Tag: cooking

Fried Not-So-Green Tomatoes + Smoked Shoyu

Vegetables

My absolute favorite thing on a leisurely Sunday morning is to challenge myself to use up vegetables and other items that have lingered too long on my counter or in the crisper drawer. This feels especially fun if the cooking is impromptu, from-the-hip, and possibly inspired by something I’ve read about or seen, but never tried. Today’s experiments include frying up a big beautiful tomato that I bought nearly three weeks ago at the Soulard Market shortly after moving to St. Louis.

When I bought the tomato it was vivid green. Seeing it in the market stall, my mind immediately flashed to Fanny Flagg’s Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. I’d never made fried green tomatoes, nor read the book, but I vowed to do both. In classic fashion, time slipped away. The book sits unread, and the tomato eventually turned red. Happily, it remained firm. So, today was the day that it finally found its way to the frying pan.

How to Cook Fried Green (Or Not-So-Green) Tomatoes

  • 2-3 Green Tomatoes
  • 2 beaten eggs
  • 1C Panko (Bread Crumbs)
  • 1/8C Olive Oil
  • Black Pepper
  • Smoked Shoyu

Coat a cast iron skillet with a thin layer of olive oil. As I was prepping my tomatoes, I heated the oiled skillet on a medium flame. (While many recipes recommend as much as a 1/2 cup of vegetable oil, I found that much less gave me a good result.)

Cut the tomatoes in thick slices, dredge in egg, and coat in breadcrumbs. Place gently in the hot oil and cook for about two minutes on each side, or until a crispy crust forms. Add black pepper to taste. (Since I’m serving these with smoked shoyu, which is salty, I’m holding off on additional salt.)

Serve with a scoop of cottage cheese, some chopped flat-leaf parsley or cilantro, and a dash of smoked shoyu. The Japanese oak used to craft this soy sauce lends a robust, umami-rich smoked flavor.

My first thought when I took a bite of the hot, crunchy tomato with a forkful of the creamy, full-fat cottage cheese (infused with umami goodness) was that it was strangely reminiscent of the flavor of a bacon-heavy BLT. Since I no longer eat meat, unless I’m a guest at someone’s home, I haven’t made a BLT in a few years. But, the memory is fresh in my mind. The crispy breaded tomatoes with shoyu, which so powerfully conjured bacon, was surprising, and incredibly delicious.

After finishing my lunch, I decided to research other fried green tomato recipes. Most seemed to coat their tomato slices in flour, then egg, followed by a mix of cornmeal and flour. I’ll try that method next time, but was very happy using Panko. I decided on a side of cottage cheese because I’ve been looking for ways to get more protein in every meal, and a half-scoop has 11 grams.

Easy, quick, and yummy, this is a treat that I predict will be on constant repeat in my kitchen. Maybe next time I’ll even try it before the tomatoes change color.

Spanish-y Soup

soup

As a novice home cook, the thing that really makes it fun for me is see what I can do with random ingredients in my fridge (especially vegetables that are crying out to be used before they go bad).

This week my culinary adventure began with a nearly-full can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. I had recently opened the tin to make a fabulous cilantro-lime salad dressing (which is a post for another day). I felt a bit stumped as to what I was going to do with the rest of the peppers, until I had a vision of adding them to a soup base with beef broth, coconut milk, and lime juice.

The chipotle peppers have a wonderful smoky quality and I was excited to see what direction the soup might take once I got going and made use of a fun lineup of leftover items. I was hoping this would be like a scene from Like Water for Chocolate where I let my intuition be my guide to some culinary magic.

I started by cutting up a couple of carrots, half a purple onion, two cloves of garlic, a shallot, and two stalks of celery. I sautéed these in my soup pot in a generous glug of olive oil until they were softened with a bit of color.

Next, I added 3/4 of a carton of beef broth, a tin of coconut milk, and the adobo peppers. As the broth was bubbling away, I chopped my vegetables and added them to the mix: mushrooms, red pepper, green onions, jalapeños, potatoes, and purple cabbage.

The best part was exploring all of the little storage containers and bottles in my fridge. I had half a bottle of capers, black pitted olives, green olives, three sardines, and some caramelized white onions that I’d cooked up a few days earlier. Oh, and a can of white beans from the pantry.

Needless to say, all of the bits and bobs were pointing toward a wonderful Spanish style of soup. Not exactly a bouillabaisse, but very much in that neighborhood. After adding the capers and the olives, I tasted the broth and I knew instantly that I was on the right track. The broth was rich and smoky, with lovely salty/briny notes from the sardines and the capers. I debated whether or not I wanted to add a can or two of diced tomatoes, but I didn’t want to mess up the flavor profile that I had accidentally achieved. I decided that tomatoes might make the broth too bright and citrusy, and I liked how savory it tasted.

Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce are quite spicy. The broth still had a high level of heat, so I added a small can of coconut cream to bring down the fire just a touch. Another taste of the broth and I felt it was very nearly perfect. Two tablespoons of lime juice, three cross-sections of lemon, and salt and pepper to taste were my final additions. The citrus added a perfect touch of brightness, but not overly as I had feared the diced tomatoes might. I put the lid on the pot and let it simmer for a few hours.

Flash forward to today when I enjoyed a big bowl of my soup garnished with fresh cilantro. I was so happy that I’d added the lemons. The fleshy fruit had cooked off of the rind and become integrated in the broth. The rinds remained and were surprisingly delicious! The only thing missing was a crusty baguette. Happily, I made a big pot, so there will be plenty of opportunities to dip my bread into my bowl. One thing I am considering is whether I should run to the market for a small amount of white fish. This soup cries out for fish. But sometimes, it’s best not to tempt the fates. Especially not when they’ve given you a taste of magic.

Ingredients:

  • Two carrots
  • Two stalks of celery
  • 1/2 purple onion
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1 scallion
  • 3/4 box of beef broth
  • Small tin of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
  • 1 tin of coconut milk
  • Small tin of coconut cream
  • 8 small yellow potatoes
  • 1 cup of sliced mushrooms
  • 3 green onions (the white parts, diced)
  • 1/2 large red pepper diced
  • 1/2 cup caramelized white onions
  • 1/4 medium purple cabbage finely diced
  • 1 jalapeño finely diced
  • 1/4 C green olives, pitted and diced
  • 1/4 C black olives, pitted and diced
  • 1/4 C capers
  • Tin of white beans
  • 3 lemon rounds
  • Cilantro
  • Salt
  • Pepper