I think that every day for the last week I have had a tomato. Whether it be in a salad, on a sandwich or just sliced with a little salt, I have been devouring them. But there is one kind of tomato that I wasn’t able to have until last night. A tomato that I anxiously await all year: the fried green tomato. Oh the crunchiness. The tartness. The down right home cookin’ taste of it. I have dreams about them and their salty goodness. And just when I thought they couldn’t get any better, I decided to try them sandwiched between crunchy French bread and melted pepper jack cheese. Lord have mercy.

I have been in love with fried green tomatoes since I saw the movie way back when. Every year I make as many as I possibly can. I’ve had some turn out amazing and some not so great and I think the key is to pick tomatoes that are very firm. I find that the softer tomatoes don’t hold up to the frying as well and as a result the finished product can be a tad bit on the mushy side. I’ve used unripe red tomatoes and the green zebra tomatoes and both work equally as well.

Makes 4 sandwiches

You will need:

• 2 – 3 medium to large green tomatoes, sliced ¼ inch thick
• Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper
• ½ cup flour
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1 – 2 cups panko bread crumbs
• Oil for frying
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 8 slices crusty French bread
• 8 slices pepper jack cheese

1. Season the green tomatoes liberally with salt and pepper on both sides.
2. Set up an assembly line with the flour, eggs and panko. Dip a tomato into the flour, then into the egg and then press into the panko until well coated. Set aside and repeat until all tomatoes are coated.
3. Heat 1 inch of oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Drop a couple of panko crumbs into the oil and once they sizzle the oil is hot enough. Fry the tomatoes in batches until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and sprinkle with kosher salt. Repeat until all tomatoes are fried.
4. To assemble one sandwich: butter one side of 2 slices of bread, place one slice of cheese on the bread, place two tomatoes on top followed by another slice of cheese and the other slice of bread.
5. Place sandwich in non-stick pan over medium heat and cook until bread is golden and cheese is melted, 2 – 3 minutes on each side. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Chicken wing enthusiasts may slap my hands for this one but these chicken wings are dry. Yep, that’s right no hot wing sauce leaving your fingers and hands a mess. Call these the clean chicken wings if you like. But despite the fact that there is no sauce, these wings are full of flavor thanks to a sweet n’ spicy marinade made with cajun seasoning and honey.

Growing up I had an aunt that would make chicken wings like this every once in a while. All she would have to do is grab the chicken wings out of the fridge and the flour from the pantry and you could feel the anticipation in the air. I won’t lie, I sat there in the kitchen watching and waiting so that I could get the first chicken wing. These chicken wings are similar to hers, but I decided to make them my own by adding the cajun seasoning. It adds the perfect kick.

Serves 4

You will need:

• 1 1/2 pounds chicken party wings (or chicken wings with tips trimmed)
• 3 tablespoons cajun seasoning
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoon seasoning salt
• oil for frying

1. Rinse the chicken and pat dry.
2. In a bowl combine cajun seasoning, olive oil and honey. Toss chicken in the mixture. Cover and refrigerate for two hours.
3. In a resealable plastic bag combine corn starch, flour and seasoning salt. Place marinated chicken in the bag and shake to coat. Place coated chicken on a plate and let set for 15 minutes.
4. While chicken is setting, heat 2 inches of oil in a heavy duty pan over medium-high heat. Once oil reaches 350 degrees begin frying chicken in batches until golden brown and cooked through, 5 – 7 minutes.
5. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate. Allow to cool slightly. Serve.

Enjoy!

Some of you may be saying to yourselves, “what on earth is she thinking? She wants me to do what? Fry what?” But I ask you to hear me out on this one. They probably do sound a little odd to those of you that have never thought of frying a pickle and I’ll admit that I was skeptical at first too. But let me tell you with their crispy, salty outside and tangy inside these little devils are down right addictive.

The first time I had fried pickles was actually at the restaurant I used to work at. One my fellow servers who had spent some time in the south, grabbed some pickles put them on a plate, slid them back to the fry cook and asked “can you batter and fry these for me?” He, and everyone else that happened to be in the kitchen at that time looked at her quizzically. Sensing that everyone was looking at her like she had asked for him to fry her shoe, she responded “they are so good. You should try them”. This prompted even more crazy looks because frankly if you’re like me you’re thinking “its one thing for you to eat weird things but its an entirely different thing for you to ask me to eat weird things too.” Leery as I was, I decided to take her up on her offer. I mean it was free fried food, how bad could it be? (Rhetorical, don’t answer that)  But you know what, it wasn’t bad. It wasn’t bad at all. It was actually quite good. So good in fact that it became a regular occurrence for my break time meal. Who would’ve thunk it?

