Local Mediterranean, BLT Tacos w/Fried Green Tomatoes + More
We visit Olive & Fig, then, fry some green tomatoes and make pimento cheese!
Olive & Fig Mediterranean Kitchen
1533 Fording Island Rd. Hilton Head Island, SC
After Peter and I finished a late morning beach walk on a Saturday, it was well past noon, and we were more than ready for a bite to eat. That’s how we “hungry-stumbled” into Olive and Fig in a shopping nook next to the Moss Creek neighborhood.
Olive and Fig describes itself as a contemporary Lebanese and Greek establishment, carving out for itself a niche within Middle Eastern fare—think stuffed grape leaves, Baba Ghanoush, Shawarma, Gyro, Kabobs, Pitas, Souvlaki, Feta and Halloumi, Labneh, Hummus, Falafel and more.
The menu was packed with flavorful choices, and the service was great as well. You’ll find plenty of options for vegetarians, vegans, and those seeking gluten-free. This is authentic Mediterranean; expect plates and platters abundantly filled with pickled veggies, tzatziki, tahini, and garlic sauce, salads loaded with grains, chickpeas, and, yes, olives.
While we were eating, Chef Munjid was floating around checking on people, and his pride in his food was evident. We’re happy to hear they will soon open a second location in Bluffton.
We enjoyed our meal and took home some baklava, which I would like to say I got a taste of, but no. Peter did say it was delicious…
BLT Tacos starring Fried Green Tomatoes
Growing up in Pennsylvania, my dad had a small garden of tomato plants. He could never wait for that first one to be ripe. It was always picked, dredged in flour, then into the frying pan. He usually ate it atop a potato pancake, as we always had leftover mashed potatoes in our fridge.
Decades have slid by since then, and Fried Green Tomatoes have become a Southern Thing, even getting their own movie. Today’s recipe brings green tomatoes together with three of my favorites: tacos, pimento cheese, and bacon. Try this recipe for a tastebud trifecta.
Makes 6 Tacos to serve 3-4 people.
Ingredients
4-6 strips of cooked, crumbled bacon
3 large green tomatoes, cut into thick slices
1 cup of your favorite corn muffin mix
¾ C buttermilk (substitute a beaten egg with a splash of milk if you don’t have the buttermilk)
¼ cup cooking oil
½ stick butter
Pimento Cheese (buy your favorite, or see the recipe below to make your own)
Bibb or butter lettuce
Corn tortillas, pan-fried in oil until slightly crisp
Directions
The first step is to get the bacon going. I’ve got a toaster-over style air fryer, so my preference for the bacon is to air roast it at 275˚F on a rack with parchment paper beneath. Slow-cooking bacon on a rack (parchment paper beneath) gives it a melt-in-the-mouth texture that I love. It’s totally unnecessary—you absolutely fry it in a fraction of the time—but I love the bacon this way. It should crumble between your fingers, and bonus, cleanup is an easy toss of the used parchment paper.
Thick slice your green tomatoes and put them on a cookie sheet lined with paper towels, so any excess juice is absorbed.
Next, pan-fry the corn tortillas in a small amount of hot oil until they just begin to brown slightly. Stack in paper towels and set aside.
Put your buttermilk in one bowl and cornbread mix in another. Dip and dredge your tomato slices. Get your frying pan going again and melt the butter into the oil. Fry the coated tomatoes until golden crispy, about a minute on each side. Sprinkle with Maldon or Kosher salt.
Assemble the Tacos with lettuce, pimento cheese, sliced fried green tomatoes, and crumbled bacon. Could you squeeze on a drizzle of garlic aioli? Well, sure, but as with the bacon procedure, only if you dare to go “over the top!”
The tomatoes are bright and juicy, not quite pickle-ish, but happy companions to the salty bacon, creamy pimento cheese, and crunchy, sweet corn taco shell.
Scratch-made Pimento Cheese
Last week after mentioning Pimento cheese to you, well, of course, I got a hankering. This is worth the trouble of pulling out the food processor. Here’s how I made mine.
Ingredients
1 package cream cheese
1 C Mayo (I do Dukes)
16 Ounces of shredded cheddar
1-4 oz. jar of pimentos (or jarred roasted red peppers)
Directions
Put everything in the food processor and blend until it’s a lovely yellow-orange color. You can cut the above in half if you have a smaller food processor. I have a large food processor and wanted to make some to share, so I went all in.
If you are an olive person, this is the time to pull out your cherished Castelvetrano or Sicilian Marinated Olives. Put your cheese and olive on top of a butter-garlic Ritz cracker and serve with a nice glass of red wine.
If you still have pimento cheese left over, eat it the next morning on some sourdough toast and a couple of sunny eggs. I trust you’ll find ways to consume this in a timely fashion.
Foodie Find
Since we’ve been talking about good olives, where can you find them? Publix off Buckwalter has an olive bar, which is a great way to sample different olives and olive-y things. I’m a fan of the orange citrus marinated if they appear at the bar. Since I’ve also mentioned the Sicilian olives, Publix seems to carry them at most area stores, including those that don’t have an olive bar. They also have pitted and non-pitted Castelvetrano olives in the jar. You’ll find the Sicilian Village cured green queens in a bag, usually on the top shelf, a spot they deserve.
Romancing the Pantry
For our final surprise this week, I’m bringing you some pantry tips. This is for the part of you that likes to laze in the hammock with a good paperback…
Note: I’m publishing my longer-form creative non-fiction on Medium, so to read the full article, click the link and sign in to the platform.
My pantry stands with its bifold doors split open like a flasher in a trench coat hoping to excite me with his goods. I scan its full monte, my attention darting from the tempting bag of Sicilian marinated olives to the prunes to the small package of mixed nuts. Blindly I grope in the dark corner, fingering the shapes of the jars and calling each name aloud. Harissa. Nutella. Wickles? Oh, oops, that’s Wickles Relish, not Pickles…