I was thinking about frying up some green tomatoes tonight (to thin the herd on that one stupid determinate variety I just had to plant), and I was trying to think back on how my aunts used to do it. I was pretty sure they just used cornmeal (salt and pepper, dip in egg, dredge in cornmeal, pop in pan), but I went online to check and it seems everybody has their own different crazy recipe.
A lot of them add flour to the cornmeal, or flour before cornmeal, and some of them use crushed crackers or breadcrumbs and stuff. How do you guys do them? Are there drawbacks to any particular method? (And if you could tell me by 6:00 or so, that’d be great. )
I just slice the tomatoes about 1/4 inch thick, salt them lightly and dredge in flour with a llittle salt and pepper. Fry in batches in rendered bacon fat over medium heat (5 minutes or so) until golden brown, turn and fry other side. Drain on paper towels and keep warm until the whole amount is done.
I’ve found that the most important (and time-consuming, so also the most frequently skipped) step is to salt the tomato slices and let them drain their excess liquid for 30 minutes before dredging them in whatever you like. This helps the breading to stick on the slices better, rather than sliding off on a layer of slimy cornmeal.
So my “recipe” (I don’t really have one) would look like this:
3 or 4 firm, green tomatoes, sliced about 1/2 inch thick (some people like them thinner). Sprinkle liberally with kosher salt, and place the salted slices in a colandar or several layers of paper towel to drain for 30 minutes. Pat dry any remaining moisture. Beat 2 eggs with 1 Tablespoon of water. In another bowl, mix a couple of handfuls (2 cups?) cornmeal with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Dip the slices in the egg mix and then the cornmeal. Fry over medium heat for a couple of minutes on each side - bacon fat if you’re feeling indulgent, but vegetable oil will do in a pinch.
I like to eat them with some quick homemade “thousand island” sauce: mix ketchup, mayo and pickle relish 'till it looks right.
[tangent] Not to sidetrack, but I just came in from Captain D’s with some catfish and fried green tomatoes for my wife’s lunch. Just thought it odd you’d have this up at this moment. [/tangent]
Captain D’s has fried green tomatoes? Who’da thunk?
You know, now that you mention it I think I do remember one of my aunts salting and draining her tomatoes, like how you do eggplant and zucchini for ratattouli.
Two days ago, there were green tomatoes as far as the eye can see, and half-red tomatoes, and everything in between. Now I find one perfect tomato for fried-green-tomatoes (nice and big slicing tomato with just a hint of pink in one spot), and a billion really really green ones. And some ripe yellow ones. What happened to the half ripe red ones I was going to put on my hamburger? Are they hiding in the bushes? (Probably. Jimmy Hoffa could be hiding in my garden now and I wouldn’t know.)
Squirrels like to steal the half-ripe ones. I have to watch mine like a hawk as soon as they start to ripen.
My recipe: thin slices, roll in egg and then in flour with a little garlic powder and paprika, fry in vegetable oil, eat immediately. Probably not very traditional, but I don’t keep cornmeal around the house and I never remember to buy it.
Good Gracious, I loooooovvve Fried Green Tomatoes only slightly less than fried okra.
I soak mine in a little buttermilk for awhile, flipping them midway through, then drain a bit, dredge in beaten egg, and then cornmeal (I press the tomato slices in the cornmeal so it sticks well) and fry in canola or olive oil. WhyNot’s suggestion of salting is great—a new one to me, but makes so much sense, as with salting eggplant. Thanks!
I enrich my green mater delectability with Comeback Sauce , a wonderful jazzed up version of 1000 island dressing I learned in Mississippi. It’s just incredibly tasty! There is a recipe at the bottom of the site linked. I’d leave out the cottonseed oil in that recipe, though, the mayo has plenty of oil. I add a little Tabasco, too. Great with fried okra and fried dill pickles as well. Homesick for Mississloppy, now…
They’d have to be really remarkable squirrels, with the netting I have up. (Not ruling it out, though.)
I made my own remoulade (meaning I started to make Emeril’s and then realized I was missing half the ingredients so I threw in stuff that was the right color) and that turned out pretty well, and the tomatoes turned out well - the cornmeal stuck to them really well and all, but there was something a little missing in the flavor. I think next time I’ll add stuff to the breading - maybe some Cajun seasoning and garlic powder or something. I put in salt and pepper (and just cornmeal) and paprika for color, and it was just a little bit lacking.
Pretty good, although I don’t know if it turned out the way it was supposed to - after I put it in the oven I realized my pan was 10 inches instead of 12. It was a big hit, though, right or wrong, and nobody died.
)