For this recipe I picked pickle slices (say that 10 times fast) because I prefer the little bite size pieces. However, pickle spears also work quite nicely. I wouldn’t recommend using whole pickles however they are simply too big for this.

Serves 2

You will need:

• 15-20 round pickle slices
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• hot sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire
• 1/2 cup flour, divided
• 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
• kosher salt
• oil for frying, such as canola or vegetable

1. Lay pickle slices on a paper towel and pat dry.
2. In bowl whisk together egg, milk, a couple drops of hot sauce, Worcestershire and 1/4 cup flour.
3. In another bowl mix together remaining 1/4 cup flour, panko bread crumbs, garlic powder and ground pepper.
4. Dip a dried pickle into batter then dredge into panko mixture to coat completely. Transfer to a plate, repeat with remaining pickles. Allow to sit while the oil heats.
5. Heat 1 inch of oil in a sauce pan over medium-high heat. Once the oil starts to shimmer, sprinkle in a pinch of flour. If it sizzles the oil is hot enough. Fry pickles in batches until golden brown, about 3-5 minutes. Transfer to paper towel lined plate. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Serve immediately.

This snack would not be complete without Creamy Ranch Dip so be sure to whip up a batch and enjoy!

The Fried Green Tomatoes and Buttermilk Fried Chicken that I have made recently would indicate that I am on a bit of a southern food kick.  Which is kind of funny because I am a born and bred west-coaster. However, that does not mean that I don’t appreciate good classic comfort food and that is exactly how I view many southern dishes. So I figured why not try to tackle another classic? So I present to you my version of  the classic New Orleans appetizer, Shrimp Remoulade.

It seems that there are many versions of this recipe out there and every one claims to be “the best”. So I glanced over a few, picking and choosing the ingredients I liked the most and made my own version. While the ingredients varied on the different recipes I found, one thing remained the same. The longer that you let this sauce chill, the better that it is. So you will definitely want to plan ahead when you are making it. I chilled mine for about 4 hours.

Now my version may not be traditional, but the tangy, slightly spicy mustard sauce complimented the sweet succulent shrimp nicely.

Serves 4

• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 1/3 cup diced green onion
• 1 tablespoon fresh tarragon, chopped
• 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon grated horseradish
• 1 teaspoon capers
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (depending on the amount of heat you like)
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• fresh cracked pepper and kosher salt
• 1 pound (25-30 count) cooked, peeled and chilled prawns
• lettuce leaves

1. Combine first 9 ingredients in a food processor. Process until smooth. With processor running, slowly pour in oil until sauce emulsifies.  Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
2. Pour about 1/3 of the mixture in a bowl. Toss cold shrimp with the mixture. If you would like your shrimp saucier, add a little more sauce. Place shrimp on lettuce leaves. Serve.

As you can see you will have some remoulade left over, I cut up some baguette slices, toasted them under the broiler and dipped them into the left over sauce. Don’t you love it when you get two easy appetizers like that?

Enjoy!

“I miss the smell of coffee, and bacon fryin’. Oh and what I wouldn’t give for a plate of fried green tomatoes like we used to have at the cafe.” OK so I have never had fried green tomatoes at a cafe, that line is actually from my absolute favorite movie of all time, Fried Green Tomatoes.  From the first time I saw it, I fell in the love with the story of Idgie and Ruth, their friendship and the little make-believe town of Whistle Stop, Alabama.  Naturally, I also happen to love the dish that is the story’s namesake so when my friend Champ offered to give me some green tomatoes I knew exactly what I was going to do with them. And it involved bacon ranch dip. Yes I said bacon ranch.

When making Fried Green Tomatoes, bacon drippings seem to be the traditional oil used for frying them. And with good reason, it gives them a nice bacon-y flavor that green tomatoes fried in vegetable oil just don’t have. However, since I don’t happen to have bacon drippings in my refrigerator that often, whenever I make fried green tomatoes I have to fry the bacon first. But then what do you do with the bacon? Since eating all 5 slices myself seemed a wee bit selfish, and since I love serving these tomatoes with ranch dip, I made the executive decision to add the crumbled bacon to the ranch dip so that I could share with everyone. Wasn’t that nice of me?

Note: With the added bacon the dip can be a little thick so you may need to spoon it on. Also, naturally, the bacon adds more salt, so I highly recommend tasting your dip before you add any salt to it.

