Sesame and Panko Crusted Fried Green Tomatoes With Wasabi Mayonnaise

Before the recipe, let me share a few food items I have recently discovered and am absolutely in love with.  

First up:

 

A couple of weeks ago, the POM Wonderful people sent me a case of their pomegranate juice.  In this economy, I was happy to get free food even though I'm a die hard orange juice gal.  I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did.  All natural-no fructose corn syrup, dyes, or other questionable ingredients.  And when I read the literature they sent on all the health benefits, I was really, really impressed.  Got arterial plaque build up?  POM can help with that.  Erectile dysfunction or prostate problems? This is the juice for you.  Check it out here.

My second recent discovery is mayonnaise made with olive oil.  I’m on my second jar which is Kraft, but I think my first jar was Hellman’s.  You know how low-fat and fat-free mayo taste like they came from the devil?  This new mayonnaise made from olive oil doesn’t taste that way at all AND it has half the calories and fat of regular.  Oh joy!  And if the olive oil mayonnaise people will send me a case of it for free like the Pom Wonderful people did, I will be happy to link up to their site, too.  (Smile, wink.)

 

Lastly, my husband and I are loving this blueberry cluster cereal from Kashi.  It may not be “new” but it’s new to us and even though it’s a little on the expensive side, I’m splurging and keeping our pantry stocked.  Kashi has some wonderful products for the healthy-minded and also for middle-aged people who are going to be grandparents soon and want to embrace their youth and vigor.

This concludes the healthy section of this post.

Now for the fried stuff.

My husband usually plants tomatoes every year and this year is no exception.  What he does NOT like is for me to pick green ones from the vine before some ripe red ones appear.  After a few red ones appear, it’s okay for me to pick a couple of green ones to fry, but just a couple.  He doesn’t like fried green tomatoes so he really has no understanding of the hankerings I get.

But today, while he was napping on the couch, I sneaked out and picked a couple even though we haven’t had any ripe ones yet.   He never knew a thing though, because he slept through the entire frying, picture taking, and eating process.

He looks like he's reading, huh?  He's not.  He's asleep.  I'm glad he didn't wake up to see me taking a picture of the mayonnaise jar.  Anyway, if you like fried green tomatoes, I encourage you to cast your regular cornmeal-flour mixture to the wind (make sure it’s blowing away from you first) and try panko bread crumbs and sesame seed.  It is so worth it to keep these wonderful bread crumbs around because they add a fantastic crispy exterior to fried foods.  There’s really nothing like them.  Note to Waynesborians:  You're probably gonna have to go out of town to get panko.

Sesame and Panko Crusted Fried Green Tomatoes

With Wasabi Mayonnaise

Canola oil for frying

About 3/4 cup panko bread crumbs

About 1-1/2 tablespoons sesame seeds

2 medium green tomatoes, sliced about 1/4 inch thick

1 beaten egg

Salt and pepper to taste

About 1/2 cup mayonnaise

1-2 teaspoons wasabi paste

1. Pour oil to a depth of about 1/2 inch in a medium skillet.  Heat over medium-high heat until very hot. 
2. Stir together the panko and sesame seeds.  Dip the tomato slices in the egg, then coat in panko mixture.  Fry for 3-4 minutes, turning once, until golden brown.  Remove to paper towel lined platter and season with salt and pepper.
3. To make the wasabi mayo, stir the mayonnaise and wasabi paste together.

Bourbon Pecan Cupcakes With Bourbon Brown Sugar Buttercream

I was delighted to find out that I am a runner-up in a recipe contest this month, sponsored by  Mississippi Magazine.  I was thoroughly impressed with the beautiful photography of all the recipes.  Each photograph had a "green" element to it (not the term for being environmentally friendly, but the color) such as a plate, napkin or garnish, and this made me particularly happy because green is my favorite color.

Before I post the recipe, let me make an announcement.  My darling daughter and my darling son-in-law are expecting a baby which means I will be a grandmother (gulp).  I am currently brainstorming names for my sweet little grandson to call me;  anything but Grandma, Mee-Maw or Nanna could possibly be in the running.  Something a little more youthful sounding would be nice.  Here is the happy couple at his college graduation yesterday:

Here's the recipe.  Don't worry, the alcohol cooks out.

*Update-All of the alcohol does not cook out like I had initially thought, so please do your research before letting children eat these.

