (1/2 inch thick)
1/2 cup creamed spinach
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons seasoned dry bread crumbs
3 slices real American cheese (not cheese food)

Directions

Preheat broiler to high.

Arrange tomato slices on a baking sheet and lightly salt them.

Combine creamed spinach with melted butter and breadcrumbs in a medium bowl.

Spread approximately 2 tbsp of creamed spinach on top of each tomato. Use up all of the spinach.

Dice American cheese slices, then pile an equal amount of cheese on top of the spinach on each tomato.

Broil the tomatoes for 2-3 minutes, or until the cheese melts and browns. Serve hot.

I ran a couple of the finished products over to our neighbors.  Maybe she was just being nice, but she declared them exactly like Joe's.  It's too bad we only just now started making them since we've had more tomatoes than we knew what to do with all summer.  As proof that they are delicious, consider this:  I don't like tomatoes.  I don't like cooked spinach either.  (I have no problem consuming large amounts of cheese).  I thought these were great!

Here's the recipe we used for the cooked spinach:

Ingredients
3 tablespoons salted butter
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3/4 cup half-and-half
1 (10 ounce) boxes frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and saute for about 30 seconds. Whisk in flour and heat for about 1 minute. Whisk in half-n-half.

Squeeze water out of the thawed spinach and add spinach to the saucepan. Add salt, nutmeg, and black pepper. Simmer for 20 minutes on low/medium heat. Spinach will be tender when done.