Fried Green Tomatoes

Well, well. Fried food we meet again. I used to badly malign my step daddy for frying up catfish in a cast iron pan and shredded wheat scraps (really delicious, by the way) preferring my usual methods for fat free cooking. Lately, however, i've been delving into this new world of food preparation, and think i like it a little too much.

I was intimidated to try fried green tomatoes, having had so many disgusting versions in various restaurants. But i really had the advantage: fresh eggs, and fresh tomatoes. These tomatoes came from my big Japanese Black Trifele tomato and held up great throughout the process. I cut them about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick and soaked them in some briney (salty) water while i prepared the rest of the ingredients, and tasty they were indeed! Plenty of flavor, in both the fruit and the coating, not greasy feeling, and well paired with the sauces i whipped up and some turkey bacon wrapped serrano peppers stuffed with garlic cloves. Yum.

For the batter:

• One bowl with 2 eggs beaten with a splash of milk and garlic puree (the stuff you buy in a jar)
• One bowl masa
• One plate with crumbs (combine ingredients in a coffee mill or blender to get a very fine mix):
• Polenta/Grits/Corn meal, blended finely with:
• 1 piece wheat toast
• Salt
• Pepper
• Smoked paprika
• Dried kaffir lime leaf
• Chilly powder

For the sauces:
Green sauce

• Spoonful mayonaise
• Homemade hot sauce
• Vinegar
• Serranos
• Seasonings (Sssh, it's a secret)
• Sauteed onions

Red sauce

• Spoonful mayonaise
• Homemade ketchup

Yeah, this was not a healthy meal, but it was tasty! I fried up some tilapia to round out the protein portion and supped from a plate full of steaming fried deliciousness! The tomatoes and fish were prepared in the same fashion:

• Dip tomato slice in flour to coat both sides, tap excess off
• Dip slice in egg batter to coat both sides
• Place eggy slice onto plate of crumbs and coat both sides and edges
• Heat oil in a pan until test droplet of batter sizzles when dropped in. I used olive oil thinly coating my pan: you really didn't need much
• Cook one side until browned and flip. You may need to reduce the heat as you go along.
• Repeat in batches, setting the finished tomatoes aside in a warming oven on a plate lined with paper towels. A lot of the oil will drain off and the tomatoes will continue to soften just a touch in the warm oven

Give your 'maters plenty of room so that they don't touch and watch how brown they get. My first few were much lighter than the last, but all were tasty. I think i preferred the lighter done ones just a bit.  The sauces really hit the spot, but were almost unnecessary. The key for super delicious FGTs is in seasoning the crumb mixture and not overcooking the tomatoes. I think pan frying these in a very thin layer of oil helped prevent the over sogging that deep frying would be prone to.

Cold weather encouraged me to harvest all my green tomatoes, so i may just have to make these again. Perhaps i'll invite guests over to help with the consumption, though.
This post can also be seen at YardFarmAustin.com

Recipe Week!

Okay, i'm on task and this week is officially kid (Raina) friendly recipe week. I'm working with limited ingredients that are hopefully palatable to my little niece, as well as being relatively sustainable and/or budget conscious that also don't involve stoves or ovens.

First up is a Summery snack/lunch. Light, sweet, salty, fruity, meaty - all around good. Inspired by high end appetizing fare "prosciutto and melon" these little chunks of yum are accessible to most budgets and taste buds.

Ham and Cantaloupe Wraps

• 1/4 cantaloupe, rind removed, sliced rather thin and cut into chunks. Cantaloupes were on sale this week for $1 each! How's that for a value!?
• Boar's Head Maple Cured Ham, thinly sliced. Could use any flavor of ham - i liked the idea of the maple sweetness jiving with the melon sweetness. I chose Boar's Head because unlike most deli meat, it is minimally processed and contains only 'real' ingredients. Not the cheapest, but i only bought a half pound ($8.99 a pound) and a little goes a long way when it's sliced very thin - sliced thin but staying together, not falling apart.

