Fried Green Tomatoes, BLT style (with Basil Mayo)

Ed.’s Note: We’re trying something new at SLD! This month, the Dishes have each agreed to flip through the archives and cook another girl’s recipe, with modifications to reflect differences in her own taste preferences and/or cooking style. The idea is to feature some of the terrific recipes we’ve collected in 2+ years at Saucy Little Dish, and also to show by example the way that these posts are just guidelines that can inspire new dishes, with just a dash of creativity.

From Dish Danielle:

First off, I want to say that it’s been a great exercise to peruse the old SLD archives. (Thanks Rachelle!) As I combed through the last two years of recipes, I came across MANY I had meant to try, but never made the time to do so, (note to self: make more time for this). It’s fun to look back at the winding culinary path all of us have taken since the site launched in May of ‘09. Here’s to continuing to expand as well as challenge our foodnerd brains for many more years to come…

I was inspired to try my hand at fried green tomatoes this weekend for two reasons: 1. Dish Rachelle’s July 2010 post totally whet my appetite for them (I honestly did not purposely chose a post from exactly a year ago…). and 2. I had the pleasure of attending another north Brooklyn based supperclub called ‘Neighbor’ this weekend, who served them aside their salad course and I thought, ‘YUM. Wait. I want to try these…’

I went BLT style.

Start by making your mayo.

For the Basil Mayo:
1 egg yolk
½-1 tsp salt
½ tsp dry mustard powder
1-2 tsp sugar
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
½ clove of garlic
½c packed basil leaves
1 cup safflower or corn oil

Whisk vinegar & lemon juice in small bowl. In food processor or blender, toss in yolk, salt, mustard, sugar, & garlic. Puree/pulse briefly. Add half of vinegar/lemon liquid and run for 10 seconds. Add basil and remaining vin/lemon–run for another 10 seconds. Let machine run while pouring the oil in a slow steady stream. Mayo should get thick & frothy. Stop once it’s light in color—mayo will ‘break’ if run too long. Set aside and get crackin’ on your tomatoes.

For the tomatoes: (this will make 3 BLT’s with enough leftover tomatoes for snacking. *this recipe is adapted from an April 2009 Epicurious post.)
2-3 green tomatoes, sliced, ¼’’ thick
S&P
½ c flour
½ c buttermilk, shaken
dash hot sauce
½ c cornmeal
1c panko crumbs
veggie oil for frying

For the BLT assembly:
Handful of fried bacon strips
3 English muffins
some nice crisp lettuce leaves

Season tomato slices with S&P. Pour flour onto a plate. Whisk buttermilk & hot sauce in shallow bowl. Mix cornmeal & panko in shallow bowl. Before you prep the tomatoes, now would be the time to get your bacon frying. Once that’s going, ready another pan for tomato frying. Oil ½’’ deep is plenty. Place oil over med-high heat. Back to tomatoes: Coat them in flour, dunk them in buttermilk, and nestle them into cornmeal/panko mix, making sure they’re battered evenly. Once oil is hot enough (350 degrees or so), fry them off! They’ll take about 2 minutes on each side. Oh—and don’t forget to flip your bacon…





Place tomatoes on paper towels to drain/cool slightly. Toast your muffins & prep your lettuce. It’s almost time to eat! Assemble your delectable BLT’s and enjoy for breakfast, lunch, or a light summer supper…Best enjoyed beneath a glowing igloo on a cool Brooklyn rooftop.

Sidebar: These were the first BLT’s I’ve ever made, and they’ll be on heavy rotation for the rest of the season.

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Beach Blanket Brisket

Ed.’s Note: We’re trying something new at SLD! This month, the Dishes have each agreed to flip through the archives and cook another girl’s recipe, with modifications to reflect differences in her own taste preferences and/or cooking style. The idea is to feature some of the terrific recipes we’ve collected in 2+ years at Saucy Little Dish, and also to show by example the way that these posts are just guidelines that can inspire new dishes, with just a dash of creativity.

From Dish Gwen:

Brisket? In July? During a New York City Heat Wave? What are you thinking?!

I was thinking “Let’s get this freaking brisket out my freezer and make room for ice cream!” And I wanted brisket sandwiches to take to the beach. Just four hours of blistering inferno in my kitchen and it was all worth it.

This is based on Dish Jodi’s leg of lamb recipe from back in April. The only difference is that I used a brisket, which is a big hunk of fatty beef, instead of lamb, which is a baby sheep. I also substitute paprika for cumin because I didn’t have any cumin, and I used both white and red wine, because I had two half bottles of white and red.

