Friday, November 15, 2013

Hawaii In The House!

I was in Hawaii a few years ago for work, and as I was leaving I stumbled upon a shop in the airport that sold plant cuttings. You could purchase them, take them home and possibly grow a bit of Hawaii in your den. I am certainly not a gardener by any stretch of the imagination, but I bought some of the cuttings anyway.

I don't know what I was thinking. I knew I would never plant them. Maybe I thought I would give them as gifts to those with a more "green-thumb" inclination than I. Enter The Hubby...he can grow anything! I am convinced that you could provide him with a slab of concrete, some seeds and in a few weeks there would be a budding, glorious garden blooming.

Now, keep in mind...these cuttings sat in a drawer for a few years until the time that I met The Hubby. He took them, threw them in pots, cared for them more than I care for my own teeth, and they began to bloom. What is even more funny is that he set them outside all summer long in the heat and humidity that is a Maryland summer and nothing happened. They grew and gained more leaves, but they didn't bloom.

Cut to two weeks ago. He finally brought them inside because the weather has been getting cooler and placed them in the bedroom. What happened then? BLOOM!!!

Hawaii at home!

I wake up to these every day now. In addition to the 5 blooms you see, there are 14 just waiting to show up. The blooms last a few days and then are replaced with another. This has been going on for a week now. Thank you Hubby for bringing Hawaii to the bedroom.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Cookography: Fried Green Tomatoes

I am a somewhat "genteel" southern woman at heart. I love my southern cooking. Be it a good spicy gumbo or boo fries. I really enjoy the huge comfort content of dishes served in the southern states.

This past weekend I took a stab at fried green tomatoes. One of my coworkers had a bumper crop of tomatoes this year and was lamenting how many of them were green, he doubted that he could get them ripened before they rot.

Me to the rescue! I told him I would take the green ones. I'm sure he thought I was crazy...but then, people often do. So, I brought them home, sliced them up and let the magic happen.

The assembly line!

So yes, a few of the tomatoes managed to ripen a bit before I got to them, but I decided to slice them up too. I prepared my buttermilk and egg bath (one egg and buttermilk to cover) and combined a "Shake & Bake" package with a healthy helping of Parmesan Cheese as my crispy goodness.

Then, I grabbed my extra large skillet and placed about a quarter of an inch of oil in it. Use whatever oil you like...I went with Canolla. Once it was hot, I took each tomato and dipped it in the liquid, and then heavily coated it in the crumb mixture. Into the hot oil they went...SIZZLE!!!

Crispy tomato goodness!
I fried them for 2 minutes on each side. You don't want the tomato to become too soft and mushy. The trick is to get them brown and keep the tomato a little firm. So, vary your cooking time with that goal in mind.

In the south, they also serve these with a spicy remoulade (aka...dipping sauce). To replicate this, I took a couple of tablespoons of mayo and added a healthy few shakes of Tabasco sauce to it and mixed it up.

Fried Green Tomato HEAVEN! These make a great side dish to any meal. I coupled them with a roast pork I had slow-cooked in the crock pot all day long. The combination of the fall-apart-in-your-mouth pork and the crispy tomatoes was fantastic!