Fried Green Tomatoes the MOVIE made Famous

Fried Green Tomatoes

Long before Jessica Tandy and Kathy Bates made this Southern delicacy famous via the silver screen, we have loved and served this dish. It's simply part of our heritage and wouldn't be summer without a serving of these favorites. You can garnish with fresh herbs, salt and pepper; or serve with your favorite dunking sauce. For a real treat, dab a little pimento cheese on top or put into a sandwich with bacon for a little variation on the usual BLT. Happy Twirls!

6 Green tomatoes (they should be firm, and feel heavy in your hand)

Kosher salt

Fresh cracked black pepper

Sugar

1 egg

1-1/2 cups buttermilk

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1-1/3 cups yellow cornmeal

Canola (or peanut) oil

Slice your green tomatoes 1/3 of an inch thick (too thick your batter will get soggy and they won't have a crisp exterior - too thin and they're tasteless.) Lay the sliced tomatoes on a foil-covered baking sheet and generously add salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar to each one. Allow them to sit 15 - 30 minutes. The tomatoes will start to sweat liquid.

Pour the oil into an iron skillet to a depth of one inch, and heat to 350 degrees. Having a high temperature before you put in your battered green tomatoes is really important -- it's what makes them crisp, and helps them to color really beautifully.

Mix the flour and cornmeal in a paper sack or gallon freezer bag. Mix the egg; add buttermilk and mix in a bowl. Place tomatoes into your cornmeal mixture and coat well. Prepare all tomato slices before moving on to the next step. Place tomatoes on clean sheet of foil which has been dusted with flour. The cornmeal mixture sticks to the tomatoes because of the sweating with salt mixture.

Place tomatoes into the buttermilk mixture, and then back into the sack to coat them with your flour/cornmeal mixture. Shake off the excess. Place in skillet and fry a couple of minutes until edges turn brown. Turn and fry a couple more minutes. Drain on paper towel and salt/pepper to taste. Serve warm with Remoulade Sauce.

Tomato Pie Tennessee Style

Tomato Pie - Jackson Style

Our First Lady of Jackson Tennessee, Liz Gist, is a friend, home ec major, great cook, and one of the most creative and artistic people I know. She can take cardboard, boxes, ribbons, and the like - voila you have a work of art. Her cooking is equally measurable. Of course all her tomato pies, like everything else she bakes involve homemade pie crust. And oh the difference is just off the charts.

3-4 ripe tomatoes peeled and sliced.

1-1/2 cup grated cheese (I use sharp Cheddar)

1/3 cups Hellman’s mayonnaise

1 onion chopped and sautéed in 2 tablespoons butter

Layer the ingredients in a homemade pie crust in this order – cheese, tomato, onion, mayo, cheese, tomato, cheese, and bake 375 for 30 minutes. Liz Gist, Jackson TN

Tomato Pie - Nashville Style
My good friend, Mike King of Nashville got me to thinking about tomato pie and shared a couple of recipes which I want to try. When I tell you that Mike has exquisite tastes - not only as a member of the Chaine de Rotisseurs, but in every aspect of the word, take me at my word. His sense of style is second to none and he's the only one I dare turn to for stationary, formal invitations, and the like. He's at Corzine's and Company in Nashville which offers some of the most fabulous gifts, china, crystal, stunning estate silver and porcelains - both American & European, etc you can imagine. This is the recipe he shared with me from a collection of one of the best cooks in the South. 

Prebake your pie shell in a 350 oven. Peel and slice 4 tomatoes and leave in colander to drain for about 10 minutes. Mix 1 cup mayo with 1 cup shredded Cheddar and 1 cup of shredded Monterey Jack cheese. Add a little extra Mozzarella if you like. Chop up some basil and some chives. Layer the sliced tomateos in the baked shell and top each layer with the basil, chives, and salt and pepper to taste. Top with the mayo/cheese mixture and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. You can use chopped green onions if you like in place of the chives.

(r-l) Michael R. King, Brad Wensel, Shigemitsu Matsumori, and Jonathan Savage at Steeplechase.

Beth's Blue Cheese Grits

Blue Cheese Grits
A good friend, Beth Garland Heatherly of Jackson TN shared this recipe with me and believe you me, it's a keeper. I'm serving with pork chops, and sauteed green beans with garlic. It's creamy and oh so mouthwatering. I've served it to people who didn't think they liked blue cheese, but this was part of their conversion to some of the finer tastes. Enjoy!