Bourbon-Pecan Cupcakes with Bourbon-Brown Sugar Buttercream

Cupcakes:

1/4 cup shortening

1/4 cup butter, softened to room temperature

1 cup light brown sugar

3 eggs, separated, at room temperature

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup bourbon

1 cup chopped, toasted pecans

Bourbon-Brown Sugar Buttercream:

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup butter

3 tablespoons bourbon

1 cup butter, softened to room temperature

3 cups powdered sugar

Toasted pecan halves for garnish

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Beat the shortening, 1/4 butter, and 1 cup light brown sugar at medium speed in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy.  Add the yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Sift together the flour, baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk and 1/4 cup bourbon, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.  Stir in 1 cup chopped toasted pecan.  Beat the egg whites at high speed in a medium mixing bowl until stiff.  Gently fold into the cake batter.  Line a muffin tin with paper cupcake liners.  Fill each muffin cup about 3/4 full with batter.  Bake for 18-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Remove cupcakes from pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

2.  While cupcakes are baking, heat 1/2 cup light brown sugar, 1/4 cup butter, and 3 tablespoons bourbon over medium heat in a medium heavy saucepan, whisking often, until butter melts.  Continue to cook until mixture begins to boil, then boil for one minute, whisking constantly.  Remove from heat and cool completely. 

 3.  In a large mixing bowl, beat 1 cup softened butter on high speed until smooth and fluffy.  Beat in the cooled brown sugar-bourbon mixture until smooth. Beat in 3 cups of powdered sugar, one cup at a time, until smooth.    Frost each cooled cupcake with a generous amount of the frosting.  Top each cupcake with a toasted pecan half.  Refrigerate any remaining frosting for another use.   About 18 cupcakes.

PS.  Want to do something nice for someone?  Yes, you do.  Please click on this link and vote for my my cooking friend Linda's recipe, Dutch Apple Breakfast Bake.  If she wins this online voting contest, she will earn a spot to compete at the Pillsbury Bake-Off  for a $1,000,000.00!!!  You must register to vote,  but there is only one vote per person so it will just take a minute, PLUS there are lots of amazing recipes on this site.  Help someone's dream come true today...it's a random act of kindness, you know!

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus and Baked Pita Chips

I know.  Has roasted red pepper hummus not been done like a gazillion times before on like a gazillion different blogs?  I'm going to post it anyway.  You know what they say:  it's not a food blog until there's a post on hummus.  I'm haven't been doing a lot of cooking this week because my hubby is hunting wild turkey in the northern part of the state and this is pretty much what I've lived on.  This and a steady diet of HGTV.  I like the one where they redid the master bedroom and then there was a big reveal at the end.  Have you seen that one? 

Anyway...  

The great thing about this combo is that it's healthy and cheap.  I recently discovered that my local Wal-Mart has a clearance rack of bakery and bread items.  I visit it every time I go and  I picked up a couple of bags of pita bread a while back for about $.90 apiece.  I froze them and kept saying that I was going to make chips out of them and I finally did this week.  Now, I love the bags of pita chips that they sell in the store (Stacy's rocks!) but they are a little on the expensive side, I think.  Mine were equally delicious at a fraction of the price.  I have also been picking up loaves of ciabatta and focaccia bread at a reduced cost.  I just check for any signs of mold, and then I freeze it when I get home.  Since most of these breads are toasted when I use them, freezing is just fine.

I actually had everything to make the hummus including the tahini (sesame seed paste), which is more of an 'exotic' food item in these here parts, but was sort of a gift from my mom.  A while back ( it was actually two years ago) we were visiting my grandmother in Petal, Mississippi and we discovered The Corner Market.  This little grocery store has a great selection of imported/ exotic/can't-get-anything-like-this-in-Wayne County, MS/ Food Network-y items that this little Buckatunna girl had been living without, so she bought me a few.  I had fun trying out some new things, but a couple of them, like the tahini paste, were pushed to the back of the cabinet until this week.  I'm really glad I opened the jar even though I didn't see an expiration date, which made me a little nervous, but you know what?  I didn't get sick or anything.  I feel fine. ;o)  

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus and Baked Pita Chips

1(15-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained

1 tablespoon tahini

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons water

1 clove garlic

2 roasted red peppers from a jar

2tablespoons lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

About 6 whole pita pocket bread rounds

Extra virgin olive oil

Kosher salt

1. To make the hummus, process the chickpeas and next seven ingredients in a food processor until smooth.
2. For the pita chips, lightly brush both sides of each pita with olive oil.  Sprinkle with desired amount of kosher salt.  Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut into 8 wedges.  For thinner chips, cut the pita in half horizontally first, then into wedges.  Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes.