Fried Green Tomatoes

- Green Tomatoes
- Eggs
- Flour
- Salt
- Pepper
- Oil

Green Tomatoes Method.  Cut the tomatoes to the desired thickness, do not salt before frying, as the moisture will start to leach out, and prevent proper browning.  Make an egg wash with milk and eggs, season some all-purpose flour with salt and pepper.  Begin to heat a saute pan on the stove with a layer of oil covering the bottom.  Dredge the tomatoes in the flour, then egg, and back again to the flour.  Place the tomatoes in the oil, using a tester tomato to gauge the oils hotness.  Cook for two to three minutes per side, or until golden brown, flip and continue the same process on the other side.  Remove the tomatoes, and place on a drying rack.  It is important to season with salt and pepper when the tomatoes come out of the oil.

The resulting tomato acts as a blank canvas for flavorings.
On this evening, the tomatoes were served with corn risotto, peach smoked ribs, and lavender milk braised pork shoulder.

Tomatoes are easy to grow, don't even need to be ripe to eat, and can be used in "literally" thousands of culinary applications.  So go plant a tomato, why don'tcha.

Char-Boiled, Roasted Oysters

It was a combination of two regional cooking methods.

South Carolina has developed its form of oyster cookery in the form of an oyster roast.  A fire is built and coals are made to be hot.  Placing sheet metal above the fire on cinder blocks, allows the metal to get pretty hot.  Once it is hot enough, the oysters are thrown on and covered with damp burlap sacks.  The oyster steam, or "roast", in their own liquid until opening, similar to cooking mussels.  Once opened, the bi-valves are dipped into butter.

A New Orleans foundation  restaurant, named Drago's, has been serving up charbroiled oysters for as long back as I can remember.  Walking into the location, you are immediately met with the smell of butter hitting an open flame misted with sea water.  Oyster are placed on the grill with some garlic butter, and sprinkled with cheese.  As the butter melts over the sides, the fat makes the flame ignite and surge around the oysters.  The butter combines with the oyster liquor to poach the little morsels into a bubbling delight in need of some Champagne.

Buy a sack of oyster, keeping in mind that oysters harbor the terroir of the sea, and will taste uniquely different from different water spaces.  Crank the grill on high, and let roll for thirty minutes, until extremely hot.  Make the butter.  Combine room temperature butter with fresh thyme, asiago cheese, lemon zest, splash of white wine, and some sea salt.  Eat one of the oysters raw, to gauge the salinity and factor it in to the seasoning of the butter.  Place the oysters on the grill, and cook until they open.  As they open, pull them from the fire with a set of tongs, between the lips.  Pull the top shell away and let rest off the grill.  Top the oyster with butter, and put back on the flame.  Be careful, as the oyster shell shrapnel can be loud and abrasive, it't hot.  Be careful.  Once the butter is bubbling, in a minute or two, remove and serve with forks.