3 cups milk
1 garlic clove, minced
1-1/4 teaspoons salt divided
1 cup quick cooking grits
1/2 cup (4-ounces) crumbled Saga blue cheese
1/3 cup butter or margarine, cubed
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
1 (4-ounce) can whole green chilies, drained and chopped
2 tablespoons freshly shredded Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Bring milk garlic and 1 teaspoon salt to a boil in a medium saucepan; gradually stir in grits. Cover; reduce heat and simmer, stirring
occasionally, 10 minutes. Whisk in blue cheese and butter until melted. Whisk in remaining ¼ teaspoon salt, whipping cream, and remaining ingredients; pour into a lightly greased 1-1/2 quart soufflé' dish. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes. (Center may be slightly soft.) Beth Heatherly, Jackson TN

Cherry Coca-Cola Salad

Cherry Coca-Cola Salad

Some people may not be familiar with the congealed Jello salads of yesteryear, but this one is still one of my favorites. I am serving it tonight with chicken, sliced heirloom tomatoes, garden fresh peas with Chili Sauce (Fresh Tomato Relish) and iced tea. It's been a hot day here in Tennessee and this sounds so good. I hope you will give it a try.

1 large package cherry Jello

1 can black pitted cherries

1 small can crushed pineapple

12 ounces (1-1/2 cup) Coca-Cola, well stirred

1/2 – 3/4 cups crushed walnuts, toasted

Drain pineapple juice into a saucepan. Add cherries and cherry juice; bring to a boil. Add Jello, stir until dissolved. In a bowl measure Coca-Cola. Stir until all bubbles are gone. Add crushed pineapple, nuts and boiling cherry mixture. Chill until set.

1 (8 ounce) container sour cream

2-3 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup sugar or to taste

Blend sour cream, mayonnaise, cream cheese and sugar well. After Jello has set, spread on top.

Southern Goddess Dressing - Iceberg Wedge with Maple Bacon

Iceberg Wedge with Southern Goddess Dressing and Maple Bacon

1 large head of iceberg lettuce

Maple Thick Sliced Bacon

Southern Goddess Dressing

1 large avocado, peeled and seed removed

3 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh tarragon, chopped

4 tablespoons champagne vinegar

1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 cup sour cream

1 cup Duke’s® mayonnaise

1⁄2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 tablespoons light olive oil

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon sugar

Dash cayenne pepper

Fresh cracked black pepper to taste

Put all ingredients for the dressing into a blender and blend until smooth. Cover and refrigerate until needed. Refrigerate for up to 1 week.

Bake bacon on rack in 400 degree oven. Spray rack with Pam® which is placed on sheet pan. Bake for about 30 minutes until crisp. Remove from oven and off the rack at once. Break bacon into pieces.

Make sure the lettuce is cold. Wash and chop your lettuce into nice big wedges and place on cold plates.

Assemble your salad with bacon. Add a little sea salt and fresh cracked pepper and the Southern Goddess dressing. Serve with grilled bread on side if you'd like.

Crunchers - one of the most popular recipes on Pinterest

Crunchers

 Just made a batch of these for the friendly folks at Dr. Jim Russell's office, Senator's vet. Those guys and gals work hard and when I was there yesterday, it broke my heart to see a lady bring her sweet 17 year old poodle in to have her put down. I so believe that the good Lord has a place in Heaven for all his creatures great and small, and any of us who have loved and lost a pet know the pain.

80 club crackers

1 cup butter

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels

1/2 cup butterscotch morsels

Line an ungreased 9X13-inch baking pan with foil, leaving an extension of foil on either end. Line the foil with 1 layer of club crackers, cutting to fit if necessary (in my 9X13-inch pan, the crackers lined up evenly without the need to trim).

In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, milk and sugar. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. (Begin timing 5 minutes from when you see the first bubbles.) Remove from heat and spread half of butter mixture evenly over crackers. Place another single layer of crackers evenly over butter mixture, cutting to fit if necessary. Spread remaining butter mixture evenly over crackers. Top evenly with remaining crackers.

In a small saucepan, combine peanut butter, chocolate morsels, and butterscotch morsels. Melt over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Spread evenly over top of crackers. Cover, and chill for at least 1 hour. Lift foil overhang and remove bars from pan. Cut into bars. Store in the refrigerator.

