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I'm seeing my own future - and I like what I see!
Ever since moving to Birmingham, Jon & I have been dying to go to Hot & Hot Fish Club, a local restaurant that features all local and seasonal ingredients, including those from the Jones Valley urban farm which occupies several acres of abandoned land downtown.
Marking our first date since before Delaney was born, we are finally going to celebrate my birthday next month! I've been pointlessly drooling over the menu (it changes quite regularly) but saying my prayers that they'll still have their renowned Tomato Salad. So famous, in fact, that it was featured in the August issue of Cooking Light.
As we've had a bounty of heirloom tomatoes from our own garden, we decided to make our own attempt at the Hot & Hot Tomato Salad...and not the light version ;)
Heirloom Tomato Salad (adapted from the Hot and Hot Tomato Salad - Chef Chris Hastings)
serves 2
Ingredients:
3 heirloom tomatoes (we used black brandywine, green zebra and Mr. Stripey)
4 thin slices, prosciutto
8 pieces baby okra
1/3 cup pink field peas (can substitute black eyed peas)
1/2 cup flour
6 oz beer
2-3 tablespoons reduced-fat mayonnaise
1-2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1-2 tablespoons chopped chives
Preparation:
The key is to start with delicious summer produce. The variety of heirloom tomato doesn't matter and in fact, beefsteak tomatoes would be just fine.
These are topped with prosciutto chips. What are those you ask? Oh, just heaven! Put the thinly sliced prosciutto into a cast iron (or other heavy) skillet on medium high heat until it reaches the consistency of bacon. You can thank me later.
(Oh, the other stuff on the plate is chunks of salt pork for the pot'o'beans we made!)
You'll want to cook the field peas for just a few minutes in boiling water or broth.
To prepare the okra (this makes the most glorious fried okra EVER), combine half a beer with 1/2 to 2/3 cup flour, dip the okra in the batter, and fry for just a few minutes in peanut oil (until golden brown).
The "dressing" for this is a chive aioli that could not be more simple. Whisk together the mayo and vinegar to get a consistency slightly thinner than your average ranch dressing. Then toss in the chopped chives. That's it!
As previously mentioned, we cooked the remainder of the field peas like we would black eyed peas. Jon is in charge of this task but I'm fairly certain it includes: onion, chicken broth, hot pickled okra, jalapeno, garlic and of course the salt pork. In full disclosure - we've made this with thick cut bacon or ham hock before as well...I like the salt pork but it is salty so do not add any extra!
To assemble the tomato salad, layer 2 slices of each tomato per stack, sprinkle the field peas and okra around, dress liberally with the chive aioli and top with the prosciutto chips.
Yeah. Amazing right? Look, there's a reason a James Beard Award nominated restaurant is most famous for this dish. There are no real words (and ours is just the amateur rip-off version!)
We ate ours with steak. While we are die-hard ribeye people, we discovered a cut at our local supermarket that delivers similar texture and flavor for a much smaller price tag. They're labeled "chuck eye" steaks. Less expensive + still delicious is always a winner in my book.
Ever since moving to Birmingham, Jon & I have been dying to go to Hot & Hot Fish Club, a local restaurant that features all local and seasonal ingredients, including those from the Jones Valley urban farm which occupies several acres of abandoned land downtown.
Marking our first date since before Delaney was born, we are finally going to celebrate my birthday next month! I've been pointlessly drooling over the menu (it changes quite regularly) but saying my prayers that they'll still have their renowned Tomato Salad. So famous, in fact, that it was featured in the August issue of Cooking Light.
As we've had a bounty of heirloom tomatoes from our own garden, we decided to make our own attempt at the Hot & Hot Tomato Salad...and not the light version ;)
Heirloom Tomato Salad (adapted from the Hot and Hot Tomato Salad - Chef Chris Hastings)
serves 2
Ingredients:
3 heirloom tomatoes (we used black brandywine, green zebra and Mr. Stripey)
4 thin slices, prosciutto
8 pieces baby okra
1/3 cup pink field peas (can substitute black eyed peas)
1/2 cup flour
6 oz beer
2-3 tablespoons reduced-fat mayonnaise
1-2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1-2 tablespoons chopped chives
Preparation:
The key is to start with delicious summer produce. The variety of heirloom tomato doesn't matter and in fact, beefsteak tomatoes would be just fine.
These are topped with prosciutto chips. What are those you ask? Oh, just heaven! Put the thinly sliced prosciutto into a cast iron (or other heavy) skillet on medium high heat until it reaches the consistency of bacon. You can thank me later.
(Oh, the other stuff on the plate is chunks of salt pork for the pot'o'beans we made!)
You'll want to cook the field peas for just a few minutes in boiling water or broth.
To prepare the okra (this makes the most glorious fried okra EVER), combine half a beer with 1/2 to 2/3 cup flour, dip the okra in the batter, and fry for just a few minutes in peanut oil (until golden brown).
The "dressing" for this is a chive aioli that could not be more simple. Whisk together the mayo and vinegar to get a consistency slightly thinner than your average ranch dressing. Then toss in the chopped chives. That's it!
As previously mentioned, we cooked the remainder of the field peas like we would black eyed peas. Jon is in charge of this task but I'm fairly certain it includes: onion, chicken broth, hot pickled okra, jalapeno, garlic and of course the salt pork. In full disclosure - we've made this with thick cut bacon or ham hock before as well...I like the salt pork but it is salty so do not add any extra!
To assemble the tomato salad, layer 2 slices of each tomato per stack, sprinkle the field peas and okra around, dress liberally with the chive aioli and top with the prosciutto chips.
Yeah. Amazing right? Look, there's a reason a James Beard Award nominated restaurant is most famous for this dish. There are no real words (and ours is just the amateur rip-off version!)
We ate ours with steak. While we are die-hard ribeye people, we discovered a cut at our local supermarket that delivers similar texture and flavor for a much smaller price tag. They're labeled "chuck eye" steaks. Less expensive + still delicious is always a winner in my book.
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