Simply wrap the ham around the cantaloupe and you're done! Eat with your fingers or put on toothpicks to make mini kabobs. I was surprised, as meat and melon sounds like an odd combination - but as the ingredients are still separate (careful not to cross the 'things mixed together' line) enough that the flavors co-mingle, but remain individual to some extend. You first taste the meatyness of the ham, then a burst of rich, sunny sweetness, followed by an accent of salty. Pretty awesome, actually. You could do a variation of this by stacking chunks of melon and ham on kabob skewers to be picked off one at a time.

Stuffed Shroomies

Stuffed mushrooms, how I love thee. The prefect appetizer for any occasion. You take a little bit of effort, but your componants can be prepared in advance to be popped into the oven as my guests arrive, greeting them with tantalizing shroomy smells and piping hot deliciousness (don't burn your mouth!)

With the holidays coming up, I thought I would write down this old favorite of mine in case any of you were pondering new ideas for the stuffing of mushrooms.

Don't get me wrong, I love cheesey, creamy, indulgent stuffed mushrooms - but i think this recipe is a nice alternative: still completely decadent, but without the mass amounts of cheese and olive oil some recipes call for. I have made these many times, and each time fiddle with the ingredients and the amounts, more of this, less of that, new herbs or veggies - so don't be limited by this recipe, but rather think of it as a good sounding off board and make it your own (or do it as is, it'll be great).

Stuffed Button Mushrooooooms
(note, the amounts of shroom and breadcrumbs here come from an old recipe i originally used as reference - i haven't made these in a while, sadly, so you may find you need more breadcrumbs - simply add some more as needed, but it should be about half wet/hot ingredients to half dry)

• 24 medium to large sized buttom shrooms (about one big package)
• 3 slices turkey (or real) bacon, optional
• 1 onion, diced very fine
• 1 jalapeno, diced very fine, seeds removed, optional
• 3 cloves garlic, finely diced
  
• 1/2 cup soft bread crumbs (you can use the dried ones, but crush them up to more like dust)
  
• 3 fresh basil leaves, chopped
• few pinches other fresh herbs, rosemary, oregano, thyme etc
• reduced fat feta crumbles, or shredded Parmesan (or both) you can also substitute ricotta for the feta
  
• splash white wine
• little oil
• salt and pepper
  

Filling can be made ahead and stored in a ziplock bag, extra can be frozen for next time.

Clean mushrooms with a brush or cloth, not under water, and remove the stems. Save about half or 3/4 of the stems and chop finely.

Finely chop the veggies and herbs and bacon if using. Saute the veggies and bacon in a little olive oil with the mushroom stems until the onions are clear (cover pan while sauteing to keep the moisture in and speed cooking while alleviating the need for more oil). Once veggies are cooked to your liking, add the finely chopped fresh herbs and splash of white wine.

In a separate bowl while veggies are cooking, mix the breadcrumbs with salt and pepper and cheeses. I would say there should be either equal amounts cheese to breadcrumbs or slightly less cheese - more or less depending on how decadent you want it.

Mix the wet/hot ingredients into the dry, mixing thoroughly. Taste for seasoning and add more salt or herbs and light dash of olive oil as needed. The texture should be moist and spoonable, but not "wet" or too crumbly dry. The cheese should act as a binder and the onion mixture as a flavor-soaker-inner (nice technical verbage, ay?)

If you are stuffing now, simply use a regular spoon and scoop up spoonfuls of the filling, turn spoon upside down and press into the mushroom cavity to be flush or slightly heaping above the rim of the mushroom. Lay out the mushrooms on a cookie sheet side by side as you stuff them. When all are stuffed and nestled together (not quite touching) sprinkle a little salt all 'round as well as a little more parm. These can wait on the counter for you, or be cooked right away. If set aside, cooking time might be slightly longer since the fillings will have cooled.

When your guests are about to arrive preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Stick these babies in as you see your guests approaching up the walk  (or about 20 minutes before you're ready to snack) and bake until the mushrooms are getting soft, the tops are slightly browning and bubbling, and there's a general feeling of sizzle and aromatic goodness in your oven.  I have written here about 15 minutes, but i'm pretty darn sure the last few times it has taken 5 or 10 minutes longer - you can also blast the broiler at the very end if you want more browning to occur. The key is that the mushrooms get soft all the way through, but NOT mushy - need to be picked up easily with two fingers. All ovens are different - so just keep an eye on them please.

