When Brian Latimer isn’t fishing, he’s at home doing DIY projects, using his Exmark mower to care for his property, and gardening. And, a few months after planning out his garden, the MLF bass pro has a whole grocery store’s worth of fruits and veggies that are ready for harvest. So, follow along as BLat shares how he pairs his backyard garden vegetables with fresh flounder for a mouthwatering fall harvest meal.
Brian’s Favorite Garden Vegetables
In a quick tour of his garden, Brian shows off the progress of the veggies he planted earlier in the season. His tomato plants have grown better than anything else, which he attributes to using organic, real, “red” dirt while planting them. In contrast, his jalapeno, banana, and bell peppers still provided a strong harvest, but struggled a bit more due to the fact that he used potting soil. Latimer says that, while potting soil is easy and convenient for growing garden vegetables, he swears by the real stuff to get the best possible harvest.
Backyard Garden Pico de Gallo Recipe
Now that he’s taken stock of his backyard garden vegetables, Brian picks out two tomatoes and a jalapeno, and moves inside. He then grab a store-bought lime, a purple onion, and some cilantro from his fridge to make a bit of Pico de Gallo to pair with his flounder. His Pico recipe is simple:
- Dice up two tomatoes, 1/3rd of an onion, half a jalapeno (with the seeds removed), and some cilantro.
- Mixes all the ingredients in a bowl
- Squeeze in the juice from half a lime, sprinkling on some salt (to taste)
- Chill in the refrigerator
The Main Course
While his pico is chilling, BLat gets to work on main part of the meal: the flounder! To kick off this part of the cook he first combines seafood breading and cornbread mix in a bowl. He then bastes his flounder in egg wash, breads it, and grills it face-down on a skillet for about 4 minutes. However, instead of using grease for his fish, he prefers to use vegetable oil. And, no great sandwich is complete without some buttered toast, so Brian melts a pat of butter in a pan, throws on his two slices of bread, and toasts away until all four sides are a golden brown.
Now’s time for the fun part: plating (and eating). Brian takes his two slices of toast, spreads on some guacamole, layers on his flounder, scoops on the backyard garden vegetable Pico, and finishes it off with the other slice before chowing down! He says you can add a slice of cheese if you like, but he’s trying his best to avoid cheese and eat healthier.
Now that you’ve gotten a bit of inspiration, all there’s left to do is take your fresh catch, grab some garden vegetables, and get to cooking! Your future meals will be unlike any other.
