Fried Green Tomatoes

Not a Southerner that is living in the South? Need to impress someone with your ability to cook Southern Food? Try this recipe, its easy, tasty and will impress the locals and transplants alike!


First thing is first, the tomatoes must be green! This means they will be small because green tomatoes are not yet ripe therefore not grown up to their fullest size. You'll need to figure no more than 3 - 4 slices out of each tomato, so gauge your purchase accordingly.

Notice the flaws in my tomatoes?

Yup, I like the ones that DON'T look perfect. The fruits and vegetables that look too perfect have little flavor in my opinion. I purchased these at the local Farmer's Market this morning. Don't get any that have any signs of ripening (yellow, orange or reddish skin), they just wont taste as good.

Heat oil in a skillet (I always use cast iron to fry in) about 1" deep. The egg wash I use is 2 eggs, about 1 Tbsp. of milk and salt (I always salt my egg out of superstition). The batter I use is White Lily White Flour, King Arthur Whole Wheat Flour (sometimes I'll use Jiffy Mix Cornbread mix instead of corn meal, but I skipped this all together tonight and it didn't seem to make a difference) and some seasonings - I used a basic chicken seasoning tonight. So set your assembly line up like this...

I'm working from Right to left as that's the space allowance in my kitchen. The skillet is on the far left just out of the picture. So Tomato, egg wash, flour, skillet. Repeat until the skillet is full, but do not let them touch if you can help it.

Last bit of info, if you'll put a cake cooling rack on your plate between the plate and paper towel (that you'll have to drain the oil off of the tomatoes) you will drain better and have less oil and grease in your meal. This works for bacon and anything else that you might drain on a paper towel and keeps things ever so slightly on the healthier side.


And here is the finished product. About 21 - 26
Fried Green Tomatoes

And I don't know if this is Southern or just the way we got the kiddo to eat these, but they aren't too bad with katsup either...! ENJOY

Scrumptious Saturday, on Friday

Citrus Mahi Mahi Meal

This first one is one of our favorites. Citrus Mahi Mahi, served on a bed of Jasmine Rice with Steamed Broccoli and Strawberry Salad.

The Fish:
Mahi Mahi Fillets (or Halibut Steaks, about 1" thick if you use the Halibut)
1/4 cup butter or margarine (really folks, butter DOES taste better)
3 Tbsp. Chopped Onion (I prefer green onion, it adds a color dimension)
2 Tbsp. Chopped Fresh Parsley
6 oz. Frozen O.J. thawed (it comes in 8 oz. cans - just be sure its concentrated)
1 Lemon Sliced (for garnish)
2 pinches sea salt for seasoning
pepper to taste


Saute onion in butter until tender, stir in the o.j. and some of the salt and cook until heated through, then add the parsley (be careful not to heat the mixture to boil as it can scorch). Sprinkle the fish with salt and pepper, drizzle with the O.J. mixture. Broil for approximately 5 minutes or until the fish flakes easily with a fork. You can also cook this on the grill if the fish still has skin on it and when removing from the grill be sure to separate the fish from the skin (and don't forget to clean it off the grill when it cools).

Jasmine Rice:

Follow package directions, but here's the trick an old friend from Baton Rouge LA taught me. When you cook your rice, boil it for 5 minutes on high and then wrap a towel around the lid of the pot as pictured here (be sure to keep it out of the flame or off the burner, please no fires) and turn the temp on low for 15 minutes stirring maybe once or twice to keep it from sticking. This will give you a good sticky rice instead of fluffy (which is what I prefer, sticky rice).

Steamed Broccoli:
Well this is pretty simple. For those who might not have steamed their vegetables this is an excellent way to keep the most of the nutrients in the vegetable AND since its not mushy like boiling it the kids seem to like it a little better. Use fresh broccoli for best results, cut the stalk off as close to the "flower" as possible. Get a large pot and put only an inch or two of water in the bottom and put the vegetable (in this case broccoli) in a steamer basket (if you don't have a steamer basket they're pretty cheap and available at most grocery stores, invest in one). Put a lid on it and bring the water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, sprinkle a pinch or two of sea salt on the vegetables, put the lid back on and steam for about 5 minutes or until the color of the vegetable is as bright as you've ever seen it. Its done then!


