On Saturday night Bob and I are going as the guest “wild card couple” to a cooking group other than our own. The theme is a local dinner, so all the dishes need to contain something local as the primary ingredient. I’m doing an appetizer, so I’ve had my thinking cap on and here’s what I’ve come up with so far: Crappie fritters, a twist on Caribbean fish fritters (I love crappie and my mom brought some to me, frozen straight from the lake, yesterday). This way, I’ll get to take a pitcher of my favorite mango daiquiris and make a spicy dipping sauce, too.
Whadda you think? Got a better idea? I’m open.
And I absolutely promise pictures. Bob just recently bought a new camera but decided to upgrade, so he sent it back and ordered a new one. We were consequently without a camera for Friday’s party. Sorry.
Cooking groups
Responses to “New group, new twist”
June 27th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
Crappie fritters sound great. What a neat idea to stay local. Last weekend I did Insalata Caprese with basil from my garden and Ripley tomatoes from the farmers market. Unfortunately, I could not sustain the local theme when I got to the cheese and balsamic vinegar parts.
Update on the Wild Oats/Whole Foods story: Today a reporter speculated in the Wall Street Journal that the FTC would not prevail in its attempt to block the merger - “After arguments on July 31, a federal district court judge should give the FTC the lecture on real-world competition and dismiss the complaint.” Also, Whole Foods has been doing a phone survey of Memphis food shoppers in recent days. They called my house on Monday asking about how much organic produce we purchase and which food outlets we frequent.
And speaking of other things totally unrelated to the subject of your blog posting - I want you to know that participating in the W&D blog prompted me to become a CA subscriber. I signed up today for the really cool digital CA version so I don’t have to worry about remembering to stop the paper delivery when I travel. 
June 27th, 2007 at 2:48 pm
Crappie fritters sound wonderful to me - that’s an inspired use of a local ingredient. Does anybody have any idea what groundfish is/are? I saw them in an ad for American Pride Seafoods in Paula Deen magazine & I had never heard of that variety before. The picture shows them in little fried nuggets. Good news about Wild Oats/Whole Foods - I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a store here!
I ck’d out OpenTable.com that Jennifer Chandler wrote about in her column this morning. There are a few Memphis restaurants but tons of restaurants in other cities, so maybe it will catch on better now that the word is out. I think it’s a great idea to be able to make & confirm reservations online.
GrantParish, how were the Ripley tomatoes? They had some at The Cupboard the other day - my friend bought a couple & said they were good.
June 27th, 2007 at 6:59 pm
Carole, this is the definition of ground fish:
groundfish - fish that live on the sea bottom especially commercially important gadoid fishes like cod and haddock or flatfish like flounder
GrantParish, for fresh mozarella, which I assume from your post is what drove you to none local product, you might try Mantia’s Market on Poplar @ St. Nick. They make fresh daily.
June 27th, 2007 at 6:59 pm
How about a spicy shrimp concoction, served over baked cornbread rounds or squares of polenta? Or a skewer of grilled watermelon and proscuitto? If you lightly sprinke the melon with sugar before you skewer and bake it, it makes a great carmelized crust, plus it really stays juicy!
June 27th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
Ripley tomatoes were good but not fabulous. At $1.39 lb, they were more expensive than I remembered from last summer. Neil - thanks for the tip about the fresh mozzarella at Mantia’s. I’ll definitely grab that for my next salad.
June 28th, 2007 at 11:01 am
The Ripley tomatoes at The Cupboard were $.99/lb. & they had several bushel baskets full. That is competitive w/AR tomato prices at Easy Way recently. My friend reported the Ripley tomatoes she bought were good.
June 28th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
I dunno–wouldn’t you want to make a good impression with delicious fritters, rather than crappie ones?
June 28th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
I live in Ripley and have friends and family that grow tomatoes. They are just now beginning to come in. I prefer the ones from the mid to end July harvest. Luckily, all we have to do is go to the farm packing sheds or into the fields to get our fill.
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