Fried okra and fried green tomatoes. How we love them! I swannee, they’re gifts from above. It’s a treat for enduring all that comes along with their season. Summer in the Deep South is no joke. But, we get okra and tomatoes. That seems like an almost fair trade-off.
Another delectable treat we love is fried pickles. Ordinarily, the fried pickles are dill.
I decided to take fried okra and fried green tomatoes, add in pickled jalapeno in place of dill pickles and make a Spicy Fried Summer Vegetable Medley. The jalapeno added a little zip and made us sit up and take notice. Not that we didn’t already notice this blend of our favorites. The jalapeno thought they needed to take charge, I guess. Pfffft.
We have a bumper crop of cherry tomatoes so I used them green instead of a big tomatoes. Substitute your favorite variety of green tomatoes if you don’t have a cherry variety.
I pulled radishes from our garden and my husband and I enjoyed them along with the Spicy Fried Summer Vegetable Medley.
The vegetables fry up quickly so don’t get distracted. Warn everyone in your house ahead of time that you’ll need to stay focused on cooking the Spicy Fried Summer Vegetable Medley and they shouldn’t bother you unless it’s an emergency like the house is on fire or somebody’s head fell off.
You’ve got to train those young’uns up right. When Mama’s frying vegetables, they need to go to Daddy with all the upteen ‘leven dozen questions, requests, squabbles, complaints they typically reserve for Mama. Only seems fair.
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Spicy Fried Summer Vegetable Medley
Preheat oil to 350 degrees
yield: 4 to 6 side servings
A medley of favorite summer vegetables breaded and deep fried.
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 pound small okra pods, cut in half lengthwise.
1/2 pound green cherry-type tomatoes, cut in half (substitute a regular green tomatoes cut in one inch cubes)
1/2 cup pickled jalapeño peppers, drained
3 tablespoons (approximately) buttermilk or half and half
cooking oil – enough for a 1/2 inch depth in a large frying pan
kosher salt for sprinkling
Mix cornmeal and salt. Set aside.
Add vegetables to a bowl and mix slightly.
Add 1/3 of the vegetable mix to a gallon plastic bag. Add just enough buttermilk or half and half (about one tablespoon) to coat the vegetables. Pour in 1/3 of the cornmeal mix. Shake the bag to evenly coat the vegetables.
Carefully drop the breaded vegetables in 1/2 inch of cooking oil heated to 350 degrees. Stir constantly. Cook 3 to 4 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove vegetables to a rack to drain. Sprinkle with kosher salt while they’re still hot.
Repeat with remaining ingredients in two more batches.
Serve warm.
Fried Summer Vegetable Medley
Ingredients
- Spicey Fried Summer Vegetable Medley
- Preheat oil to 350 degrees
- yield: 4 to 6 side servings
- 1/2 cup cornmeal
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 pound small okra pods cut in half lengthwise.
- 1/2 pound green cherry-type tomatoes cut in half (substitute a regular green tomatoes cut in one inch cubes)
- 1/2 cup pickled jalapeno peppers drained
- 3 tablespoons approximately buttermilk or half and half
- cooking oil - enough for a 1/2 inch depth in a large frying pan
- kosher salt for sprinkling
Instructions
- Mix cornmeal and salt. Set aside.
- Add vegetables to a bowl and mix slightly.
- Add 1/3 of the vegetable mix to a gallon plastic bag. Add just enough buttermilk or half and half (about one tablespoon) to coat the vegetables. Pour in 1/3 of the cornmeal mix. Shake the bag to evenly coat the vegetables.
- Carefully drop the breaded vegetables in 1/2 inch of cooking oil heated to 350 degrees. Stir constantly. Cook 3 to 4 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove vegetables to a rack to drain. Sprinkle with kosher salt while they're still hot.
- Repeat with remaining ingredients in two more batches.
- Serve warm.
Trish says
I love fried okra and tomatoes… a must fix… THANKS
Jackie Garvin says
Two favorites together and a little zing from jalapeño pickles. Hope you enjoy, Trish.