The Salad:
I used the freshest ingredients in season locally at my Farmer's Market.
I was able to get:


Red Romain Lettuce, Fresh picked Strawberries (don't these look good?), Green Onions (same as used in Citrus Sauce), Mushrooms (the farm is in the next county so I'm pretty sure the grocery has the fresh ones), Almond Slivers (store bought, I didn't roast and slice my almonds), Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette Dressing added a nice touch of flavor.

This is one of those that you can really add what ever you want to it - I really like Strawberries in the spring time when the Tomatoes are not yet ripe locally. The local produce has much better flavor than anything shipped in and I always recommend it for supporting your local growers is another way of being GREEN too (but that info will be in a different Super Hero weekly Green update).


Presentation is everything, well it has to taste good too...



Bon Appetite!

We had vanilla yogurt with some of the sliced strawberries for desert.
This is an older post that I thought I'd bring back (slightly edited) for those who might have missed it a few years back. Its really easy and great and might make a nice Valentine's dinner for your special someone.

Designs Etcetera now has a BLOG

This is my mom's business and blog. She will be offering interior design tips and hints, recipes (hey, who do you think taught me to cook?) and local restaurant reviews. Please take a moment and check it out. Feel free to comment on either blog as we'd love the feedback!

Children's Book Review

The Children's Book Review is NOT James and the Giant Peach, but it will be postponed.
I am considering doing it bi-weekly. Many apologies, instead please enjoy this wonderful box of Peaches that Smokey Mountain Scents gave me! Too bad it isn't scratch and sniff!

SLACKER!!!

WOW! I have been a total slacker! I will be back on the ball as of NOW (well next week really). I will have the Scrumptious Saturday's recipe back and in full force. Look out for a lot of chicken and fish and healthy ways to do "Southern Style."
I will be heading back to the library and getting some new children's books to review AND I will review them for the Tuesday post. I already have a few new ones from the Imagination Library that we've recently received and I may use those as well.
I will be getting back on the eco-horse and posting my Green Girls Super Hero's on Thursday's. I have some great new post idea's for the next one about the products that we all use.
It will be back to the high energy, off the starting line style posts I had been doing. To my regular readers who have tired of re-reading the same ole same ole I genuinely apologize and thank you for coming back.

Scrumptious Saturday #9

SOUTHERN FRIED OKRA!

I am doing a piece by piece of southern foods that can later be put together as one large meal. I started with Fried Green Tomatoes and Johnny Cake Cornbread and now without further ado... Southern Fried Okra!

First I want to show the difference between the okra from my local grocery store (in the colander) and from my in laws garden (on the marble cutting board) . I didn't have the opportunity to go to the farmer's market this morning, c'est la vie.

OK so with Okra you need to select firm bright green, when you slice it it will get a little slimy, this is OK because that is what helps hold the flour mixture to the okra. Slice it about 1/2 in or less (discard the tips).

As usual there are no measurements (especially since it depends on how much okra you slice) so here's what I do. A handful of wheat flour, a handful of white flour, a half handful of cornmeal and about 4 TBSP of sugar. In this case as always its better to under measure as you can always add more. Fold it into the bowl (I kinda throw the bowl to let the mixture work itself, but you can use a spoon or spatula to fold).

Heat enough oil in a skillet to just cover bottom, dump floured okra in and keep it moving. Don't let it sit in the same place too long or it can easily burn. If it gets too gooey just add more corn meal and keep it cooking. I can't really tell how long exactly it should go, just until it looks bright green and the breading is a little crispy. If done right with little oil you shouldn't need to drain on a paper towel, however if it's a little too oily go ahead and do that real quick.

