I have collected all sorts of wonderful things to make picture taking at parties tons of fun! I have Mardi Gras masks and boas that I found when in New Orleans one year in the late nineties, hand painted wooden frames to “frame yourself”, hats and glasses galore, tiaras, crowns and so on. It really relaxes the party goer and makes for terrific cutting up and often hysterical pics! Go ahead…Give it a whirl sometime really soon.
Ummm Hmmm. This is what I’m talkin’ ’bout! Georgia Browns’s* former chef Darrell Hughes developed this version of FGT in 1995. He moved to sister restaurant Paolo’s in DC’s Georgetown in 2009. He’s rocking Italian, “California Style” there! Just a couple more reasons to visit our nation’s Capitol!
3 green tomatoes, sliced 1/4” thick
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 t dried Basil
1/4 t salt
1 t black pepper
1 cup flour
4 eggs, beaten
3 cups Japanese bread crumbs
1 Tbs parsley, minced
Olive oil for frying
Mix cream cheese with basil and half of the salt & pepper.
Place 1/2 Tbs of cream cheese mixture on one slice of tomato.
Press another tomato slice on top of cream cheese to make a sandwich.
Mix remaining salt & pepper into flour.
Mix parsley into bread crumbs.
Dredge tomato sandwich into seasoned flour.
Shake off excess flour.
Dip in eggs.
Shake off excess egg.
Dredge in bread crumb mixture to coat.
Heat oil in skillet over medium high heat.
Sauté approximately 2 minutes per side, until golden brown.
Place on paper towel to soak up excess oil.
Serve with Lemon Cayenne Mayonnaise.
* “Georgia Brown’s…the soul of DC, offering a tailored side of the South.”
A Few of My Favorites from Last Weekend in DC…Side Note, the Reasoning Behind My Madness for THE BAR...
One Helluva Wine Cellar, Complete with Corporate Table, The Jefferson
My best Italian friend David Rocco states quite clearly in his book Made in Italy that Italians stop daily at the bar on their way home from work. In a word, decompress. I rather think American city-dwelling business folks conquer. Personally I fell in love with the bar in my mid- thirties when TD (for new readers, The Don, husband of 38 years) and I ventured in to the original Oak Bar at The Plaza. We were on a then rare (yes, in those days we
actually stayed home!) weekend away with truest of friends Mary Margaret and Bob (I won’t disclose the nightmare flight, yikes). The environment was just so damn civilized, and conducive to actually enjoying, as opposed to gulping, a finely prepared cocktail and calm, quiet conversation. They ended up having to boot us out so we could make our dinner reservation up the street. Then a decade or so ago, a family trip to Paris further deepened
Rye Bar, Capella Hotel
my love of the bar. We bar fooded and drank our afternoon and evening through The Loveliest of Lovely Hotel Bars. Leaving the Ritz in the rain was NBD. Our spirits could not be dampened! As Always: Drink Responsibly and Avoid Alcohol Consumption while Pregnant.
Round Robin Bar, The Willard
Putting on the Ritz
Brenton and Buckley Louise (pic from 2011; I just still adore it!)
Luckily for me, I spent this past weekend in DC with Brenton (clear throat, actually I spent an entire week there and The Don joined us on Thursday afternoon!). Brenton and I jammed each afternoon with clever fun summer activities; said activities naturally were sandwiched in between her full work days, loving duties of Buckley, laundry, securing proper shutters and paint color, hunting for fresh work clothes, having dinner with JoJo, cooking healthily at 
home, TV movie watching and so on…And then Saturday took us to the marvy Eastern Market. The veggies and fruits were in their FINEST forms and were all sliced freshly for sampling. YUMMY. We jammed our baskets and then ventured to the historic building housing the inside vendors with their meats, sausages, seafoods, cheeses and delectable delights indescribable. If you find yourself in DC, please call Uber (available in most large USA cities…a transportation JEWEL!) and get yourself to the Market, just east of the Capitol Building. Food, Art, Clothing, Jewelry, Antiques, Trinkets, Slushies, Cupcakes, and much much more! PS…more on this weekend experience to follow…hint…FAB Hotel Bars (no surprise!) and an OTT Gospel Choir Brunch. Go Ahead, Envy Us and Our Renewed Faithfulness. Dang is all I Gotta Say! Get ready Gray…I’m yours this weekend lovey!
THE Sweetest Ever Sweet White Corn
That’s Correct. 1873.
Sunflowers Almost as Amazing as Ben’s
Found This Awesome Hand-Cut Bacon…Made Me Remember This Recipe!
California Omelet
4 slices precooked bacon
2 Tbs butter
6 eggs, beaten
4 Tbs guacamole
1/2 cup shredded Jack cheese
2 Tbs sour cream
2 Tbs salsa
Microwave the bacon according to package directions to crispen.
Tear the bacon into small pieces.
In small mixing bowl, beat all eggs until blended.
In a small sauté pan melt 1 Tbs butter over medium heat.
Add half the eggs into the pan and swirl so they coat the bottom.
Gently pull the eggs away from the sides of the pan to prevent sticking and so that more eggs can cook.
When bottom of eggs are set, carefully flip the omelet over with a spatula and cook the other side.
When almost fully cooked, add half of the bacon, guacamole, and cheese.
Fold the omelet over so the cheese begins to melt.
Slide onto a plate.
Garnish with a dollop of sour cream.
Serve with salsa and extra guacamole.
Repeat for second omelet. Easily serves four.
Adapted From Southern California Cooking from the Cottage. Jane and Michael Stern. 2004.
