A Garden Fresh Veggie Meal

This time of year when the garden is providing its bounty, we often eat all-vegetable meals and this was one of them.  For this dinner at the lake, the menu was grilled corn, blue ribbon green beans, fried okra, sliced tomatoes, and an appetizer of fried green tomatoes.
   

While working in my tomatoes the other day, I knocked a big green one off and stuck it in the fridge so it would stay green.  And shortly after I was watching the Food network and up pops Bobby Flay and a green tomato BLT throw down.  I didn’t do the sandwich, but did use Nick Melvin’s (throw down winner) recipe which I cut in half to get this.

1 ½ cups buttermilk

¾  tsp kosher salt, plus more for seasoning

3/8 tsp cracked pepper, plus more for seasoning

1 egg

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

¾ tsp Creole seasoning

3/8 tsp garlic powder 

1. Combine the buttermilk, salt, pepper, and egg in a bowl. Combine the flour with the Creole seasoning and garlic powder in another bowl.

2. Heat the oil in a 7-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat until the oil reaches approximately 350 degrees F on a candy thermometer. 

3. Dredge the green tomato slices in the flour mix, then the egg wash, and then the flour mix again and set aside. 

4. Once the oil is at the correct temperature, slowly place the green tomato slices in the oil. (Make sure the oil is no higher than half way up your pan.) Cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes on each side. Once golden on both sides, lift the tomatoes out and place on a plate that has been lined with a paper towel. Season with salt and pepper. 

Since I’ve never been satisfied with my Green tomatoes, I followed his recipe to the letter – except I still used a whole egg.  Bev wanted to try a ripe one as well and I served them up with some of Mary’s remoulade sauce.

The Blue Ribbon pole beans are a favorite of ours and they were cooked for a few hours with a smoked ham hock and the okra was fried up in Crisco – the hard kind is the only thing that does okra right for us. 

After the success with grilled corn the other day, we deicded to try it again with a different compound butter and I was more careful pulling back the shucks so I could get them back in place better - it didn't seem to help much though.  Since we were having remolaude sauce, I made a Creole butter as follows.

8 tbsp salted butter, softened

1 tbsp Emeril’s Essence

½ tsp hot sauce, I used Fire Ant Juice

2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley

½ tsp kosher salt 

The tomatoes were Yellow Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, and Green Zebra.

This is my plate and it was seriously good eats. 

I will use the tomato recipe again and next time use one third corn meal for part of the flour.  I will also use this compound butter again for the corn and make sure I have extra for those who want to brush on a little more.

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago:  Grilled Ground Beef Sandwich On Ciabatta

Larry