Fried Green Tomatoes + Montreal Trip

Sorry I've been a little absent this summer! Between my euro trip, work, searching for a new apartment, visiting friends and family in Montreal for 2 weeks, moving into my new apartment, not having gas to cook with for the past few days and registering for classes at my new school, I haven't had much time to update... Anyways, I made these fried green tomatoes among other things a few days ago for the family at my grand-parents' country house in St-Sauveur, Quebec. They have an incredible garden with just about every vegetable you could imagine and I just couldn't resist grabbing a few unripe tomatoes for a little side dish to go along with our succotash.

I cooked them pretty much the same way as I cook my fried okra. First, I put a little flour, salt and pepper on a plate. Next, I cracked a few eggs in a bowl and added a few tablespoons of water. Then, I filled another bowl with cornmeal. I cut the tomatoes into thick slices, dipped them in the flour, then in the egg, then in the cornmeal and finally fried them in sizzling canola oil until brown on both sides. Sprinkle with salt as soon as they come out of the frying pan.

My grand-parents' garden:

Some delicious pies:

My family having lunch at the country house:

My favorite dessert ever - Onobelle's Raspberry Torte:

A giant mushroom (probably very poisonous) that I saw growing in the woods:

Me looking a little silly with the fam:

my loving sister, Kali:

Feast: Warm Potato Salad w/ Chives, Shallots, Tarragon + Fried Okra + Spoon Bread + Swiss Chard

I had a few friends over last weekend and for some reason I felt like making a big old feast.

Potato Salad:
Cut potatoes into equal bite sized pieces and bring to a boil in salted water. Cook until tender. Make the dressing in the meantime - first, sautée a shallot in some olive oil for about 4 minutes. In a large bowl, mix together a teaspoon of dijon mustard, a handful of chopped chives and tarragon, any vinegar really besides maybe balsamic which might dominate the other flavors too much, olive oil, the shallots and of course salt and pepper. When the potatoes are ready, combine everything together! This can be served warm or at room temperature.

Swiss Chard:
Sautée a little garlic in some olive oil, add in the lightly torn up chard (the stems get tender so you don't have to get rid of those as you would with kale). This cooks down to almost nothing, so be sure to buy a lot more chard than you think you'll need! Cook until the bitterness of the greens is mild and finish with some lemon juice.

Spoon Bread:
This is an old family recipe that my great-grandmother serves with her AMAZING crab cakes. I've chosen not to publish the recipe on here, but if you really want to know how to make it just ask! It's incredibly simple to prepare and tastes like a corn custard or savory pudding.

Okra:
I made fried okra again - I could really eat it every day. Here's the recipe from an earlier post.