Pennsylvania Dutch Fried Tomatoes

Fried tomatoes are always thought of as a southern thing, but apparently they are eaten above the line as well! These fried tomatoes are a little bit different from their southern counterparts though. The foremost difference is that these tomatoes are fried when they are RED. That’s right, as sacrilege as that sounds… I mean, who even knew that a tomato was capable of being fried once it ripened…. Ok, Ok…. so these red tomatoes were fried up in the Amish tradition using only flour, butter, and salt. Once the tomatoes were done, that is when things really got interesting. The recipe called for the toms to be served on buttered toast. I actually used vegan buttery spread (after frying with a couple of tablespoons of the real thing… whatever… I pick and choose) and those little whole wheat 100 calorie buns… the only bread I had in the place. Finally came the sauce, made from only the pan drippings and (almond) milk. I poured the sauce over the little open-faced fried tomato sandwich and dug in. Yummmm….. Best fried tomato creation ever. This after-work special was goooood. Yes, I know that the picture looks gross… really quite unappetizing… but totally…. fried, salty, buttery goodness. A little slice of heart-attack inducing heaven. Now I often think that the Amish (a.k.a. the most interesting and respectable group of people in the county) just know how to do it better. And such is true when it comes to the frying of tomatoes as well.

Stir-Fried Scallops with Asparagus

I went back to the wok for this recipe. I must admit that I felt a little guilty making a dish with asparagus in the middle of August. Completely out of season… and I probably paid the most I ever have for the vegetable. Still, costs were kept pretty low; all I had to purchase was the asparagus and the scallops. The other ingredients I already had in my cabinets: onion, garlic, fish sauce, coconut milk, oil, and pepper. I’ve got a little bit of dirt on scallops for you… I went to the fish counter at Publix and said to the fish monger, “So I am making a recipe with scallops, and I don’t know if I should buy them from you or just get a bag of frozen ones…” She replied, “I gotta tell you…. They are the same scallops. You see I am running low right here; I’m about to go grab a bag out of the freezer myself.” Well then. Hers were $13.99 a pound. Frozen was $11.99 for a pound and a half bag. So I went with frozen and have a couple of more dinners worth of the suckers in the freezer. Making this dish was an easy feat. A little thawin’, a little choppin’, a little stirrin’, a little fryin’…. and voila. I served the stir-fry with brown rice. The coconut milk didn’t really add too much flavor to the dish… I was surprised… I thought it would pack a little more wallop. As far as Thai dishes go, this one is by far the least piquant I’ve had…. It could have used a little more fish sauce. If I cook it again, I might add some peppers, thai basil, or lemongrass. I also think that the combination might be better accompanied by noodles instead of rice. On second thought, I may cook it again exactly like the recipe says for my Mema. Asparagus is her favorite food and the mellow flavor would suit her perfectly. My verdict – scallops are good. Love asparagus. Stir-frying is awesome. Add ingredients to suit your tastes and you’ve got a great dinner.

Okra and Tomatoes

Okra and tomatoes. Oh, how I love the pairing of these two delicious vegetables. This Moroccan incarnation was a little bit different from the dish I am accustomed to eating. Summertime is of course a great time for fresh vegetable dishes and this recipe definitely made use of that fact. I started with two varieties of tomatoes from my honey’s patch. The okra came from the Decatur farmers’ market. The main spice was cilantro. Now as hot as it is right now in Georgia, my cilantro has gone to pot. There was just enough life left in the plant to pull off a handful for this dish. Truthfully, I don’t like cilantro all that much. I only grow it solely for use in salsa. This doesn’t work out too well since by the time the tomatoes are ripe, the cilantro has pretty much gone to seed. So anyway, I thought about leaving the herb out… But I didn’t ’cause you know I want to stay true to the recipes. Other than the veggies and the cilantro, I don’t think there was too much in the recipe besides onion and a little paprika. Oh, there was a hot banana pepper. The recipe called for a chili, but banana was what I had pulled out of the dirt that day, so that is what got thrown in. So, anyway, I prefer my okra and tomatoes with other seasoning, but this was still pretty good. I mean, with okra and tomatoes, you can hardly go wrong. I rounded out the meal with green beans that I had left from the previous week’s trip to the Morningside Market, black-eyed peas (canned) and Jiffy corn muffins. Hey, a girl’s gotta use some short-cuts. All in all, it was a flavorful weekday dinner. Healthy and simple. And I give it extra points for taking advantage of seasonal offerings.