A couple of weeks back as I was whizzing through FB posts I stumbled across this crisp bread recipe. It just looked too easy to be true. Guess what? It’s not!
3 cups all purpose flour
1 3/4 t salt
1/2 t Rapid-rise yeast
1 1/2 cups water
Not exactly a ball, but it worked for me!
In large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and yeast.
Add water and mix until a shaggy mixture forms.
Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 12 – 18 hours.
Overnight works terrifically.
Preheat oven to 450°.
Place an empty cast iron pot, lid on, in the oven and heat pot for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, pour dough onto a heavily floured surface and shape into a ball.
Cover with dish towel and let dough rest while pot is heating.
Remove hot pot from the oven and drop in the dough.
Cover and return to oven.
Bake 30 minutes.
Remove lid and bake an additional 15 minutes.
Remove bread from oven and place on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Then SLICE IN!
Perfect with a crisp salad on these steamy summer evenings. And don’t forget to add another crisp element…a cool glass of Skinny Girl California White, at a mere 100 calories per glass. Guess that depends on your pour style! Cheers!
Just the perfect lunch for these humid days of summer…fresh, light, and won’t weigh you down for the afternoon. One more day til the weekend people!
1 head iceberg lettuce, torn into bite sized pieces
3 long carrots, shaved
1/3 cup Hellman’s light mayonnaise
1/4 cup rice vinegar
3 Tbs fresh, chopped, peeled ginger
2 Tbs toasted sesame seed
4 Tbs low sodium soy sauce
2 t sugar
For dressing:
In blender, mix together mayonnaise, vinegar, ginger, sesame seeds, soy sauce, and sugar.
Refrigerate until ready to use.
Divide lettuce among 6 plates.
Sprinkle with carrot shavings.
Top with dressing.
Our last evening at Primland was completely over the top. We were in the kitchen, yes right in the kitchen with Chef Gunnar and his staff. They prepared a phenomenal dinner with amazing wine flights. It began with a perfectly crisp champagne and an “Amuse” of oyster with diced jicama on the half shell. Now i simply don’t tolerate oysters, no matter the prep method; so it must’ve been the atmosphere or the fact that Rick made me do it, but I tossed it right down the hatch. Now I’ll probably never have another one as no oyster in the world could ever be that sweet or tender, much to my total amazement. My man Gunner has a secret! Next came a bite of 
Carolina Black Bass, then Wild Nettle Soup, followed by Seared Duck Breast, then Roasted Loin of Border Springs Lamb. Uh huh…it goes on. From there was a Limestone Lettuce with Bing Cherry Conserve, Primland Strawberries Napoleon and then Chef capped it all off with a showstopping dessert of Nitro Frozen Milk Chocolate Mousse. Count that…eight courses, but 
honestly only a taste or two per course. I promise, we aren’t gluttons. or ? PS…apparently our sommelier can only “sommel”, as the group photos he took attempted to take of us are just a big, blurry mess! Ahhh…Primland, take me back.
I suppose this is what you do when retired? I’d surely never done this previously…medical care needed?!
You will need:
Complete canning set
Canning jars…I like half pint size
6 cups blueberries
3 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 t lemon zest
Prepare jars and lids (not rims) by boiling in canning pot for 5 minutes.
Keep jars in water while preparing berries.
In large bowl, crush 3 cups berries with potato masher.
Pour in to soup pot.
Crush remaining berries in bowl.
Pour in to soup pot.
Add sugar, lemon zest and juice.
Bring to boil over medium-high heat.
Reduce heat to medium low and boil 15 to 20 minutes stirring often.
Skim off any foam.
Remove jars and lids from hot water.
Line them up on counter.
Ladle hot preserves in to hot jars, with 1/4 inch head room.
Place lid and lightly screw on rim.
Prepare canned preserves in boiling water for 10 minutes.
Remove from water and make certain that lids “pop”.
Allow to rest for at least a day.
Good in cool, dark pantry for up to a year.
All of this while wearing my trusty brace. Thank you Jacob Bosley!
Arthritic Thumb Brace!
My dear friend Lou and I are treating ourselves rather royally this coming Sunday/Monday to a cooking seminar at Fearrington Village with executive chef Colin Bedford. In honor of that upcoming venture I give you this version of a Fried Green Tomato. This initially appeared in the 1987 book by Fearrington creator/owner (now deceased) Jenny Fitch titled The Fearrington House Cookbook. It’s rather plain for my personal taste, but add the sauce from Georgia Brown’s in DC and you’ll be in love all over again. I’ll post Georgia Brown’s exquisite ramped up version of the good ole Southern fried green tomato in the next couple of weeks. And that is a promise that you will beg me to keep! D.I.V.I.N.E.
6 medium green tomatoes cut into 1/4″ slices
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup unbleached flour
1 t salt
1 Tbs ground black pepper
1 1/2 t cayenne pepper
2 t dried thyme
1/4 cup peanut oil
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Soak tomato slices in buttermilk.
Mix together cornmeal, flour and spices.
Dredge tomato slices in cornmeal mixture.
Combine oils in large skillet and heat on medium.
Sauté over medium heat for about 2 minutes per side, until golden.
Drain on paper towels.
And I don’t even like mayonnaise! But this is over the top. Trust me on this.
1 cup fat free mayonnaise
2 Tbs lemon juice
1 t cayenne pepper
1/2 t salt
1 t paprika
Whisk all ingredients together.
Refrigerate until ready to use.
PegHardee.com Insight into Southern Cuisine and Hospitality 