Sunday, August 23, 2009

Fried Green Tomatoes

Most people in the Pacific Northwest have never had fried green tomatoes. It's a southern thing.


I remember it from my childhood, when the tomatoes in our backyard were plentiful and juicy! I haven't had it in over a decade and thought about it out-of-the-blue last week. Since then, I had been craving it like crazy and went about scouring the grocery stores for them. Ok, so...apparently, since people here in WA don't eat them on a regular basis, they aren't available for purchase. Anywhere.

My last resort was to go to the farmer's market down the street. I went around asking every veggie vendor if they had them and got turned down, one by one. Alas, feeling disappointed, I made my way over to the last vendor and quickly glanced over their selection of tomatoes. They had beautiful heirlooms of all colors, but nothing green! I explained my situation to the lady at the stand, and to my surprise, she said that she would pick some for me, no problem! What service!


True to her word, there they were when I returned the following week! Aren't they gorgeous?? (Just to clarify, these are green because they are young and have not yet turned red. There is a such thing as a green heirloom tomato, which is not what we're talking about here. The heirloom is green when it's fully ripened. We want the unripened version of a regular tomato.)

Most people just batter them, fry them up and eat them as is. But just to make things interesting, here's my ramped-up version!


First, slice the tomatoes about 1/4 inch thick. You should be able to get 4 slices from each tomato.


Next, prepare two plates: one with flour, and one with a breadcrumb/cornmeal/seasoning mixture. You'll also need a little bowl of egg wash.


Make an assembly station with the tomatoes, the two batter mixes, the egg wash, and a clean plate.


Start by coating the tomato in flour.


Next, dip it in the egg wash.


Then coat it with the breadcrumb/cornmeal mixture.


Set aside on a clean plate until you're ready to fry.


Usually they're deep fried, but for simplicity, I pan fried mine.


Set on a wire rack while you finish frying up the others.


At this point, it's ready to go! You can eat it as is or with marinara sauce. Mmmm...it's sooo delicious in marinara! (I just use Prego.) Slice them up into quarters to serve as finger food at a party! You can also serve them as appetizers for dinner.


This is where I like to get creative. Wanna know what the ultimate grilled cheese tastes like?? Stuff your sandwich with these freshly fried tomatoes for a flavor combination that's out of this world! For added delight, dip your sandwich in the marinara! It's incredible! Hubby, who's never had fried green tomatoes, was very wary going into it. But upon first bite, he was hooked! There was lot of "Mmmms" and "Yuuuums."

You'd think that green tomatoes would be tart, super sour, and not very pleasant on the palate. But on the contrary, they are slightly tangy and just subtly sour enough to offset the deep-fried coating. And it's so juicy. There's a reason why southerners have been enjoying these for generations!

Drop by your local farmer's market and ask for them! Give these a try before summer's out and they're no longer available. =)



Recipe:

2 medium green tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/4 cup corn meal
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp oregano
1 egg
2 tbsp water
Olive Oil for frying
Marinara sauce for dipping


Combine and mix well: pepper and flour in a bowl or plate.

In a separate bowl or plate, combine and mix well: bread crumbs, corn meal, garlic salt, and oregano.

In a small bowl beat the egg and water until well mixed.

Coat the sliced tomatoes in the flour mixture, then dip them in the egg wash, followed by the bread crumb and corn meal mixture.

Pour olive oil in a pan, so that it coats 1/4 inch of the pan, enough to cover the tomatoes. On medium-high heat, when the oil is hot, fry the tomatoes, about 2 minutes on each side. Cool slightly on a wire rack before serving. Serve with marinara sauce.

6 comments:

  1. Fried green tomato sandwiches sound really good!

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  2. I've had fried green tomatoes several times but I've never tried making them...thanks for sharing the recipe =)

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  3. I have never eaten fried green tomatoes but it sounds delish!

    I used to eat a lot of green tomato ketchup my grandma made.. and I just so loved it! :)

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  4. oo green ketchup sounds awesome! i might have to try that one out! =)

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  5. Ohhh those do look tasty. I saw green tomatoes at the Kirkland Wednesday market last week but walked right by them! Next time I will be sure to grab a few to fry up! Thanks Judy

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  6. This looks really good! I just got some organic pepper and Himalayan sea salt from Sustainable Sourcing https://secure.sustainablesourcing.com and I think I'll try them both out in this recipe over the weekend. Thanks for sharing!

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