Recipe to stir up your love life

Chef offers dish with a French, southern twist

BALTIMORE, Md. – Chef Cindy Wolf combines her classic French training with the low country of South Carolina in her hit restaurant "Charleston."

"The history of Southern food in that particular region has a lot of French influences. And French cooking is very, very close to my heart. I love French cooking," said Wolf.

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She's sharing that love with her own twist on a Southern favorite: fried green tomatoes, the perfect plate for your Valentine's date.

"By adding lobster and crab hash, a little bit of lemon cayenne mayonnaise, some upland cress, which is a very tender, sort of spicy green, and a little arugula oil to the plate, we take something that's a very traditional dish and make it really special," Wolf said.

First you'll need an onion, potato, and green tomatoes. Sautee your onion, boil your potatoes, then mix together, season, and add cooked lobster and crab meat.

"Both the lobster and the crab meat love curry," Wolf said. "As long as you don't put too much in, just a hint of it, and a little salt and pepper and that's all the seasoning you need."

Next, bread your tomatoes in a little bit of cornmeal and cayenne pepper and deep fry. Give them a minute and drain. When you're ready, layer the hash with upland cress, a little mayo, and green tomato; and voila, the perfect plate for your Valentine's date.

Chef Wolf says as an alternative you could use shrimp instead of lobster. Just sauté it in some butter first.

Fried Green Tomato "Sandwich" with Lobster and Crab Hash Recipe
(Printable Recipe Here)

For the Fried Green Tomato:
• 8 slices of Green Tomato
• 1 cup Cornmeal
• pinch Cayenne Pepper
• pinch Salt

Slice tomato and coat with the cornmeal mixture, shake off excess, set aside. You'll need corn oil in a medium pot for frying, tongs, and a pan lined with paper towel for draining the tomatoes.

For the hash:
• 1/2 lb Jumbo Lump Crabmeat, pick carefully for shells without breaking up the lumps
• 1/2 lb Lobster Meat, large dice
• 1 tsp Mild Curry
• pinch Kosher Salt
• 1/4 Cup Onion, Small Dice
• 1/4 Cup Yukon Gold Potato, Small Dice, Cooked off in Salted Water until Al Dente
• Butter about an ounce
• 2 tbsp Mayonnaise - optional for plate up
• 1/4 bunch of upland cress or watercress de-stemmed - optional for plate up

Melt butter in a large sauté pan on medium heat, add the onions and sauté until translucent, add a pinch of salt and the curry at the end. Now add the cooked Yukon gold potato and toss on the heat for a minute. Off the heat add the cooked lobster and crab meat.

When ready to plate:
Fry the green tomatoes until golden; about a minute and drain. Heat the hash; gently again trying not to break up the potato or the crab meat. Now you are ready to plate: spoon onto the center of the plate a bit of the hash add the upland cress and mayonnaise if you like, now a green tomato on top, now another layer of hash and mayo and cress, finish with a green tomato on top.