This cooking adventure was inspired by my sister-in-law, Liz. She posted on Facebook all about her and my nephew making a apple clafoutis. Now, I have heard of clafoutis, and even looked up a recipe or two, but I was always a little intimidated by the number of eggs (as many as six!) and the use of half-and-half or cream. Not that I’m opposed to eggs or cream, but I really wanted to find a recipe that was a little lighter on the eggs and used low-fat milk, so that I didn’t have to make a special trip to the store if I got in the mood to make one.

Traditionally, clafoutis is rustic French dessert made with dark cherries. I think it gets a different name (flognarde) when you use other fruit, but I’m going with clafoutis because it’s more familiar to folks. Fancy French words aside, this is a baked custard and fruit delight! Served warm, perhaps with a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream or a dusting of powdered sugar, it would be a lovely end to any dinner party. Served cool or room temperature the next day, it could grace a brunch table. But it’s also rustic, and we were happy to eat it a bit too warm with a spoon and gobbled it up cold the next day for breakfast!

Mixed Berry Clafoutis
Adapted from Apple Clafouti – a Recipe from a French Girl

A teaspoon or so of softened butter
2 1/2 to 3 cups mixed fresh berries (I used raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries)
2 tablespoons creme de cassis
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup low-fat milk
4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 400F. Set a rack in the center. Smear the softened butter evenly on the bottom and sides of a 9″ pie plate.

Rinse and drain the berries well. Mix the berries with the creme de cassis and 1/2 cup sugar in a bowl and allow to macerate (hang out) while you prepare the rest of the dish.

Put the remaining ingredients (eggs through salt) in the food processor and whir until completely smooth. You may use a blender, but be sure to scrape down the sides frequently. My sister-in-law uses a whisk and does it by hand!

Pour about half of the batter into the prepared pie plate. Gently spoon the berries over the batter, making sure that the different types are evenly distributed. There will be a little juice/liqueur in the bottom — just drizzle that over. Pour the remaining batter over the berries.

Put the nearly-overflowing pie plate in the oven. Cook for about 30 minutes until golden brown on top and the center is JUST set (check it at 25 minutes). Also, I like to rotate the plate about halfway through the cooking time.

Remove and allow to cool on the counter until warm. I cut this one just a hair too soon — notice how the center is still a little loose? Refrigerate any leftovers.

I had two green tomatoes in the fridge. While I **love** fried green tomatoes, well, they are a bit time-consuming. And probably not the heart-healthiest way to prepare a savory side. So as I looked at these two lonely orbs, wondering how I might prepare them, I did a little googling. I found a number of recipes for green tomato pie — but I didn’t have nearly enough tomatoes. I saw a number of recipes for green tomato cake, but none really grabbed me, for multiple reasons.

So I thought to myself, how different is a green tomato from rhubarb, in terms of tartness? Why not give my rhubarb muffin recipe a try, subbing out the rhubarb for tomato? (if it’s a total flop, I’m not wasting alot of ingredients) I like that muffins are already pre-portioned, and, I think muffins last longer than a cut cake.

The CGP proclaimed the muffins a success! He said he wouldn’t have known it was tomato if I hadn’t told him. The bits of green tomato sweeten up in the oven heat and almost melt into the muffin background, similar to the rhubarb. The muffin itself isn’t too sweet, so more of a breakfast choice than a dessert. I have loads of cherry tomatoes that won’t ripen before our first frost — so I bet I can cut those in halves or quarters and whip out some muffins!

Green Tomato and Coconut Muffins
Makes six “Texas-sized” muffins

1 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons butter, melted and slightly cooled
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/4 cup plain, nonfat greek yogurt
1/2 cup chopped green tomato (most of a medium-sized one), heaping
1/2 cup sweetened, shredded coconut
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350°. Line the muffin tin with paper liners, OR, grease them well with solid shortening.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a big bowl, whisk together the butter, brown sugar, egg, and lime juice. Add dry ingredients with yogurt to first mixture and stir just until moistened. Stir in tomato, coconut, and walnuts. The batter will be very thick!

Spoon evenly amongst the muffin wells. Bake at 350° for about 30 minutes, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. I would check at 25 minutes and then at 3 to 5 minute intervals thereafter.

So it’s green tomato “season”. You know, the bushes are slowing down (or maybe you’ve got a frost looming) and so you start to harvest the green tomatoes. As for me, I love a fried green tomato. There’s not much to it … it’s your basic three-dredge fry process. So if you have a little patience and are willing to lose some arm hair to oil spatter, well, it can be done.

Fried green tomatoes are an amazing accompaniment to any Southern meal. They are pretty damn good with steak and eggs at breakfast. But for a truly divine experience, you must layer them with bacon and mayonnaise on a sandwich. Truly divine.

Fried Green Tomatoes

Unbleached all-purpose flour
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Ground chipotle (or cayenne)
Celery Seed
Buttermilk (or milk + lime juice)
Panko bread crumbs
Firm, medium-sized green tomatoes – 1 per person

Prepare three dredge stations:

1. Flour seasoned with salt, peppers, and celery seed (use your dampened finger to taste for balance)
2. Buttermilk
3. Panko bread crumbs

Slice the tomatoes about 1/4″ thick.

