Fried Green Tomatoes With Spicy Feta Sauce

Earlier this year, I took a trip to New Orleans, one of the world’s great food cities. Good food can be had practically everywhere, everyone is a foodie upon my return, I get inspiration from that memorable trip this past February.

I also found out New Orleans is home to the oldest Greek-Orthodox church in the Americas – Holy Trinity Church.

I get these food ideas where New Orleans dishes get mashed up with Greek food and vice-versa. I am about to pluck the remaining tomatoes from my garden (before the first frost).

Fried green tomatoes are an southern US dish and in New Orleans, we have them with shrimp and remoulade (a fancy tartare sauce).

My take uses a spicy Feta sauce, reminiscent of Tyrokafteri  and this mash-up of two food cultures works. If I were a Greek in NOLA (I would be making these).

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Fried Green Tomatoes With Spicy Feta Sauce - (serves 4)

Spicy Feta Sauce

1/2 cup crumbled Feta cheese

1/2 cup strained full-fat yogurt

2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

2 – 4 Tbsp. minced roasted hot pepper (jarred is fine)

2-3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

cream as needed

Fried Green Tomatoes

2 medium sized green tomatoes, cut into 1/2 inch slices

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup seasoned bread crumbs (bought at grocery stores)

vegetable oil for frying

Shrimp

16 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails on

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/2 tsp. sea salt

pinch of chilli flakes

lemon wedges

2 Tbsp. chopped chives for garnish

1. For the spicy Feta sauce, crumble Feta in a medium bowl then mash with a fork, add yogurt, vinegar, peppers and olive and stir to combine. Add cream if you want a sauce consistency. Adjust flavours to your taste, set aside.

2. Pre-heat oven to 200F.

3. Place your shrimp in a bowl with olive oil, garlic, parsley, salt and chilli flakes and toss to mix. Reserve.

4. Season your tomato slices with salt and pepper. Set up dredging station (one bowl with flour, one bowl with beaten eggs, one bowl with bread crumbs). Place about 1/4 inch oil in a large skillet and heat to medium.

5. While the oil is heating, dip your tomatoes in flour, egg then breadcrumbs. Working in batches, fry tomatoes for 1-2 minutes a side or until golden brown. Place fried green tomatoes in pre-heated oven to keep warm.

6. Discard the oil from the pan you used to fry the tomatoes, wipe clean with paper towel. Place the skillet on your stove-top over medium-high heat.

7. Add half the shrimp, saute for 1 to 1/2 minutes flip saute other side until pink. Transfer to a plate, repeat with second batch.

8. To assemble, arrange fried green tomatoes on one or two platters. Place shrimp on tip, drizzle spicy Feta sauce on top and garnish with chives and serve with lemon wedges.

Pro Tip: When cooking shrimp, they can go from plump and juicy to tough and rubbery very quickly. Shrimp cooking times can vary according to size. As a rule of thumb – when your shrimp curls up to form a C  (both sides) then it’s cooked. If the shrimp forms an O then it’s overcooked. Watch your shrimp when cooking.

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