Paula Deen - Get Cookin'

This time of year in gardens all over the south there is a multitude of green opportunity still hanging on the vine waiting for some culinary love. Most often, these tart green tomato beauties go ignored and are left to fall to their untimely demise amongst the prickly pine straw...my question is why do most people ignore these underage beauties?  I suspect it is because most cooks don’t know the variety of dishes that can be prepared with a simple green tomato. I want to offer some green tomato inspiration for your kitchen, but first, you must learn the Green Tomato ABC’s...

A - Always choose unripe tomatoes.  Did you know there are some tomatoes bred to stay green?  When we are talking Green Tomatoes, we mean young unripe tomatoes.  Not the “evergreen type”.

B - Be sure to stay away from the small ones.  Small green tomatoes are have a bitter flavor

C - Core, Core, Core Always core a green tomato.  Unripe tomatoes have a woody stem and a specific “core” piece.  The hard white “core” is not always continuous with the stem, so you have to dig for it a bit.  It is a small pea size white piece that usually sits within the top inch of where the stem attaches.

Now we cook:

Bake Them: Green Tomato and Squash Gratin (savory) or a Green Tomato and Nectarine free form tart.  How about a green tomato, apple and pine nut crisp?  Zucchini and Green Tomato Scones Anyone?

Sautee Them:  Sauté green tomatoes with bacon, shallots, garlic and herbs in olive oil and serve over pasta for lunch

And of Course, Fry them:  Fried Green Tomato BLT, Fried Green Tomato Pie, and Green Tomato Fritters

Last week, we were taping some How To videos (that you will see soon) with Jamie Deen and he made a Low Country Benedict: Buttermilk biscuit, fried green tomato (green tomato stolen from the star’s mother’s garden), poached egg, Georgia White Shrimp and Quick Blender Hollandaise... I died.

Try this one.  Paula came up with this one for our friends at Smithfield foods and I love it...so easy and delicious.  You could even fry the green tomatoes if you wanted before you baked the tart.

Green Tomato and Bacon Tart

Crunchy, tart and creamy all in one bite.

Serves: 6

Cook Time: 40 Minutes

Ingredients:

    * 1 pound Smithfield bacon, cooked crisp and chopped

    * 1 prepared (ready made) pie dough for 9” pie

    * 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

    * 3 ounces softened goat cheese

    * 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme, plus additional sprigs for garnish

    * 3-4 medium green tomatoes cut into 1/4" slices

    * 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

    * 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Steps:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Press dough gently into bottom and sides of a 9” tart pan. Bake for 20 minutes. While the tart shell is warm, gently spread the Dijon mustard over the bottom and top with half of the goat cheese. Sprinkle with thyme. Layer the bacon, remaining goat cheese and tomato slices in an overlapping pattern on top. Sprinkle salt and pepper evenly over the tomatoes. Bake for an additional 15 minutes. Allow to cool 5 minutes before serving.
Keep all the great recipes coming... because of you I’m even more inspired to steal some more green tomatoes from the boss's garden.

Submit your Green Tomatoes Recipes by Tues at 3:00 PM EST. Any green tomato recipe will do y’all.

Love and Best Dishes,

Paula

Y’all, in the south, we love our green tomatoes.  We do also love delicious vine-ripened red tomatoes, but there is something magical about the green tomato.  I would say my favorite ways to prepare green tomatoes are fried or pickled.  Either way, they keep their great crunch.
   
At the Lady and Sons, we serve fried green tomatoes with an onion relish.  They are so popular and one of our top sellers! At home, I like to pickle my green tomatoes.  They get sweet and crunchy and are a wonderful snack.  Michael Groover is a master pickler and taught me really great pickling preparations . . . Say that five times fast :)
   
Do y’all like to cook with green tomatoes? I imagine there are a ton of ways to prepare green tomatoes. I would just love to see you cooking with green tomatoes and see what you come up with.
   
ACTIVITY OF THE WEEK

Green Tomato Time: Submit photos or videos of you preparing a unique green tomato dish. Use your creativity. You can have it be the main part or use it as part of a dish.   We need to see you in some way in the pictures or video to verify that it is your submission.  If you submit a photo, please write up a recipe in your blog. If you don’t know how to upload a blog, picture or video, you can read about it in our FAQ HERE.
   
Final time to submit your dish is Tuesday, August 25th at 3:00 PM PST.  The two winners will get a free copy of my Country Cookbook Box Set!
   
Love and Best Dishes,

Paula