Pass each slice through the seasoned flour and gently shake off the excess. Pass each through the buttermilk, ensuring all the flour is covered by the buttermilk. Place in the panko, gently pressing the panko into the buttermilk layer and shake off the excess. Gently set each slice aside on a cookie sheet. Put the cookie sheet in the refrigerator for one hour. Don’t skip this step — this allows the panko-buttermilk-flour to adhere to the tomato and stay adhered in the hot oil bubble bath. I do this for my fried oysters, too — no naked oysters. (many thanks to SteveK for the invaluable refrigeration tip!)

Heat an inch or so of neutral oil in a skillet to about 325F to 350F. Fry off four or five slices at a time, ensuring the pan isn’t crowded and that the slices can move freely. Flip when the first side is golden brown. Cook until the second side is equally lusciously golden and remove to a plate lined with paper towels. Salt lightly.

Eat ’em while they are hot. My two favorite ways:

So the summer before last, we planted ONE cherry tomato plant. Just one. The farmer-in-charge refused to do any pruning, so that plant TOOK OVER our tiny garden plot. It’s octopus-like arms grew to a tangle that was 4 feet deep by 8 feet wide. We couldn’t even reach all the fruit, much to the delight of wildlife. I swore NO MORE indeterminate tomato plants ever again!

The following summer (last summer), I planted ONE determinate bush tomato plant. It stayed in its place, we got a few tomatoes, I was happy, except for one thing … these volunteer cherry tomato plants that were sprouting up all over our and our neighbor’s yards! The wildlife had spread seeds far and wide and apparently these tomatoes bred true. So we continued to harvest cherry tomatoes and kept the plants in check when we mowed the grass. No staking — they just grew horizontally.

So this summer, I planted ONE determinate heirloom tomato plant. Again, It stayed in its place, we got a few tomatoes, I was happy, and we’ve STILL got the damn volunteer cherry tomatoes all over the place. We’re getting an even better harvest this year. It’s crazy. And I don’t even LIKE fresh tomatoes!

I love roasted shrimp, so I thought maybe I could use up some of these tomatoes in something not-totally-fresh yet not-fully-cooked. These flavors really do speak to summer, even if I did use the oven instead of the grill.

Roasted Shrimp and Tomatoes with Feta
Serves 3 – 4

12 – 16 ounces dried pasta (I used penne)
2 cups ripe cherry tomatoes
Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher Salt
Fresh ground black pepper
Dried thyme
Crushed red pepper flakes
1 lb peeled, be-headed, de-veined shrimp (I use 21/25 count)
1 shallot lobe, peeled and sliced thinly
4 – 6 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

Preheat oven to 375F. If desired, line a large sheet pan with foil to aid in cleanup.

Start your pasta! Water-to-boil plus cook-time should just about equal the oven roasting time (fingers **crossed**).

Cut the tomatoes in half and put on a large sheet pan. Drizzle liberally with olive oil, then sprinkle with kosher salt (lightly), fresh ground pepper and thyme (generously), and some red pepper flakes (to taste). Roast until they start to pop and break down (you probably want to move them around or flip them once or twice). Add the shrimp and shallots, tossing all of it together to coat the shrimp and shallots with the seasoned oil and tomato drippings. Continue roasting. Check the shrimp at about 4 or 5 minutes — they should be turning pink and slightly opaque. Flip them over with tongs and cook an additional 3 to 4 minutes. Pull them when they look NOT QUITE done — there will be some carry-over cooking as they rest on the counter.

Drain your pasta well. Scoop some pasta on a plate, top with some of the roasted shrimp, tomato, and shallot (making sure to get some of the ooey gooey juices too), and then sprinkle with the crumbled feta.

I served it with some simply steamed yellow and green squash, because that’s what they had at the farmstand

Lately, I’ve been slightly obsessed with reducing kitchen waste and cooking down the freezer (I’m getting MUCH better about labeling those little zipper bags of treasure). Like, I have some frozen oysters and homemade shrimp stock in the freezer, which screams to me gumbo, but then I have to go buy some okra and bell pepper, as well as more shellfish and sausage, and then is that defeating the whole purpose of cooking down the freezer? I dunno … I’m just a walking contradiction I guess.

So when I had some crushed pineapple leftover from margaritas, I was looking for a way to use that up in a delicious way. I hadn’t baked in a couple of weeks. Plus my husband’s work-out buddies were coming over and one of them is a HUGE fan of anything I cook, grill, or bake. So I turned to a trusted recipe and mixed it up a bit. I added the carrot for a pop of healthy color (it IS a vegetable after all) and cut back a little on the sugar. It’s a tasty bite, and the coconut adds a nice toothy texture. I think I’ll be making them again soon since I only got one (the boys ate the rest).

Pineapple, Carrot, and Coconut Muffins
Makes six “Texas-sized” muffins

1 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons butter, melted and slightly cooled
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1/4 cup plain, nonfat greek yogurt
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/2 cup crushed pineapple, partially drained
1/2 cup finely diced or shredded carrot
1/2 cup sweetened, shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350°. Line the muffin tin with paper liners, OR, grease them well with solid shortening.

Whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside.

In a big bowl, beat or whisk together the brown sugar, butter, egg, yogurt, and lime juice. Add dry ingredients to first mixture and stir just until moistened. Stir in pineapple, carrot, and coconut. The batter will be very thick!

Spoon evenly amongst the muffin wells. Bake at 350° for about 30 minutes, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. I would check at 25 minutes and then at 3 to 5 minute intervals thereafter.