Amaretto Stuffed Peaches

It is peach season in Georgia… Which means that it is time to start cooking up desserts with my favorite fruit.  Peaches make delicious summer desserts.  I am a cobbler making fool all year round; I make all varieties, but I am partial to peach cobbler.  I think because that is what my mother always made when I was growing up.  I even make mine in the same dish what she used to make hers in.  This dessert reminded me somewhat of a cobbler.  I started with fresh peaches  that I halved and pitted.  I stuffed them with a mixture of amaretto, sugar, butter, and “biscuits.”  Not biscuits as I am familiar with, but European cookies.  Once stuffed and placed in a buttered dish, I poured some more amaretto and white wine over them.  Then I cooked them until they were tender and browned.  I served the peaches with vanilla frozen yogurt.  In my opinion, fruit desserts must be served a la mode. Quite a tasty little treat.  The stuffing had a nice flavor thanks to the amaretto.  I had never cooked with the liqueur before, but will probably use it in future desserts. Yummy!

Saffron Risotto

Ok, so I really have no excuse…. but I am finally back on the horse.  Friday I made a batch of Saffron Risotto.  Pretty simple.  Had the main ingredients on hand left over from the paella fiasco.  Uber-expensive saffron, check.  Arborio rice, check.  I really just had to buy some chicken broth and parmesan.   Besides that, the recipe only called for an onion and some pepper.  So, supply-wise, pretty easy, but somewhat labor intensive.  I boiled the chicken broth and added it to the rice just a bit at a time, letting each bit evaporate before I poured in more.  And it called for a half hour of constant stirring.  This was only my second time eating risotto.  The other time I had it, it was in the form of fried little balls. I enjoyed that much more than I did this dish.    I used regular chicken broth instead of getting the low-sodium.  That was a big mistake.  The broth combined with the parmesan made for some salty risotto.  Too salty for me.  While eating it I thought of one of my college roommates, Tierney.  I think that she would have really enjoyed the dish.  She both loves Italian cuisine (having spent time in Cortona studying abroad) and has an affinity for salt! I’ll have to give her the recipe.  I discussed the recipe with a friend the next evening at dinner.  What do you know, that day she had watched the Barefoot Contessa make a batch of Saffron Risotto.  Ina said that white wine in addition to the chicken broth is what really makes the dish.  It probably would make for a better batch of risotto, but I doubt I’ll be hurrying to make it again in order to find out.  If anyone wants to try it out, I’ve got half a box of arborio that I’ll give you for a wooden nickel.

Tortilla Flutes

In honor of the American drinking holiday of Cinco de Mayo yesterday, I made Tortilla Flutes…better known as Flautas.  I love to order  flautas at Mexican restaurants, so I was psyched to make them at home.  Cooked some chicken.  Put the man in charge of that… when it was done it needed to be shredded.  He suggested simply putting it in the food processor.  Gotta love that law school education.  Once that was done, mixed the chicken with a pureed mix of tomatoes, onion, and garlic.  Scooped the whole mess on corn tortillas, wrapped ‘em up, and fried those suckers in a skillet.  Ok, so I think y’all know how I feel about frying stuff.  Pain in the booty.  And my fear of splatter definitely gets in the way.  Seriously, I will not fry another thing until I purchase a Fry Daddy.  This means that I am in the market for a Fry Daddy.  Stat.  ‘Cause the okra’s in the ground, y’all!  Really, a fryer would have made these flautas sooo much more tasty and easy to make…  It is just really hard to pan-fry something properly.  Especially when that something isn’t flat.   I remember using a fryer at my mom’s to make onion rings and they were sublime.  I want that kind of deep-fried perfection in my kitchen.  As Mema would say, the flautas were “tolerable well.”  They were crisp enough, but I have to admit, a little bit bland.  Thank goodness for the Zocalo’s pinto bean dip that I picked up at the Decatur local market earlier in the afternoon.  We dipped the flautas in the bean dip and sour cream and that made them MUCH better.  Love that dip.   I will definitely try my hand at making flautas again, but I will tinker with the recipe a bit.  Maybe add some peppers.  Topping them with queso wouldn’t be a bad call either.

Turkish Salad

So behind, so behind.  In my defense, I have been really busy.  Moved into a new place last week and still my internet, from a provider who shall remain nameless, is not working.  Catching up at the neighborhood coffee joint.  Ok, rewind to week before last.  After the paella episode, I had to take a breather.  Plus, remember, I said that the next meal was going to be on the cheap.  So… ta-da!  Turkish Salad.  Ok, so no actual cooking involved.  But I should get a couple of extra points because the lettuce in the salad was from my honey’s garden!  Heck yeah!  Not only is he supremely handsome and extraordinarily bright, he is also one helluva urban gardener.  Nothing sexier than a man diggin’ in the dirt and pulling out dinner. hubba, hubba.    Ok, ok, so back to the salad.  Pretty basic: lettuce, tomato, bell pepper, cucumbers, black olives.  Forgot to pick up red onion, so I threw in some chickpeas.  Didn’t think that would take away from the Turkishness of it.  Not in the least.  Topped the salad with feta cheese and a homemade olive oil and herb dressing.  Simple Salad on a Saturday.  Sensational.  Yes, I am a silly Sally…