Ingredients:
- A 3-4 lb brisket
- Salt
- Black Pepper
- Olive Oil
- 1/2 bottle of white wine
- ½ bottle of red wine
- 1 head of garlic
- 4 or 5 sprigs of thyme
- 4 or 5 sprigs of oregano
- a dozen or so cardamom pods
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 cinnamon stick

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Heat oil to medium in a large pot, and rub the brisket with with olive oil and salt and pepper generously. Sear the brisket on all sides until brown and crispy, then set aside on a plate.

Keep the pot simmering, and pour in the wine into pot and stir with the meat drippings (as Jodi puts it, “scrape up all the yummy brown bits”). Break up the head of garlic and put it and the rest of the ingredients into wine.

Bring to simmer then put the brisket back in, and add water until the brisket is completely covered (this is also something that strays from Jodi’s recipe – a braised Brisket generally requires to be fully submerged in liquid. Don’t ask me, ask your Jewish grandmother.) Cover and put in oven for FOUR HOURS.

While your meat simmers, you should retire to the air conditioned bedroom and watch a couple of movies or several HBO miniseries episodes in a row. And have a beer.

Pull out the brisket, eat half of it with some bread and salad, and put the rest in the fridge so you can slice it up and make sandwiches later. Save all of the beef stock that’s left in the pan too – it’s good broth and you can make gravy with it. Just strain the stock into a couple of tupperwares and throw them in the freezer for later. Brisket!

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Spicy Chorizo and Kale Soup, or How I Almost Gave Myself Heatstroke

Ed.’s Note: We’re trying something new at SLD! This month, the Dishes have each agreed to flip through the archives and cook another girl’s recipe, with modifications to reflect differences in her own taste preferences and/or cooking style. The idea is to feature some of the terrific recipes we’ve collected in 2+ years at Saucy Little Dish, and also to show by example the way that these posts are just guidelines that can inspire new dishes, with just a dash of creativity.

From Dish Erin:

I’m not going to lie.  I forgot I was supposed to redo a Dish’s dish this week.  Whoops. This oversight has led me to an egregious miscalculation: I made a soup on the hottest day of the year.  Please, do not attempt this dish until at least September, when the heat index is below 114 degrees.  Apologies in advance.  Here’s what happened:

Caught unprepared, I opened my fridge and thought, I can do this.  I can make something resembling a dish from SLD.

And here’s the beauty of it: From a fridge full of nothing but some wilting kale, a package of chorizo, and a pint of chicken stock, I not only made something, I made something pretty delicious. (Thanks to the plethora of awesome recipes on SLD, of course.)

Jodi made a sausage, kale and white bean dish last Fall that I’ve wanted to make since the post first debuted.  Then this past month, Gwen made a chicken soup with lemon that struck me as brilliant in it’s simplicity.  I didn’t have enough ingredients on hand to make either.  But if I combined them…

Based off my ingredient list, I came up with the idea of making a chorizo based lemony soup with kale.  I didn’t have beans or noodles, unfortunately.  But I did have a little quinoa, a grain that in my opinion, can never hurt in any broth-based soup.

I have no idea if this sounds ill-conceived or bizarre to normal people, as I am incapable of thinking that any dish containing lemon and chorizo is anything but delicious.

So here’s what I came up with in my devotion to you, dear readers, and in the spirit that is Saucy Little Dish:

Olive oil for sauteing
1/2 onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 chorizo links, sliced thin
4 cups chicken stock
2 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme)
3-4 thin thin slices of lemon
1/4 cup quinoa (you could also use diced potatoes or white beans)
2 cups kale, ribs removed, roughly chopped
Salt & Pepper to taste

1.) Heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add onion and garlic and saute until onion is translucent.  Add chorizo, stirring every few minutes, until fat in chorizo starts to render, about 5-7 minutes.

2.) Add chicken stock, lemon slices, thyme and quinoa (or beans or potatoes, whatever you’re using), bring to a boil, and then simmer for about 20-25 minutes until grains are cooked.  You can put the top on for a bit, just make sure to stir gently once or twice.

3.) Add the kale, and salt & pepper to taste.

Serve in bowls, preferably not on the hottest day of the year.  I didn’t have any on hand, but I bet a little Manchego cheese sprinkled on top would be pretty awesome.

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