My Take on a Southern Favorite

 After the first couple of BLT's or caprese salads there are few other dishes that sing summer's praises like the tomato pie.  Even restaurants like our favorite, 82 Queen in Charleston, join in with their versions.

Here's mine:

Roasting the tomatoes (after draining them for an hour or two) adds both sweetness and an interesting flavor to the fruit.  I roast them at 450 degrees on an oiled baking sheet with purple onion, olive oil, a sprinkling of onion powder and dried basil.  Let them cool on the baking sheet.

Prebake a pie shell and allow to cool.

Preheat oven to 350.

Ingredients:

Several slicing tomatoes or heirlooms, sliced 1/4 "

1 purple onion, thinly sliced

2 cups of fresh cheddar - I use Tillamook

1/2 cup of mayonnaise

1/2 cup of sour cream

1/4 cup of grated parm

1 T Worcestershire 

chiffonade of 4-5 basil leaves

1/2 cup sliced green onions

chopped Kalamata olives

Mix cheddar, parm, mayo, and sour cream, and Worcestershire.  Spread half over baked pie shell.  Place a layer of roasted tomatoes and onions on top.  Spread another layer of cheese mixture, top with remaining tomatoes, olives, and green onions.  Sprinkle a bit of cheddar on top.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.  Allow to sit for at least 10 minutes before cutting.

A Helpful Guy, Iced Tea, and Felafel

Thanks to Jay at Cynical Bastard, I now have a translator link on my blog. He talked me through it. Thanks, Jay! So now the clamoring horde (the four of you) can read my blog in any language you like! Or not.

One of the things that reminds me of our favorite Southern city, Charleston, SC is sweet tea. For those of you who have never tasted it, this is iced tea made with a simple syrup. It is served cold with a slice of lemon and is sooo very refreshing. If made correctly, it is so sweet that it makes one's teeth actually ache! Since I cannot have caffeine and I best avoid sugar, I was faced with a dilemma, one that I think I have solved. I now have my own recipe for the best sweet tea and it's pretty healthy as well.

My secret? I use two (2) family-size Lipton decaf tea bags and eight (8) Good Earth decaf, green tea with lemon grass tea bags. I bring four (4) cups of water to an almost boil, put the tea bags in, add one and a half (1 1/2) cups of Splenda and let cool and steep. When it has cooled (or not if I'm really thirsty), I pour it into a gallon pitcher and fill it up with cold water.

Today Richard cooked the felafel I made yesterday. (He's my designated fry guy). The batter is easier to handle after it has cooled over night in the fridge. Here he is adding the felafel nuggets to the pan:



I usually serve felafel in pita bread, with chopped cucumber, chopped cilantro, lettuce, and green onion, and with a sauce of Greek style yogurt, tahini paste, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Some people really like the chick peas to be only coarsely ground. I don't. Some fry their felafel twice. I don't. Here's my recipe for felafel:

5 cups of canned chick peas, drained
1 teaspoon of chopped garlic
1 cup chopped green onion
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
2 teaspoons of salt
2 beaten eggs
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
4 tablespoons of tahini paste
2/3 cup whole wheat or unbleached flour

Put everything EXCEPT the onion into a food processor. Process into a pretty smooth paste. Empty into a bowl; fold in green onions. Cover and let sit overnight in the refrigerator.
To form into balls or nuggets, wet your hands, roll into walnut-sized balls, dredge in flour, and drop into very hot (350-375) oil. I use peanut or canola oil. Fry on each side until golden brown. Drain on paper towels or brown paper bags.
This recipe probably serves about six (6).