Ripe Tomato Relish (Old Southern Chili Sauce)

My mother, Mabel Graves Knolton passed the recipe onto me, and she got it from her mother, Maggie Duncan Knolton. It’s one of our family favorites. Mary Alice Moore, Jackson TN
18 large tomatoes, peel, core, and cut up

5 onions, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

2 tablespoons salt (I use pickling salt, but the other is fine)

2-1/2 cups white vinegar

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon each - ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground ginger

Mix all ingredients in a heavy pan and cook for 2 hours or more, until thick. Stir often, and don’t allow to stick. I cut my vegetables up in a food processor. Put into hot jars and seal. Serve with peas, beans, greens, or other vegetables. This is a very old Southern recipe.

My friend, Mary Alice shared this treasured recipe with me, and believe you me, she comes from a long line of good cooks. For a number of years, Mary Alice owned the M&M One Stop Cafe where she served up the best breakfast and lunch in town. Her desserts were off the charts. When the chef from the Ritz in Paris visited with me in Jackson, I took him to the M&M for supper - he learved how to fry catfish; acquired a taste for sweet tea, and ate his weight in chess pie. He even took the recipe back to the Ritz. Chef Guy the prepared the dinner for Princess Diana the night of her tragic accident. Mary Alice and her husband, Robert, have been married for 53 years and now she's retired from the cafe, but she never forgot how to cook. The Moores are precious people and I'm blessed to be among their friends. 

The Fly Lady's Favorite Fig Cake with Buttermilk Glaze

Fly Lady's Fig Cake

I have made this recipe many times. I got it from a July issue of Southern Living magazine 25 years ago. I have made this cake many times for Christmas. It has a bubbly sauce that you pour over it.

Marla Watson Cilley aka Fly Lady, Brevard NC

3 eggs

3/4 cup safflower or other vegetable oil

2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour (or substitute up to 1 cup with either spelt or buckwheat flour)

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

 1/2 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons whiskey or bourbon, optional

2 cups coarsely chopped fig preserves or fig jam

1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped and toasted

Buttermilk Glaze

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup unrefined sugar

1/4 cup butter

1-1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube or Bundt® pan and set aside. Beat the eggs well until light yellow and smooth. Add the sugar and oil and continue beating well to make a thick, smooth batter.

Whisk together the flour(s), nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl until well-blended. Add half the flour mixture to the egg-and-sugar mixture and stir with a wooden spoon to blend well. Add the buttermilk, vanilla, and bourbon if using and mix well. Add the remaining flour and stir gently until well blended. Gently fold in the chopped figs and the walnuts.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, and bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes until the cake is brown and firm to the touch on top. It should spring back when you gently press it and a wooden skewer inserted in the center of the cake should come out clean. While the cake bakes, prepare the glaze.

Combine the buttermilk, sugar, butter, cornstarch, and baking soda in a medium saucepan and bring to a gentle boil. Remove at once, stir well, and cool to room temperature. Add the vanilla, and set aside until the cake is done.

When the cake is done, remove it from the oven and cool it in the pan on a wire rack for about 15 minutes. Loosen the cake from the pan gently, running a table knife around the sides of the pan, and then turn it out onto the wire rack. Carefully transfer the cake right side up to a serving plate or cake stand, then spoon the glaze over the warm cake. Covered tightly, this cake will keep for about a week.

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Step through the door and follow FlyLady as she weaves her way through housecleaning and organizing tips with homespun humor, daily musings about life and love, the Sidetracked Home Executives (SHE) system, and anything else that is on her mind.
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Join Fly Lady on Facebook, Fly Lady TV, Twitter, Blog, or sign up like 3/4 of a million others do for her emails. Marla is a friend, who was born not far from me in west Tennessee, and now known around the world as the Fly Lady. She sent me this recipe and I wanted to share with you and to introduce you to Marla and perhaps you'll want to start taking flying lessons!

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Old Fashioned Crispy Sweet Pickle Spears - easy and so good!

Old Fashioned Sweet Pickles

Much easier than you might think. Just go to a farm supply store or perhaps your grocery where they have canning supplies. You will need glass jars (quarts and/or pints), bands, and lids. The cucumbers need to soak in the lime in either a plastic bucket or stoneware crock. They need to cook in a non-reactive pot, either stainless steel or enamel. Oh what a couple of days make - cucumbers turned into crispy, old-fashioned spicy and sweet pickle spears. You'll never want the store bought version again. Put them in the refrigerator and get them ice-cold and enjoy!

