"She Wants Her Some Fried Green Tamaters..."

One thing I can say as a foodie, that I love about Florida so far, is the abundance of farm fresh produce at cheap prices! After church on Sunday we finally stopped by a produce stand that we always drive past on Old Pasco. We ended up getting two big huge bunches of collards, a bag of yellow squash, and a bag of sweet potatoes all for only $5! I saw that they were also selling green tomatoes! Which are hard to come by sometimes in the regular grocery chains. And no sooner than I asked Papa Smurf could we please get some, the farmer says matter of in a joking but knowing tone, “She wants her some fried green tomaters!”. I most certainly wanted them and for that exact reason lol. I really like fried green tomatoes. Papa Smurf on the other hand does not. They are an acquired taste though, so I was not surprised. My mother, though a New England states native, her cuisine and cooking style included not only New England style seafood, and Italian; but also there were a lot of southern staples, delicacies, and comfort foods that she would prepare for us. She was influenced by my Nana Fran’s Kansas City BBQ and spicy flavors, though she is a bit milder with her heat and can’t hang with Nana’s spice lol. 

It was from my mother that I had the first experience of tasting fresh fried green tomatoes. She would use a lighter dusting for hers, but I decided that I would double dip between the egg wash, flour, and yellow cornmeal when I prepared mine. I’ll divulge another cooking secret for this recipe, I soak the tomatoes in salted and peppered water before frying ;-) 

Fried Green Tomatoes Recipe

Ingredients: 

Fresh green tomatoes (I used only 4) 

1-2 Cups of Cornmeal

1-2 Cups of Flour

2 Eggs 

Hot Sauce (just use your favorite)

Kosher Salt

Ground Black Pepper

1 Tblspn Cajun Seasoning Blend (preferably salt free)

Large non stick frying pan

1 Qt Canola Oil 

Method: 

Rinse and cut the green tomatoes into quarter inch thick round discs. Or you can cut them to the thickness of your choosing though it’s better not to cut them too thick. Soak the tomato discs in a large bowl of water. Before adding the water, salt the tomatoes with 1 tblspn of kosher salt and 2 teaspoons of ground black pepper. Soak the tomatoes for at least 15 minutes. During this time, I usually prep my frying oil, cornmeal and flour. I soak the tomatoes because of the texture of green tomatoes, I find that it is better to allow them to soak for a bit in order to season them. Prep your flour by only adding pinches of salt and pepper sparingly. Add your unsalted Cajun seasoning blend to the cornmeal. Beat two eggs in a bowl. I chose to leave the egg wash unseasoned. I used a regular frying pan in place of my deep fryer to fry the tomatoes. I like the texture of the fried green tomatoes better when using a frying pan instead of my deep fryer. There is something about using an old fashioned skillet to prepare them lol. Though, a deep fryer can be used if preferred. 

Make sure your frying pan has at least 1 ½ inches (depth) of oil in and around it. As a seasoned cook, I usually know that the oil is ready when a sprinkle of cornmeal makes the oil sizzle. However, a technical rule of thumb is to allow the oil to reach a temperature of 350 degrees (esp for those using a deep fryer). 

First, dip the tomato in the egg wash, then dredge in the flour, and then into the cornmeal. Shake off the excess, but make sure that the tomato is nicely coated. Fry in batches of 4 if you are using a frying pan, larger batches can be done if using a deep fryer. You want to fry the tomatoes until they are a light golden brown. Flip the tomatoes after they have cooked about 2-3 minutes on each side to achieve this perfectly fried coating. Remove and set aside on a paper towel or unused clean brown paper bags to soak up the excess oil and keep them crisp. Once the batches are all done, serve hot with a dash of hot sauce or your favorite dipping sauce. Enjoy! 

Ericka's Hot Garlic Wings

My sister drove down over the weekend from Maryland to visit my family and I in Florida. We recently moved this summer and the visit was to bring some of our belongings we left behind. They were also visiting because it was my son Jerry's 3rd birthday. Before we moved, my sister would host full spreads for monthly Sunday dinners. Sometimes, we would each make a dish for the dinners that we considered our specialty. However, most of the time my sister would say "Just bring your appetite". Since moving to Florida, I miss those dinners. It was a busy weekend with all of our little ones, my Julie and her Gio are only 2 days apart, and then Jerry and her youngest Gianni are only 15 months apart. I'm a wing girl! I love good hot wings! Wings are one of my favorite comfort foods so of course a wing recipe had to be one of my first entries. Often times, whenever I order a pizza (Italian style of course), I have to have an order of buffalo wings and fried calamari to go with it.

Anyways, over the weekend, she divulged her wing recipe to me. I was ready to use my deep fryer, but I was disappointed because though the fryer made it down the power cord was missing. Some of the things that she brought down included alot of my kitchen goodies. Well, I didn't let that stop me, I just used a good stock pot. She had already bought the groceries, so I went to work.

Recipe:

1 stick of salted butter
1 Qt or more of canola oil
3 Minced cloves of garlic (I use pampered chef's garlic press)
1 Family pack of wings disjointed and separated (or wingettes can be used)
1 bottle (standard size) of Texas Pete hot sauce
1-2 Tblspns of garlic powder
1-2 Tblspns of onion powder
1 Tspn + 1 pinch of kosher salt (I love kosher salt because a very little goes a long way, I rarely use table salt because of the bitter after taste).
2 Tspns of black pepper

Preparation for the wings is fast once the portions are separated and even faster if wingettes are used. I usually like to give my chicken a good rinse before seasoning. Season wings with salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder. Rub and work in seasonings. You will know if you have seasoned the wing well by the smell of the aromas blended together. Set aside. Next, take the pressed garlic, butter and add to a non stick sauce pan. Do not burn the garlic or it will taste bitter! Butter can also burn as well and lose quality as it browns so maintaining low heat is key. Just allow the butter to melt and the two flavors to render together. After, add the whole bottle of Texas Pete hot sauce, wisk together and simmer on low. It is okay if the butter isn't completely melted, the main objective is to get the two flavors together. Once your oil is hot enough, usually a temperature of at least 350 degrees, begin frying the wingettes in batches. It is best to eyeball the wings, they will be done once they float, are crispy and brown. Drain off the oil, and toss a few wings at a time in the saucepan. Tossing the wings in the hot sauce works best if you work with just a few at a time and not more than a handful of wings. Set sauced wings aside in a bowl; The bowl works best in helping the wings to set and distributing the sauce. Repeat the above, until all of the wings are finished. If the sauce is getting thick be sure to remove from heat, adding water will only diminish your sauce of its robust flavor. As the sauce thickens the bottom of the pan can burn causing the sauce to stick and burn.
I usually love to have my wings with a homemade blue cheese dressing. Although I was unable to make it this day I still decided to share the recipe. I must warn you though, once you have homemade blue cheese dressing it's hard to go back to the bottled stuff.

Recipe:

1/4 Cup of blue cheese crumbles (this amount will depend on your preference for chunkiness)
1 cup of sour cream
Juice from 1 large half of lemon
1/4 tsp of kosher salt (you can add more to your taste)
1/4 tsp of pepper
1/4 Cup (or less) of mayonnaise (you don't want the mixture to be too soupy but chunky and creamy).
The dressing may be a little thick. If it is too thick for your liking then you can add a little less than 1/4 cup of buttermilk. Serve with wings and celery slices. Enjoy!