Monday, August 2, 2010

Fried Green Tomatoes season

I have been on this fried green tomato kick for a couple of weeks and thanks to my wonderful neighbor, Don, he has kept me in some wonderful veggies from his garden, green tomatoes being one of them. I want to share this wonderful batter recipe I found and have used not only on the tomatoes but also on yellow squash...they really turn out crispy. Enjoy!

Cindy's Fried Squash and Green Tomato Batter
(This is enough for a couple of tomatoes or about 8 slices of squash - double if you need more)
1 egg
1/4 c. buttermilk
1/4 c. flour
1/4 c. cornmeal
1/4 c. panko breakcrumbs
1 t. kosher salt
1/8 t. black pepper
Vegetable oil for frying

Whisk eggs and buttermilk together in medium size bowl. Scoop flour onto a plate. Mix cornmeal, panko crumbs, salt and pepper on plate. Dip squash or tomatoes into flour to coat then dip the squash/tomatoes into milk and egg mixture. Dredge in panko mixture to completely coat.

In large skillet pour veggie oil into stainless skillet until hot (put wooden spoon into oil and when there are bubbles around the spoon it is hot enough). Do not crowd them, When they are browned, flip and fry the other side. Drain on paper towels.

Note: If you are using green tomatoes, slice them and put on paper towels and sprinkle with salt and let them sit for awhile...this will help them not be so soggy.

I am still looking for the best dipping sauce for these...I used ranch with the squash and it tasted pretty good. I made an Outback bloomin onion dip for the tomatoes. If anyone out there has a good dipping sauce, please share it with me if you don't mind. Thanks!

Where did July go? Guest bath remodel

Just noticed it was June since I've posted...sorry...just been a busy summer. Happy to announce that we just finished our guest bath remodel...one down and many more to go! It is such a small bath but I really love the outcome. I have posted an after pic for you to see (wish I had a before pic but it was so ugly I didn't want a pic). I have a very retro blue toilet and shower so I had to work around those colors as we did not remove them. The bath is basically blue and brown. Before it had this horrible linoleum on the floor, an oak vanity with blue sink, plain mirror and a brass lighting fixture...very outdated. Since we are going for a modern feel throughout the house, this bath will blend in really well once we get the entire home remodeled. We had beautiful tile laid on the floor and it looks so clean now. The walls were just white and I painted it a light beige as with it being so small I didn't want to use a dark color which would make it look smaller. I have become a huge fan of Overstock.com as that is where we got the sink and mirror from. The lighting came from Lowe's but you can't tell too much about it in this pic. I am also looking for the perfect art work to go on the wall.