7-8 pounds fresh clean cucumbers (not burpless), cut in 1/4 inch chunks or into spears
(size to fit into jars you choose spears; also remove seeds if you’re making spears)

2 cups pickling lime
2 gallons water
Syrup
8 cups white vinegar (5% acidity)
9 cups sugar
3 - 4 tablespoons McCormick® pickling spice
Soak cucumbers in lime water for 24 hours. Rinse well three or four times; cover with fresh ice water and soak for 3 hours. I always add more ice about halfway through the soaking. Drain and add vinegar solution. Let set at least 5 hours or overnight. Mix syrup ingredients together and bring to a boil. Add cucumbers and boil in syrup for 35 minutes. Clean and sterilize your jars and bands. Using tongs, place them on a clean surface. Pack pickles in the jars, pour juice over them and leave 1/2 inch of head room at top of the jar. Place hot lids and rings on jars; seal in jars. Process in water bath in canner for 15 minutes. Chill before serving.  Delicious when added to tuna salad.

Crispy Green Bean Chips (a la a low carb potato chip)

Dehydrated green beans are an easy-to-make, healthy snack. Green beans also are a good source of fiber. You can take dehydrated green beans camping; pack in the car for long trips, or use as a healthy alternative to potato chips.  You can season with a little salt or dill if you like. Warning they are addictive.
Wash the fresh, small green beans in cold water.
Cut off and tough ends.
Steam blanches the beans by placing a few inches of water in the bottom of a pot and bringing to a boil. Make sure the water is not high enough to get inside the steamer pan. Place beans in steamer pan or wire basket and steam for three to four minutes.
Remove beans from steamer and plunge into cold or ice water for five minutes to stop the cooking process. Drain beans with strainer.
Place green beans on a cookie sheet in single layer. Freeze for 45 minutes.
Cook in the oven on the cookie sheet at 140 degrees until the beans are crisp and all moisture has been removed. Cooking times vary and may take 8 -14 hours.
If using a food dehydrator, place beans on dehydrator tray and cook at 135 degrees Fahrenheit for 8 -12 hours until crisp.

The Real Deal - Old Fashioned Caramel Cake (Moist Yellow Cake and Browned Sugar Caramel Fudge Icing)

Moist Yellow Cake

1 cup butter (room temperature)
2 cups sugar
4 eggs (room temperature)
3 cups sifted self-rising flour (White Lily)
1 cup of whole milk (room temperature)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
1/2 teaspoon butter flavoring
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour (3) 8 inch cake pans. Using a mixer, cream butter until fluffy.
Add sugar and continue to cream for about 7 minutes. Add eggs one at a time. Beat well after each egg is added. Add flour and milk (alternating to creamed mixture), beginning and ending with flour. Add vanilla and butter flavoring to mix; until just mixed. Divide batter equally into three cake pans. Hold each layer about 3 inches above your counter and carefully drop the pans flat onto counter several times to ensure release of any air bubbles. This will help you have a more level cake. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes (depending on your oven) until done. Cool in pans for 5 – 10 minutes. Remove and immediately wrap each layer in plastic wrap to seal in moisture. Cool completely on wire racks.
Once cooled, you are ready to assemble your cake.
Here’s a little trick to add moisture into your layers: Combine 1 cup of sugar and 2 cups of water. Bring to boil and boil for approximately 3 minutes. Let cool. Pour liquid into a spray bottle or pouring bottle.
Cake assembly:
Unwrap first layer and using a serrated knife, level off the top of your cake.
Place layer onto your dish. Take a straw and poke holes into the layer. Using your spray bottle, spray top of
layer several times; enough to give it a little moisture. Be careful – don’t add too much. Add a layer of frosting to your bottom layer. Repeat on second and third layers. Frost the sides.

Caramel Icing

2-1/2 cups sugar
1 slightly beaten egg
1 stick butter
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Melt 1/2 cup sugar in an iron skillet until brown (not burned) and runny. Mix egg, butter, remaining 2 cups sugar, and milk in a saucepan, over low flame until butter melts. Turn up to medium heat; add browned sugar; cook until it reaches a soft ball stage. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Add vanilla. Beat until right consistency to spread on a cake.