Fried Green Tomatoes

There are lots of ways I can start this post, but I prefer, "Frad green tomatuhs, ya'll!"  Have you ever had fried green tomatoes?  Have you ever made them?  Trust me when I say they're one of the best foods in the history of food, and trust me more when I say I always anger the frying gods when I attempt anything involving oil, heat, and batter.  I'm terrible at frying, but baked green tomatoes might be, well, sinful.  That said, I want to internet-apologize to my roommate for smoking up the house today and my neighbors for being the freak who ran outside with a smoking pan.  The result was worth it, and an added benefit is that I'm one near-fire closer to being an expert.

Moving on... I got this recipe from my friends Christopher and Elizabeth, two very dependable recipe providers.  They kind of had me at, "Have you made Paula Deen's..."  I ate these at their house, and I've kept the recipe in my arsenal since then.  When my grandmother let me pick several green tomatoes from her garden last week, I figured it was time to get my fry on.  Then my friend Julie posted to Facebook that she'd used this recipe (I shared it with her) this week, and I knew the time was right.

Sassy Fried Green Tomatoes

chefjennylyn.com

1 cup self rising yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp Creole seasoning
1 cup buttermilk
4 large firm green tomatoes, cut up into 1/2 inch slices
Veg or canola oil for frying

Combine dry ingredients in one bowl & place buttermilk in another bowl.
Dip tomato slices in buttermilk; dredge in dry mixture, and shake off excess.
In large skillet, pour oil to a depth of 1/2 inch; heat to 375 degrees (I just did med to med-high heat.)
Fry tomato slices, in batches, 4-5 min per side or until golden. (Um, watch this... may be 3 min.)
Drain on a wire rack over paper towels.

Shout out to Paula Deen for a fabulous recipe, Elizabeth F. for sharing it, and Julie B. for suggesting the addition of feta cheese!

The set-up.  Green tomatoes sliced with the 4 1/2" Serrated Knife from the Forged Cutlery Collection rest on the Cutting Board, buttermilk waits patiently in the Small Batter Bowl, and the mixture of dry ingredients does whatever a mixture of dry ingredients does in a Cake Pan.  By the way, the Cake Pan Set is ideal for dredging food in different mixtures.  Deep, wide, perfect.  I also have a Measuring Cup, a Measuring Spoon, and a container of Creole Seasoning out. (Tip: Frying recipes typically call for more dry mixture than required, so put half in a 2-Cup Prep Bowl.  You can use it if needed, but it's kept dry for future use if not.  Today was a perfect example, and now I have prepped breading for next time I get my hands on some tomatoes.)

The Pampered Pantry is full of fabulous rubs, seasonings, and other food products.  The quality is unmatched, and rubs hold their flavor for a long, long time.  This is especially important for people like me who are typically cooking for one and therefore don't use pantry items very quickly.

Fry!!!  This is the 10" Sauté pan from the Executive Cookware Collection, and its thickness ensures even heat distribution, very important when frying.  Ok, let me say this about my experience this morning.  First of all, I knew my tendency to let oil get too hot, thus burning coatings on second and third batches of whatever I'm making.  To avoid this today, I prepared two pans of oil instead of one.  I had the 10" Covered Skillet on another burner... uncovered.  Sure enough, this ensured excellent results for the majority of my tomatoes. Unfortunately, the oil got too hot after that, and everything else ended up a little dark.  Then the smoke began, and it was time to stop frying.

If you're like me, a clear picture of fried food makes your mouth water and your heart beat a little faster.  In fact, this is the reaction I'm having right now despite the fact that I just finished a lunch of the above photo.  These are real, and they just happened in my kitchen!  Check out this killer method for draining fried food: Cooling Rack on top of a Cookie Sheet with a paper towel between.  This ensures the tomatoes don't steam themselves to death on a simple pile of paper towels.  It also keeps you from using, well, a pile of paper towels.

How's your appetite?  How's your supply of green tomatoes?  Make these happen.

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Southern Cheese Straws

You know what's delicious? Food that contains a pound of cheddar cheese. In the South, cheese straws are a bit of a staple, and no one questions the ratio of cheese to flour. I'm convinced the only reason this recipe calls for any flour is simply to hold the cheese together, but that's part of its beauty. If you Google "cheese straws," you'll come up with countless recipes, and I don't know that any one is better than the others. I came across this one at Belle of the Kitchen, and I was convinced it was worth trying because they were the blog's author's grandfather's signature recipe. Did you get all that? If a recipe is worth passing through generations, it's a keeper.

I made these for one of my sister's wedding showers, and I was very pleased with the result. While my first attempt at cheese straws was more like cheese coins than the beautiful crackers in Belle's post, I figured it just gave me an excuse to try again soon! So here I'll share my adaptation on the original recipe, and you can decide what you'd like to do. Enjoy!

Southern Cheese Straws

chefjennylyn.com

1 pound New York extra sharp cheese

1 stick butter, softened

2 cups flour

3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (use a full teaspoon if you like them especially spicy)

dash of paprika

Preheat the oven to 350°. Grate the cheese. Then, using a food processor, mix the cheese and the butter. Add the flour, pepper and paprika a little at a time to the mixture and pulse until well combined and very soft.

Either place the dough in a metal cookie press fitted with a flat disk and squeeze onto an ungreased cookie sheet, or scoop small balls of dough onto sheet, flattening slightly.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, until they just start to darken. Sprinkle with kosher salt when they come out of the oven. If done with a cookie press, cut into pieces when they are still warm.

A pound of cheddar is no joking matter. Fortunately, I was using my Microplane Course Grater, which made quick work of the "shred cheese" step. I love that this tool adjusts, and it comes with a protective sleeve to spare my knuckles when I reach in kitchen drawers. When cooking, it's worth it to use block cheese because it doesn't contain the wax that keeps pre-shredded cheese from sticking to itself when packaged.

My cheese, etc. is on the Large Cutting Board, and the arsenal of tools is as follows: Cheese Knife, Adjustable Measuring Spoon, Dots Pasta Bowl, Measuring Cup Set, Microplane Coarse Grater, and Stainless Mixing Bowl. Things are about to get crazy.

I don't have a food processor, so every recipe that calls for one requires a second look before I can commit. In this case, I knew I could simply knead my dough by hand after doing what I could with a hand mixer. Welcome to a whole lot of cheese with a little bit of flour.

The Small Scoop is seriously the greatest thing ever. Just scoop out the dough, press it slightly with your hand, and you're set! I used the Large Bar Pan with Parchment Paper, and I also used a Cookie Sheet.

Before becoming the baked perfection that is a Southern cheese straw.

These were successful. They may not have been the correct shape, but the flavor was there, and I came out with a go-to recipe for the future. These are displayed on the Dots Oval Platter from the Simple Additions Collection, and they're perfectly complemented by a beautiful spread of shower food. Someone else want to have a bridal tea so I can try this again?

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E-mail me: chefjennylyn[at]gmail.com

Call me up: (205) 585-2464