Serves 4

You will need:

• 5 slices bacon
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
• 1 teaspoon dill weed
• 1 1/2 teaspoon white wine vinegar
• kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper
• 2 medium green tomatoes sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup yellow corn meal

1. In a skillet, fry bacon until crispy. Transfer to paper towels. Reserve pan drippings. Allow bacon to cool and then crumble. To ensure the drippings don’t get too hot remove pan from heat while you prepare the dip.
2. In a bowl combine mayonnaise, sour cream, granulated garlic, dill weed and vinegar. Stir in crumbled bacon. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate while you prepare the tomatoes.
3. Season both sides of sliced tomatoes with salt and pepper.
4. Dredge each slice in flour, shake of excess. Next, dip in egg and then press into corn meal to coat completely.
5. Return bacon pan to medium heat. Once hot, fry the tomatoes until browned, about 3 minuets per side. (Note: You may need to do this in batches.) Transfer to a cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with salt.
6. Place tomatoes on a serving platter. Serve hot with bacon ranch for dipping.

Enjoy! And if you haven’t seen Fried Green Tomatoes yet, I highly recommend you rent it. Or I could always recite it for you line for line, but that might be weird.

I have always been a little crazy about the crispy, succulent goodness of fried chicken.  Ryan on the other hand, is not a fan. Crazy right? I would always throw it in there as an option for dinner and he would nix it right away. So this time I upped the ante and promised creamy pan gravy along side.  That did the trick.

In my mom’s house people always went after the coveted chicken drumstick making it difficult to get unless you had extremely quick hands. A fight would ensue and there would be threats of going to our rooms without dinner. Perhaps that is why whenever I make fried chicken, I only use chicken drumsticks. I’m not sure why they are so coveted maybe it is because they stay so perfectly juicy and are the easiest pieces to eat. However, if they are not as popular in your house substitute a whole fryer chicken so you can get a variety.

As far as the gravy goes, I just cannot watch all of those lovely fried pan drippings go to waste so gravy is a natural accompaniment to fried chicken for me. And don’t think I am trying to be all healthy buy using fat free milk, it was pure laziness. I didn’t have any other kind and I was not keen on the idea of going to the store. The gravy did turn out perfectly creamy though so the saved calories were just a bonus. Although if you are counting calories, I’m not sure that this is the meal for you.

Serves 4

For the chicken you will need:

• 8 chicken drumsticks
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1/2 onion sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 2 tablespoons seasoning salt (I like Johnny’s)
• canola oil for frying

For the gravy you will need:

• 3 tablespoons reserved pan drippings
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 1/2 – 2 cups fat free milk
• 1 teaspoon seasoning salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper

1. Combine chicken, buttermilk, onions and garlic in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
2. Preheat oven to warm setting.
3. Heat 1/2 inch of oil in a large heavy bottom skillet over medium heat.
4. Transfer chicken to a colander to strain buttermilk.
5. In a bowl combine flour and seasoning salt. Dredge chicken so that it is completely coated. Shake off excess flour.
6. Once the oil reaches 325 degrees fry the chicken pieces until golden brown about 10-12 minutes per-side or until the chicken is cooked through. (Note: If you do not have a thermometer to check the temperature of the oil simply sprinkle some flour in the oil, if it sizzles the oil is ready.)
7. Transfer to a cooling rack on top of a cooking sheet. Place in the oven to keep warm while you prepare the gravy.
8. Reserve 3 tablespoons of chicken pan drippings.
9. In the same pan that you fried the chicken in, whisk together the pan drippings and flour. Cook for 1 minute over medium heat. Slowly whisk in 1 1/2 cups of milk. Add seasoning salt and pepper. Cook until gravy thickens, stirring constantly. Add more milk if desired.
10. Transfer chicken to a serving platter. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve alongside gravy.

My accompaniments of choice were Creamy Mashed Potatoes and sauteed green beans. Be on the look out for the recipe for the beans.

Enjoy!

Growing up whenever my grandparents on my mom’s side would come to visit my grandma and I would head to the grocery store to get some snacks. We’d grab the essentials like potato chips, dip, pop and pretzels, the bread and butter kind, they were the best. But one of our other essentials wasn’t that common, we’d always have to get a box of frozen popcorn shrimp. Once we got home we’d pop them in the oven and enjoy the tiny crunchy shrimp with loads of cocktail sauce. Now that I am grown up and have a little bit more kitchen experience, when I get the craving for popcorn shrimp I head into the kitchen to make my own.  For this recipe, I decided to kick things up a little bit and season the shrimp with Cajun seasoning before breading them. I then fried them until they were golden brown and crunchy. One bite and I’m 10 years old again.

