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Fried Green Tomato & Arugula Salad

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There are a few foods that are often served in southern restaurants outside the south.  Shrimp and grits are one, and fried green tomatoes are another.  I love fried green tomatoes, and love that they are championing southern culture with each crunchy delicious bite.

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I was lucky enough to find green tomatoes at the farmer’s market so this weekend I made a delicious fried green tomato salad.  I used arugula, fresh whole basil leaves, fresh mozzarella, and apples.  I sliced the tomato into half moon size pieces so that they were bite sized.  Dan sliced the mozzarella into strips and used his new apple corer/slicer to cube an apple.  It was fresh, delicious, and totally fulfilling.  The perfect start to a lovely dinner.

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Fried Green Tomato and Arugula Salad

2 cups fresh arugula

1/2 cup fresh basil

1 fresh mozzarella ball

1 apple

Fried green tomatoes (recipe below)

Thinly slice the mozzarella.  Cube the apple.  Toss arugula, basil, mozzarella, apple, and fried green tomato.  Top with the dressing of your choice.

Serves 4.

Fried Green Tomatoes:

1 whole green tomato

1 cup flour

1 cup cornstarch

2 eggs

1 tsp paprika

1 tbsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

Salt & pepper

1 cup vegetable oil

Heat the oil over medium heat.

Slice the tomato in 1/4″ slices, and then half them so they’re in half moon shaped pieces.

Mix paprika, cayenne pepper, half the red pepper, and flour.  In a separate bowl, mix cornstarch, the remaining red pepper, garlic powder, and salt & pepper.  Finally, in a third bowl crack the eggs and whisk them together.

Dip each piece of tomato first into the flour mixture, then into the egg, and finally into the cornstarch mixture.

To test if the oil is ready, stick the handle of a wooden spoon into the oil.  If bubbles form around it, you’re good to go.  Fry the tomatoes for two minutes on each side.  After they’re crispy and golden brown, place them on a paper towel to let the oil blot off.

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Cilantro Lime Sorbet

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So I’ve started this new exercise regime that I’m fondly calling Kicking My Ass, or, alternatively The Death of Me.  It all started when the machine in the gym (in the basement of our apartment building) that you lift weights on (can you tell how serious I am about my weight lifting?) broke.  So because I didn’t want to lose the little muscle I have I started doing three alternating circuits-legs, arms, core.  I do one a day before I run, which generally leaves me in a constant state of pain all over my body.

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Because we were in a constant state of travel last week (Camping to New Jersey to North Carolina) my exercising was sporadic and I also ate a lot of Bojangles.  Which meant that going back to exercising this week doubly kicked my ass, and Dan will probably not ever stop mocking me for how long it took me to walk down a flight of stairs.  Anyway, after dinner we were lying around chatting and, because my life is very hard, I was complaining.  A lot.  About how much it hurt to lie in our pillow top bed on our new 600 thread count sheets.  Because I am the biggest brat in the whole world.

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Dan knew that because I was so whiny I would probably not accept any condolences and just continue to whine, because sometimes it feels good to get it out.  So, thinking I would refuse it, he offered me ice cream.  Ice cream that we did not have.  Ice cream that I immediately wanted.  That left us with four options: a) don’t have any ice cream, b) walk very far (6 blocks) and get an ice cream cone, c) walk to the co-op around the corner and get a tub of ice cream, and d) drive to a delicious gelateria in the next town.  Since the first two were clearly  not acceptable and Dan said no to the last, we walked up to the co-op and bought some blood orange sorbet (mmm).

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But within five minutes of debating our options I had my heart set on this really delicious sorbet from the place in Bethesda, and even though I knew I wouldn’t be able to convince Dan to drive there I thought maybe I could try and recreate it and then enjoy it over the weekend.  Because when I really have my heart set on a dessert, there is very little anyone can do to stop me.  So I got what I needed, and boy am I glad that I did because the cilantro lime sorbet was delicious.  So good, in fact, that it was worth the searing pain of having to climb up and down a stool to get the ice cream maker down.

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Cilantro Lime Sorbetto
Inspired by Dolcezza 

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

1 tbsp lime zest

1/4 cup fresh cilantro

1 tbsp sugar (to be mashed with cilantro)

Boil water, sugar, and lime zest.  Allow to return to room temperature.

Finely chop your cilantro.  Stir in sugar and mash it together until it is pulpy.

Combine everything in your ice cream machine and let it run until solid.  Freeze overnight, and serve.

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Thingamabops? I’ve got TWENTY!

So this week I’ve made a lot of changes to the supporting pages of biscuitsandsuch.com.  In addition to updating the about page and the where to find us page, I’ve added a brand new FAQ page, a seasonal recipe index, and a list of the blogs/websites that I keep up with.

I’m hoping that these changes make using b&s a little easier, and I’m also trying to streamline the blog and make it a little more professional, as it’s been getting more professional attention.  Which segues nicely into what else I’ve got to tell you.

As some of you may have noticed from twitter feeds, etc, a few months ago I started writing for the Well Fed Network.  Well Fed is a collection of 12 food blogs about various topics.  I’ve been writing for three of those blogs- Just Baking, Kids Cuisine, and Fit Fare, which has been great because it’s given me the opportunity to write about things outside the realm of southern cooking.  This week I was also asked to be a Guest Blogger by Jessica Contadore of The Love List.  I’m really excited about this because not only do I love her site, it’ll give b&s some exposure outside of the food blog world.

I’d love to be able to turn my passion for cooking and writing into a career, so these opportunities to put myself out there are really exciting.  I’m a little worried about spreading myself too thin but I’ve set deadlines in my iCal and once it’s in my calendar it CANNOT BE IGNORED.  Those are the rules, I just follow them.

All in all these are exciting times in the b&s kitchen, and I hope that you enjoy the new features!  I’m still working on the seasonal recipe index (I’m thinking I’ll keep it recipes that are explicitly seasonal), but if you have any ideas/suggestions please feel free to email me at biscuitsandsuch@gmail.com

P.S. If you have any suggestions on how to get “Part of Your World” out of my head, that’d be appreciate too.

P.P.S. Oh, we also got an ISSN # with the Library of Congress.  It’s 1948-1128! Holllllaaaaaaaa!

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