recipe: for my southern father

When I arrived home, there were several green tomatoes in the kitchen to greet me. My father had recently had a wonderful fried green tomato dish in Charleston and my mother wanted my help in recreating it. It had involved pimento cheese so we decided to make fried green tomatoes and pimento cheese from scratch to complement the sliders she was preparing.

For the fried green tomatoes, I used a recipe she had found on The Food Network website, courtesy of The Neelys, whoever they may be. It wasn't my first time making fried green tomatoes but the use of panko instead of cornmeal intrigued me. I followed the recipe, finding it easiest to set up workstation right next to the stove so I could dredge the tomato through each bowl quickly.

[workstation]

[fried green tomatoes]

The panko crust was light and airy, overall I think I'll continue to use panko as at least part of my coating in the future. They could have used more flavor, perhaps a heartier pinch of cayenne and more black pepper.

[Daddy's fried green tomato stack with pimento cheese and prosciutto]

For the pimento cheese, I found recipes right and left. I combined one I found in Bon Appétit from Parker and Otis in Durham with one found the day of the cooking in The Charlotte Observer. I'm having trouble finding the article online, but the Observer credited the recipe to "An Irresistible History of Southern Food" by Rick McDaniel.

Pimento Cheese Recipe
16 oz (roughly 4 cups grated) sharp yellow cheddar cheese
4 oz drained, chopped pimientos
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
fresh ground black pepper to taste

Grate cheese coarsely. Add rest of ingredients, stir to mix. Let sit to incorporate (in refridgerator) for about 30 minutes before serving. Great warm or cold.

[My slider with fried green tomato and pimento cheese]

southern fried-roommate dinner

This past weekend I bought 15 pounds of tomato "seconds" or the tomatoes that weren't quite good enough to sell individually at the farmers market (for .50 cents a pound!.) For many, it was just that they were smaller or occasionally funny-shaped, but in the mix of mostly-ripe tomatoes there were some small green ones. Upon returning home from the farmers market, my roommate and I decided to cook an elaborate Southern meal for roommate dinner that night. Using the tomatoes, I made Fried Green Tomatoes using this recipe from TheKitchn.





Our Southern-fried goodness didn't stop there. Using fresh corn cut off the cob that was left over from last weekend's cookout, I made Corn Cakes topped with bacon and avocado. Besides the toppings, the only change was that I didn't use any cheese in the mix. They aren't super flavorful but did taste of fresh, sweet corn. Cheese would have been good, but wasn't particularly needed.






And my roommate my venison sliders on baguette with brie. (The venison was supplied by her father, thanks Fred!)


Our meal- venison sliders, fried green tomatoes, salad and corn cakes. Local venison, tomatoes, salad greens, corn and onions.



Lastly, last night I watched Fried Green Tomatoes for the first time ever. Let's just say I'm sad I hadn't gotten around to it earlier.