Before this latest trip to Memphis, I had never tried friend green tomatoes. Funny enough, the first place I tried them was a Canadian bar/restaurant called The Kooky Canuck. Not exactly your soul food restaurant. Unless you’re Canadian and poutine is your comfort food. 😉
I was at the Redmond market yesterday and surprise one of the stalls had green tomatoes – not some heirloom variety (you can find those at whole foods) but legit GREEN tomatoes. I picked up a couple and tonight decided to fry them up. I’ve never made them before, never even fried anything before, so it was a but of an unknown going into it.
I found a basic recipe here and picked up the rest of the supplies at Whole Foods. Frying things at 9pm probably isn’t the greatest idea I’ve had, but the results were worth it.
Step 1: Make sure you’ve got an assistant. Mine had four legs, quite a bit of fluff and eagerly accepted the bits of red tomato I offered. But soon gave up to watch me from her bed.
Step 2: Measure everything out, mix the milk and eggs, the breadcrumbs and cornmeal, salt and pepper.
Step 3: Dip sliced ‘maters in flour, milk mixture, and then into the breadcrumb/cornmeal mix
Step 4: Fry that shit up! I used canola oil. Medium’ish heat – don’t want it too hot because the outside burns before the inside becomes tender (but no mush).
Step 5: Drain, dip in sauce (ranch in this case) & enjoy!
I think the cornmeal was a little too course. I fried a few firm red tomato slices as well and left out the cornmeal – those turned out great too. But I think it’s a fine line of being firm’ish and turning into mush. I also threw in a few walla walla sweet onion rings as well. Again, for never having fried anything they turned out pretty tasty.
For as much as I bitch and moan about the ridiculous heat, high humidity and sketchy liquor stores down dirty side streets because you can’t buy wine at a grocery store – I really love this place.
I know I mostly get the ‘tourist’ view of life in Memphis. While poverty is a big issue here, there is enough police
This place should be hoppin’ with tourists and locals alike!
presence that the general area around Beale st. feels very safe. You’re not completely sheltered from the homeless, but even turning them down when they request a few bucks, they wish you a blessed day. It’s sad to walk along main st. It’s tucked between tall, old buildings and the combination of those buildings and some trees keeps the pedestrian area pretty shaded. There are a few bars, cafes dotted along the way, but the majority of the shop fronts are closed, boarded up and unused. There is a trolly (that I didn’t see) that runs down the center of the street and no cars can drive down. It’s a fantastic space and greatly reminds me of Strøget in Copenhagen. But with Beale st. getting the majority of the tourism, no one really ventures a few blocks over. It seems like it’s a vicious cycle, money is needed to get the cafes, shops off the ground, but it’s also needed to keep them going. And it would be hard to pull tourists off historic Beale st., so attracting locals would be their number one draw. But with poverty levels nearly twice that of Seattle (28.3% vs. 15% – for 2012) I don’t know where they would start. That one day, when I win the mega millions… you know what city I’ll be adopting.
But other than the heat/humidity, I have had a fantastic time. The locals that I’ve talked to have found it amusing at my dislike of the heat, saying, “honey, our summer weather hasn’t really started yet.” Which I find horrible funny that 92F (and the app saying it feels like 102F) isn’t summer weather – that’s a damn heat-wave! Apparently once it hits 100F the electric company won’t switch of your electricity even if you haven’t paid, so you can keep cool and survive the summer months.
Hotel staff have been exceptional (even granting me super late check out so I don’t have to wait half a day at the airport with my suitcase). I’ve been able to catch up on some much needed sleep (10-12 hours a night) and they’ve let me be with my ‘privacy please’ sign hanging on my door. I heard the house-keeping lady across the hall and requested an extra roll of TP – we chatted for a couple of minutes and I returned to my room with a smile on my face. Everyone is just so friendly! This is my fourth stay in the past five years, and although staying across the street at the Peabody has become more and more affordable (only a $20 difference last year when I booked), I still choose to stay here at the Holiday Inn. I called to make my reservation and they knocked a big chunk off the nightly cost (enough that staying four nights was the same as what I would have paid staying three if I had booked online). Plus, you can’t see the big Peabody sign from your window if you’re staying there.
Mississippi river: too thick to drink, too thin to plow
Yesterday I took a 90 minute riverboat trip aboard the Island Queen. We sailed down and back up a small section of the Mississippi river. The tour guide was funny and shared lots of interesting information about the river, Memphis and Mark Twain. There wasn’t much to see – you don’t go very far, and the Arkansas side is pretty much all trees, but it was a welcome break from the heat (the inside had A/C) and the tour guide made it worth it. I know there are longer cruises you can go on and I’ve now set my sights on one day sailing from St. Louis to New Orleans on an 8 day cruise. It’s pretty pricey ($4000+), but I imagine it would be a great time.
I guess it’s time to close down, finish packing and head to the airport.
. Not exactly your soul food restaurant. Unless you’re Canadian and poutine is your comfort food. 😉
And then I thought... 