You will notice that the breading recipe for this is the same as my Crispy Marinated Mozzarella. It coats the shrimp nicely and adds the perfect crunch.

Serves 4

You will need:

• 1 (10 ounce, about 40-50 per bag) package of frozen small peeled and deveined prawns, thawed according to package directions
• 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/2- 3/4 cup flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/3-2/3 cup plain dry bread crumbs
• 1/3-2/3 cup panko bread crumbs
• oil for frying
• kosher salt

1. In a bowl combine shrimp, cajun seasoning and olive oil. Stir to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
2. When you are ready to start cooking, heat 1/2 inch of oil in a saucepan over medium heat.
3. Place the flour in one bowl. Place the egg in a second bowl. In the third bowl combine the plain and panko bread crumbs.
4. First dredge the shrimp in the flour, shake off any excess. Dip the floured shrimp into the egg and then dredge in the bread crumb mixture.  Repeat until all shrimp are coated.
5. Drop a few bread crumbs in the oil to see if its hot enough, if it sizzles, it is. Fry the shrimp in batches for 4-6 minutes or until golden brown. Be careful not to over crowd the pan. Transfer finished shrimp to paper towel lined plate. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Serve hot.

I serve these with Crispy Oven Fries and of course a side of cocktail sauce.

Enjoy!

I don’t make a lot of southern food, and have not had much experience with grits. However, I have heard a lot about shrimp and grits. The people who talk about it talk as if they are describing the best meal they ever had. Finally, after an episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay, my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to give it a try. I figured that you can’t go wrong with cheesy grits, topped with shrimp in a creamy sauce. I did also take some liberties here and there and added some spicy Cajun seasoning to the mix and with one bite realized what all of the hub-bub was about.

Living in the great northwest, I found it a little difficult to find stone ground grits. In my grocery store on the very top shelf in the back they had three boxes of instant grits and 2 boxes of quick grits. I had heard bad things about instant so I went with the quick variety. I know many people will scoff at that idea, in fact when I got to the check stand the checker said to me “I LOVE grits, but I have NEVER bought quick grits.” I explained that it was the only option other than instant and she offered a tip to add less liquid then the box and cook them a little longer then suggested. I used her advice and they turned out creamy and delicious.

I also use shrimp broth in this dish and chose to make my own. I have included that recipe for you but if you don’t want to make your own you can substitute canned clam juice, although it can be a bit salty and not as flavorful.

Serves: 4

For the grits you will need:

• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cup quick cook grits
• 4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, cut into cubes (about 1 cup)

1. In a medium sauce pan, bring chicken broth and water to a boil over medium heat. Add butter, let melt.
2. Slowly whisk in the grits, stir for about 1-2 minutes to ensure that they don’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Reduce the temperature to low, cover and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in cheddar. Cover and cook another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cheese melts and the grits are creamy.  Leave covered on low heat until ready to serve.

For the shrimp:

• 1 pound 51-60 count prawns, peeled and deveined (If making your own shrimp broth reserve the shells)
• 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
• 4 slices bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1/2 onion minced
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups shrimp broth (recipe below)
• 1/2 cup half and half

1. Combine shrimp, Cajun seasoning, cayenne and granulated garlic in a bowl and toss to coat.  Refrigerate until ready to use.
2. In a skillet over medium heat, cook bacon until browned. Place on a paper towel lined plate, set aside. Reserve 2 tablespoons of pan drippings.
3. To the same skillet add onions and garlic. Cook 3-5 minutes or until softened. Add shrimp. Cook until pink.
4. Once shrimp are pink, add flour and cook one minute. (Note: It is important to cook the flour for a minute so that you don’t have a pasty flavor to your sauce).  Add the shrimp broth and cook until it thickens, about 3 minutes. Add half and half and cook until the sauce reduces by 1/3, about 5 minutes, it should be creamy and will coat the back of a spoon.  At the last minute add in reserved bacon bits. Pour shrimp and sauce over grits and serve immediately.

For Shrimp Broth

This is super basic and you can add whatever kind of veggie scraps that you want like onion, or garlic.

• Reserved shells from shrimp
• 2 cups of water
• salt
• few peppercorns

1. Place shrimp shells in saucepan. Pour water over, add salt and peppercorns. Bring to a bowl, reduce heat and let simmer about 20 minutes.
2. Using a colander, strain the broth over a bowl. Discard shells.

I had always shied away from grits, but I am glad that I finally gave them a try. Now that I have a whole box of them I think I’ll try some more experimenting. I’ll let you know how that goes :-)