Fried Green Tomatoes

I just got done making some delicious fried green tomatoes, and now I'm sitting with my laptop and plate of yummies, watching the reflection of sunlight sparkle on my walls. What a lovely way to spend the afternoon...although I have a huge pile of dishes I now have to do...but I guess I can put that off until tonight.

I thought I would post the recipe, since I am of the belief that good food has the ability to effect our mood. Not that I'm an emotional eater, but I do like to treat my body and soul to something special when I really need a pick-me-up. Something about the act of cooking is soothing, and God knows I need a pick-me-up right now.

 Green tomatoes are all but impossible to find in the supermarket, so I had to go to a local grower to get mine (hopefully I'll have my own garden soon). The good thing about getting them green is that you don't have to use them right away. You can keep them in the fridge for a couple weeks if you need to. You might lose one or two to going red, but if you catch it early they'll still be firm enough to fry up.


I got my recipe from allrecipes.com. I've gotten a few really good ones from them. I altered this one a little bit to suit my liking. I added garlic powder and Cajun seasoning to the bread-crumb mixture, and used instant grits instead of corn meal since I didn't have any. It turned out to be just what I'd been craving! After frying the tomatoes, I had some egg and stuff left, so I turned the leftovers into hush puppies. I don't like being wasteful.

As a side note, if you're new at frying (which I am) it's a little tricky getting the breadcrumbs to stick to the eggs...your fingers and counter-tops are going to get MESSY. Keep a damp hand-towel around.

Live Pearly!

Best Fried Green Tomatoes

Ingredients

• 4 large green tomatoes
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 quart vegetable oil for frying

Directions

1. Slice tomatoes 1/2 inch thick. Discard the ends.
2. Whisk eggs and milk together in a medium-size bowl. Scoop flour onto a plate. Mix cornmeal, bread crumbs and salt and pepper on another plate. Dip tomatoes into flour to coat. Then dip the tomatoes into milk and egg mixture. Dredge in breadcrumbs to completely coat.
3. In a large skillet, pour vegetable oil (enough so that there is 1/2 inch of oil in the pan) and heat over a medium heat. Place tomatoes into the frying pan in batches of 4 or 5, depending on the size of your skillet. Do not crowd the tomatoes, they should not touch each other. When the tomatoes are browned, flip and fry them on the other side. Drain them on paper towels.