Thursday, September 13, 2007

sorta southern dinner

This was my first time making and second time eating fried green tomatoes in memory.
My boss recently gave me a ton of fresh herbs (lemon sage, parsley, rosemary, oregano, bay leaf!), cucumbers and green tomatoes from her garden. I plan on making a traditional Italian green tomato and herb sauce she gave me the recipe for, but I just had to try them this classic style.

sorta southern dinner

Vegan fried green tomatoes:
The tomatoes are thinly sliced, which is easy to do since they're quite firm. I dipped them in a corn starch and water slurry, and then into a mixtures of cornmeal, pinches of sea salt, paprika, pepper, seasoning salt and garlic powder. I would estimate 1/3 cup of cornmeal for my one medium sized tomato, and cooked them in olive oil. I thought about doing a flour coating, but I was already doing that with the tempeh and wanted to mix things up. I could enjoy it, but it wasn't something I'd count on making again unless requested.

'Breast' of Tempeh:
The tempeh is altered from Bryanna Clark Grogan's recipe for Breast of Tofu, cooked crispy- style in peanut oil. I also have tofu marinading, and baked a few pieces last night for my lunch today. I used fresh herbs in the marinade as opposed to dried and utilized my new lemon sage.
I poached the tempeh in boiling water, and then marinaded for 30 minutes before pan frying.

On top is some gravy, and on the side are fresh green beans, 123s and chreese, and super crispy russet sticks, baked with sea salt and a ton of pepper.

All in all, definitely a meal that hit multiple spots.

If you have room, here's another PPK cookie test kitchen creation, classic oatmeal raisin...

birthday weekend 007

13 comments:

Carla said...

I'm dead jealous of you being a cookie tester for Isa and Terry! You'll be getting me drooling all over the place for ages! When is the book of cookie domination likely to be published??

Lori- the Pleasantly Plump Vegan said...

oh yeah, fried green tomatoes = awesome.

jess (of Get Sconed!) said...

Hi Carla, to be honest, I have no idea when the cookie book will be published, my guess is in a year? We literally haven't even started 'official' testing yet. Just the oatmeal raisin and the black and whites in my previous post.
Get Veganomican next month, though!

pleasantly pump - I have to say, I actually liked the tomatoes even better lightly reheated the next day - yum.

bazu said...

I love fried green tomatoes! I only tried them for the first time last year, when we had a glut of green tomatoes from our garden- and they were yummy!
Wow, you're a tester for the cookie book?? How do I always miss these things?

Anonymous said...

Oh tomatoes, I love them! Those cookies look really good, they only need the raisins removed :D

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

what a great, veganized Southern-style meal!! and those cookies... Jess, you have convinced me to DEFINITELY get my hands on a copy of Isa & Terry's newest cookbook when it comes out - I can't wait to receive Veganomican (which I preordered a while back)!!!

Emilie said...

I adore fried green tomatoes. I'm always going around to neighbors trading things for their green tomatoes.

That dinner looks like it was amazing.

urban vegan said...

The 'Maters look marvy.

Peace, Love and Veganism said...

Oh, I just love "fried" green tomatoes! I had them for the first time in college (in the South!) and loved them. Made them myself a summer or two ago when I found them at my local Farmers' Market. I love inspirational meals!

Anna said...

That's a very nice plateful Jess...that tempeh, yummo. I'd love to try your fried green tomatoes. The idea really appeals, but when I tried making them a few years ago they turned out pretty bleah. And those cookies look divine, I could just about eat them off the screen. Yeah...I wanna know how to become a tester for Isa and Terry too! I could be the person who makes sure things work on the other side of the world. :) Just trying to contain my excitement about Veganomican's release now....

Judy said...

I have had fried green tomatoes a few times in my life, and I always expect them to taste better than they do.

Mmmm....cookies.

Kris said...

Oh my god. That's all so amazing. I have never had green tomatoes either, but that looks so amazing. I love how you eat mac n' chreese on the side. When Jim gives me a look about eating carbs like that as a side dish I say, "Jess does it!"

Anonymous said...

Blue topaz ring will certainly be thpmas sabo your best option if you are intended to thomas sabo jewellery include a ring into your gemstone jewelry collection. cheap thomas sabo charms Either if you wish to wear the ring on a special occasion or thomas bracelets wear this sort of ornaments on a daily basis, silver charm carriers it is up to your account. Blue thomas sabo necklaces topaz ring can ensure you that you will attract every person.