I’ve always wondered why anyone would want to eat a green tomato. They’re almost as hard as a rock and they don’t taste good. I would think that fried green tomatoes wouldn’t taste any better than fried shoe soles. However, there is something magical about frying food.
For a number of years now, when spring hits I plant tomatoes. There are few things in life that bring as much pleasure as the flavor of a ripe tomato pulled from the vine, sliced, salt and peppered and eaten. Last year I decided to slice up a green tomato just to see what it tasted like.
It was horrible. I figured frying it must do something spectacular to it because so many people love these things. So I proceeded to bread the remaining slices and fry them. Not much better and I promised myself I would never try that again.
One More Try
Fast forward to this year and it’s time to plant again. Every year I plant the Amelia variety of tomatoes and I try to pick one or two varieties I haven’t tried before. This year I chose the Cherokee Purple Heirloom variety to try. The Cherokee Purple originated in Tennessee and is believed to have passed down from the Cherokee Indians. The vine-ripened fruit has an excellent flavor and was very juicy.
Well, one day I caught a show with a segment on fried green tomatoes. They looked so good. Mouthwatering good. So good that I decided to break my promise to myself. With plants loaded with green tomatoes that just wouldn’t ripen quick enough, I grabbed my tablet and started researching fried green tomato recipes figuring I must have done something wrong last year. After an unknown amount of time reading, I came up with a recipe of my own to try. I can’t believe I spent so many years of my life neglecting this southern delicacy.
Fried Green Tomatoes Recipe
Mouthwatering good Fried Green Tomatoes!
Ingredients
- 5 Medium Green Tomatoes
- 1 cup All Purpose Flour
- 1 tbsp Fine Sea Salt
- 1 tbsp Onion Powder
- 1 tsp Ground Thyme
- 1/2 tbsp Garlic Powder
- 1/2 tbsp Creole Seasoning
- 1/2 tbsp Black Pepper
- 1 cup Corn Meal Not corn meal mix
- 1/2 cup Panko Bread Crumbs Seasoned or Unseasoned
- 1 cup Milk
- 1 Egg Yolk
- 1 cup Canola Oil For frying
- 1-2 tbsp Bacon Fat Optional
Directions
- Step 1 Slice tomatoes about a 1/4″ thick discarding the ends. Lay out on a cutting board and lightly salt both sides and set aside Tomatoes
- Step 2 Mix the all purpose flour with the spices.
- Step 3 Fried Green Tomatoes
- Step 4 Mix corn meal and bread crumbs together.
- Step 5 Fried Green Tomatoes
- Step 6 Mix milk and egg yolk together.
- Step 7 Milk
- Step 8 Start heating oil and bacon fat over medium heat.
- Step 9 Bread tomatoes by coating in seasoned flour, then milk and then cornmeal/breadcrumb mixture. Set aside on wax paper.
- Step 10 Fried Green Tomatoes
- Step 11 When oil is hot enough, fry on both sides until golden brown.
- Step 12 Fried Green Tomatoes
- Step 13 Place on rack, paper bag or towels to cool and remove excess oil.
