A girl can dream, right? Fried Green Tamaters

    I like to go to the Farmer's Market and buy a whole bunch of food, go home and cook it all then eat like a villain. Its hard to find someone who shares this interest, so when you can't find a real person to do something with, then why not make one up? It can be just as fun.

    My imaginary friend is named Tim. I met him on the subway. From the time it took to get from Queen's Plaza to 59th St Tim had already hit on me and gotten my phone number. That took some real nerve and tenacity. I mean I never give guys I don't know my phone number but Tim is charming and sexy so I figured what the hell? 

    Tim's from the south and like most southerners who move to New York, he lives in Brooklyn but he's not one of those Brooklyn guys who is skinnier and wears tighter jeans than me. Tim's a real dude. Well, not real, but in my head he is. 

    Did I say he was super cute? He's a musician and a professional mover, which is coming in handy because I am moving and in general lug lots of things around all the time. I think I've owned over 5 mattresses in my lifetime already and just ordered a new one today. 

    On our last trip to the Farmer's Market we paid homage to Tim's roots and got green tomatoes. The girl at the tomato stand was so excited about how enthusiastic I was about the tomatoes. 

    Back home, Tim's Mom makes "thee best fried green tomatoes," and this was my first try, so the pressure was on. The fried green tomato girl recommended a buttermilk batter but I never use all the buttermilk so I went with a basic flour egg milk batter and fried them in Grandma's heavy cast iron skillet. I really felt inclined to Italianize the batter with cheese, garlic and parsley but thats not so Southern. Maybe next time. 

    The fried green tomatoes turned out really delicious. They were nice and crispy on the outside and warm and soft on the inside, with a really interesting sweet tart flavor. I wonder if you can treat red tomatoes this way. Yum. 

    Tim is a salsa expert and made a delicious salsa with cubanelle peppers, fresh tomatoes, garlic, cilantro and onions. He even got fancy and put some apricots in the salsa, which he pronounces, "AYE-PRICOTS." I guess its a southern thing although it sounds Canadian. The salsa was spicy hot but cool and fresh at the same time, a perfect topping for the fried green tomatoes.

     Another one of Tim's special skills is that of a cocktail master and he fixed up some nice mint juleps, which are sugar, whiskey and muddled mint over ice. 

    What a fantastic meal. Its not likely to meet a hot guy who enjoys the Farmer's Market, makes wicked salsa and really fancy drinks. But, a girl can dream, right?