CAREfully remove the shrooms with a spatula and your hands, or with some tongs and spread on a nice serving platter. Serve with some robust red wine and cocktail napkins at hand - but do let the shrooms cool just a touch before serving - don't want any ER visits for your guests' mouths!

I apologize for no pictures, but hopefully this recipe will be a good guide for you. I like my shroomies spicy, so don't add the jalapeno if you want a milder version. You could also put in finely diced celery, bell peppers, or maybe blue cheese or really anything you'd like!
Have Fun!

Stuffed Jalapenos!

Woo hoo! My jalapeno plant is giving forth an abundance of fruit in a delicious and very spicy sort of way. This is a great surprise, as most my hot peppers of the past have been small and not so spicy. These guys are big, big enough to stuff, and very flavorful as well as hot.

I've been making a lot of salads these days. I eat them as a main course rather than a meager side dish, but it's fun to spruce them up with their own side of something exotic. Last night i made a mexican themed salad with a side of stuffed jalapenos wrapped in turkey bacon. It was too delicious, so i'm making it again tonight.

The salad could be any combo of lettuces and veggies you like - i used:

• half large head Romaine
• half cucumber diced
• 3 small yellow bells from the garden, diced
• about 1/2 cup frozen corn
• about 1/2 cup canned black beans
• one carrot, chopped
• handful black olives, chopped
• few leaves of cilantro, chopped
• green onions, chopped
• 1/2 or a whole avocado, diced (avocado dicing tutorial to follow)
  
• didn't use, but would be great with: jicama, black eyed peas, shredded cheddar cheese, etc
  

Toss with some cumin, salt, pepper, and lime juice. Serve with some fresh salsa spooned on top. Perfectly delicious, with a complete protein and low cal. Serves two as a main course, 4 as a side salad. The avocados add a really nice feeling of oily satisfaction, but are better for you than most salad dressing oils.

The Jalapenos:

To be fair, I usually stuff my jalapenos with things like refried beans, fat free cheese, healthier stuff. But i sent the husband to the store and ended up with cream cheese - which is delicious, just a bit more decadent.

(this stuffed last night: 4 decent sized jalapenos, plus one large Giant Marconi bell/ tonight: 2 jalapenos, 3 small poblanos, and 1 small marconi - would probably be enough to stuff about 6 regular sized jalapenos (about 3 inches long or so)

• Jalapenos (also works with small poblanos, or just about any thick walled bell pepper, preferable slender in shape)
  
• about 4 oz. light cream cheese (half a small tub)
• half can of black beans, drained
• 4-5 cloves garlic, finely minced
• several dashes cumin
• salt
• finely chopped cilantro - about 1/2 tablespoon
• Turkey bacon
  

Mush filling ingredients together until well blended. This filling is great when it's super garlicy, so don't skimp on the garlic! Put on some thin rubber gloves (trust me) and carefully cut the top end off of each jalapeno, cutting out the seeds and membrane and knocking out any remaining seeds. Do this carefully so that you don't pierce the walls of the pepper - you can leave some membrane/seeds in, but watch out: if you're peppers are as hot as mine, you'll want to be conservative. The heat is in those seeds and membrane - so use your judgement and leave as little or as much in as you want to risk. Stuff each pepper with the filling with a skinny spoon, filling the cavity.



Now that your peppers are filled, preheat your oven (i again used the toaster oven on the convection setting) to 375 (convection) or 400 (regular). Now take a strip of turkey bacon per pepper, sometimes you can use only a half strip depending on the girth of your peppers. Wrap the bacon around the pepper and secure the ends by piercing a toothpick through.
Note: you can also prepare these on a grill, it's super delicious - just keep an eye on them and turn as needed.

Alternative wrapping - holds the filling in better.

Set your peppers out on a cookie sheet and heat til bacon is cooked to your liking and peppers are softening. It's okay if the peppers blister in places. I also flipped the peppers once every 5 or so minutes to get good crispness on all sides, about 15-20 minutes.

Enjoy! And keep a glass of water (or some dairy product) handy!