AN OLD YANKEE TREAT: FRIED GREEN TOMATOES..REALLY!!

Well, I'm a few months into cooking on my own and my fridge is still overcrowded with food and little bowls of sauces and other concoctions I plan to use SOMEHOW, but all in all I am making progress and am certainly eating well!! More on the progress in another post.

Now, I'd like to digress to my recent visit to my girls in Boston, a wonderful trip down memory lane with friends, great food, some new friends, and an unlikely recipe idea for a quick, but interesting "alone" meal.

Boston

When I dine out, I like to order foods which I will most likely not prepare at home. There are often so many tempting menu choices, it is difficult to choose, but the one criteria, in addition to what I feel like eating, is whether or not I could or would prepare it at home.  Many delicious sounding items are not selected because they would be so easy to make at home. I write the menu descriptions on a scrap of paper and often try to create these dishes in my kitchen later. My preparation may differ from what the original chef intended, but, once again, I get to eat exactly what I like! Frankly,there are sometimes unpleasant surprises lurking behind those yummy descriptions when they arrive at your table! 

For me, the point is that dining out not only provides an enjoyable event, it also serves as inspiration for future meals.

Such was the Channel Cafe in Boston. It's a cute little cafe tucked away in an art gallery. The kind of place you could find in SOHO 30 or so years ago, before it became "chic". The food is honest and creative, but casual. My daughter, Emily, and I met Allison, a dear family friend for lunch at the Cafe on my last day in Boston.
One of their sandwich selections caught my eye. At first, I thought it was an unlikely offering for a Boston restaurant. On second thought, however, I remembered what I did each October or November, when the unripened tomatoes in our garden were still on the vines with no hope of staying there alive until they ripened.

Yes, the Fried Green Tomato and Chile Lime Sauce on Whole Grain Bread BLT suddenly not only sounded delicious, but also made sense in a Boston Cafe in November!

Boston

My husband, whose roots are true "Yankee", (the family possesses a Revolutionary War rifle and there is a question of Josiah Bartlett, a New Hampshire ancestor, being a signer of the Declaration of Independence) taught me how to make Fried Green Tomatoes! 
His grandmother, Edna Bemis Bartlett, used to make them for him in Pepperell, MA when he was a boy and he loved them.
They were coated with cornmeal, or maybe a little flour and fried in oil or bacon fat! Sound familiar?? An old New England fall tradition; yes, it was!
I used to add some herbs and breadcrumbs to the mix as I had no regional or family compunctions about altering recipes. Sometimes I would add garlic powder to the mixture as well. Heresy, I am sure, but mighty tasty! They were always delicious and often a breakfast staple at our house in the late fall, early winter.


I did not order this sandwich at the Channel Cafe since it obviously fell into the "I can make this at home" category, but, of course jotted it down, as a potential future meal when I returned to my "Southern" home!

BLT WITH FRIED GREEN TOMATOES and CHILI LIME MAYO: A Southern Yankee Southwest Treat

Thick sliced Smoked Bacon (2 slices per sandwich)
Sliced Green Tomatoes (2-3 per sandwich)
Cornmeal and Panko breadcrumbs, mixed
Garlic powder and dried herbs such as Oregano or Herbs de Provence
Salt and Pepper
1/2 lime for juice
Mayonnaise (commercial or homemade)
Dash of Chipotle chili sauce, or Cholula Chili Garlic Sauce to taste
Leaves of Romaine or Boston Lettuce
Sliced whole grain bread of choice ( I like Publix Omega 3 Whole Grain Bread) A real Yankee would most likely chose Anadama Bread*

 Mix the cornmeal with panko and season as desired.
You can dip the tomato slices in beaten egg, and then flour, but I prefer to simply coat them with the crumbs..they taste a little lighter.
Cook the bacon until crisp and reserve a little of the fat in the skillet.
Fry the coated tomatoes for a few mintues on each side in the hot bacon fat.
Blend the mayonnaise with lime juice and chili sauce.
Toast the bread.
Assemble the sandwich: Spread the seasoned mayo on the bread, top with lettuce, fried tomatoes, and bacon slices. Enjoy!!

*Anadama Bread is a yeast bread made of molasses, cornmeal and flour. There are several myths and stories about it's origins, mostly on the North Shore of Boston. It is DELICIOUS and I miss it dearly!!