Alabama Week #1 Fried Green Tomatoes

Yeah, it’s Wednesday and it’s the first time I’ve posted about this. I really did do it Monday, I just got caught up in things and didn’t get it up on the day I wanted to.

To start things off, Monday’s Alabama food is Fried Green Tomatoes. Fried Green Tomatoes At The Whistle Stop Cafe is such a good book, and a tribute to both the fictional place and the real deal, The Irondale Cafe in Irondale, Alabama seemed like just the thing! The chicken is a recipe from The Food You Crave.

   

Whistle Stop Cafe’s Fried Green Tomatoes

1 egg, beaten
1 c. buttermilk
1 c. self rising flour
1/2 c. cornmeal
1/2 tsp. salt
6 to 8 green tomatoes, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
Bacon drippings, vegetable oil, or a mixture of both

Fry in hot oil on each side a few minutes, or until golden brown.

The Week’s Menu

This is what’s currently planned as the menu for the coming week. Grocery shopping has been changed to Thursdays now, because I did it this week and I really like the more relaxed feeling of being prepared for the weekend. This is the first week of my state project, and my first time in TWD and the DB. Hows’ the for a whole new range of projects! The best part is that Tuesdays With Dorie works out for me so that I can bake on Saturday, and share the results with the family on the usual family Saturday suppers. This week is a little different, there’s a get together on Sunday (B-Day celebration, not the Super Bowl), so Saturday we’ll be having D’s mom over here and I’ll do supper. Which part of the meal has to do with Alabama and why, I’ll explain when I put up the pics each day. Alabama gets shorted a day (sorry y’all!) by Fat Tuesday being this Tuesday. Holidays of any sort are always big cooking days for me, and I don’t want to ignore any of them.

2/1 Breakfast : Whole Grain Cereal

        Supper : Fish Chowder 

2/2 Breakfast : Whole Wheat Pancakes With Strawberry Sauce

        Dinner : Fish Chowder

        Supper : Pot Roast, Roasted Veggies, TWD 

2/3 Breakfast : Apple - Pecan Muffins, Eggs

        Supper : Supper at D’s Mom’s 

2/4 Breakfast : Whole Grain Cereal

        Dinner : Soup, Sandwich

        Supper : Oven Fried Chicken, Fried Green Tomatoes, Cornbread

2/5 Breakfast : Whole Grain Cereal

        Dinner : Soup, Sandwich

        Supper : Jambalaya, Dirty Rice, King Cakes

2/6 Breakfast : Whole Grain Cereal

        Dinner : Jambalaya

        Supper : Fettuccine With Walnuts And Parsley, Mashed Sweet Potatoes With Orange Essence

2/7 Breakfast : Whole Grain Cereal

        Dinner : Soup, Sandwich

        Supper : Turkey Burgers, Garlic Fries, Baked Beans, Peanut Butter Cookies

2/8 Breakfast : Whole Grain Cereal

        Dinner : Soup, Sandwich

       Supper :  Meatloaf, Dirty Broccoli, Dill/Cheddar Biscuits

Frantic Waving

A little post to say that I haven’t become a slacker in the world of blogging, my poor laptop took a nose dive on me. As soon as these updates get downloaded, I can get back to putting up pics and running my mouth happily. The state foods challenge has gotten a little less easy, D’s doctor has told him that the cholesterol needs to come down and it’s healthy living for us! Darn it, the plucky tartlet refuses to give in to the idea that healthy means blech, and these days enough other people think the same way that it shouldn’t be too hard to get healthy while things are delicious. It’s a new opportunity for me to become a better cook, and the state foods will just have to get a little more creative. As always, any suggestions for state culinary representatives are welcome, and most likely a more fun voting then the voting wars we’re all in right now in the US. Alabama  is figured out, so I’m one bit closer to being ready for February. What a busy month this may turn out to be, in such great ways!

Sweet Menu Alabama

It would have been nice to start off this project with a grocery list and a full menu, but that ain’t gonna happen. Most of the shopping was already done for the month when I decided to do this, and I’m almost up to the budget. D said that we could probably stretch the usual budget a bit if we needed to but I’d like to do everything I can without doing that. The challenge this month will be to represent each state, and use what’s already in the kitchen!

The first state is Alabama, and without further rambling here’s tonight’s recipe : Whipped Sweet Potatoes. What better way to start talking about Alabama then by bringing in sweet potatoes and pecans (that’s pee-KHAWNS) and putting them in a pink cup? It was a simple recipe tonight, nothing fancy while giving me the chance to play around a little.

It was easy, grabbed one big can of sweet potatoes from the pantry and mashed them, then I added 3/4 cup brown sugar, a sprinkle of nutmeg, two tablespoons of orange juice, and one egg. The mixture is whipped together with a mixer until creamy, and it’s set aside. A few handfuls of pecans were chopped up in another bowl and mixed with some brown sugar and butter, and then pressed onto the edges of a custard cup to make a coating. Filled the cups with the sweet potato mixture, and baked it at 350 for about 40 minutes. It ain’t fancy, but it’s a nice sweet potato custard that isn’t loaded with white sugar.

The rest of the meal was improvised from what I had on hand, some flounder fillets poached in a broth of water, dill, onions, lemon juice, lemon zest, paprika, garlic, and pepper, with some cherry tomatoes thrown in a few minutes before serving.

 A can of lima beans went with everything. It was a decent meal, a bit bland but good in a simple way that my tummy was happy about after being icky for a few days.