Scrumptious Saturday

Tonight's menu was Barbecue Chicken, Roma Green Beans, Cornbread and Fried Green Tomatoes. I will do a little bit on the beans and Cornbread, but the feature of this post is Fried Green Tomatoes! Never fear I use a healthy oil, whole wheat and white flour. It IS still fried, but at least it's healthier than the "old" way.

Remember those beans we were picking at her Grand dad's garden? Well here we are stringing and snapping them for dinner. We have been doing this together on this swing since she was 2! She's an old pro now at it! SO for the beans, wash them (even organic has dirt on it) and I prefer to cook them in a 10" pan with high sides (larger surface area, more shallow). I put about one and a half cups of water in and a 1" cube of salt pork. I put a lid on it and cook it on low for about 3 hours. Make sure to check that the water is evaporating some, but don't let it all go or you'll have burnt beans and that is NOT a pleasant smell!

Corn Bread / Johnny Cake Style

I added some corn kernels and sugar to this one, but sometimes I'll add sunflower seeds (which goes over really well) or minced hot peppers depending upon my company and their personal taste.

First preheat your oven to temp required on your chosen package. I have and will always use Jiffy Mix for my Johnny Cake. I put my cast iron skillet in the oven as its preheating to heat that up as well. Then mix ingredients as package directions. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Take your skillet out of the oven and coat it with non-stick spray, oil, grease or butter - whatever you choose. Pour batter into the skillet and if its hot enough it should almost pre-cook the sides of the Johnny Cake as pictured here. The sides are a bit cooked (and raised higher than the center if you can see it in the picture).

Cook for approx 20 minutes depending upon the package directions. DO NOT open the oven to see how its doing. It takes the oven a bit of time to recover that heat and when baking this can be detrimental!

When done take the cast iron pan out and set it on something like a cooling rack (my stove works well for this since its gas). Let it sit for a good 10 or more minutes before trying to cut and serve. If you've done really well and greased it perfectly you can turn the pan over and have the whole Johnny Cake pop out onto a plate and cut it into quarters!

And the Coup De Gras... Fried Green Tomatoes!

Not a Southerner that is living in the South? Need to impress someone with your ability to cook Southern Food? Try this recipe, its easy, tasty and will impress the locals and transplants alike!


First thing is first, the tomatoes must be green! This means they will be small because green tomatoes are not yet ripe therefore not grown up to their fullest size. You'll need to figure no more than 3 - 4 slices out of each tomato, so gauge your purchase accordingly.

Notice the flaws in my tomatoes?

Yup, I like the ones that DON'T look perfect. The fruits and vegetables that look too perfect have little flavor in my opinion. I purchased these at the local Farmer's Market this morning. Don't get any that have any signs of ripening (yellow, orange or reddish skin), they just wont taste as good.

Heat oil in a skillet (I always use cast iron to fry in) about 1" deep. The egg wash I use is 2 eggs, about 1 Tbsp. of milk and salt (I always salt my egg out of superstition). The batter I use is White Lily White Flour, King Arthur Whole Wheat Flour (sometimes I'll use Jiffy Mix Cornbread mix instead of corn meal, but I skipped this all together tonight and it didn't seem to make a difference) and some seasonings - I used a basic chicken seasoning tonight. So set your assembly line up like this...

I'm working from Right to left as thats the space allowance in my kitchen. The skillet is on the far left just out of the picture. So Tomato, egg wash, flour, skillet. Repeat until the skillet is full, but do not let them touch if you can help it.

Last bit of info, if you'll put a cake cooling rack on your plate between the plate and paper towel (that you'll have to drain the oil off of the tomatoes) you will drain better and have less oil and grease in your meal. This works for bacon and anything else that you might drain on a paper towel and keeps things ever so slightly on the healthier side.

And here is the finished product. About 21 - 26 Fried Green Tomatoes (hubby ate a few in the process so the exact count isn't available!).

And I don't know if this is Southern or just the way we got the kiddo to eat these, but they aren't too bad with katsup either...! ENJOY