So I have
heard of fried green tomatoes but being from Michigan, I didn’t really know how
delicious they could be. I think I tried
making this little side dish many years ago – but obviously it didn’t make an
impression on me because I certainly don’t remember this magnificent taste of
late summer.
So
yesterday, my sister taught me how to make Fried Green Tomatoes – the right
way! She guided me on every step from
how thick to cut the tomatoes to how to coat and spice them to how long to cook
them.
You see, she
had a vision earlier in the week of this delicious sandwich consisting of fried
green tomatoes, lettuce, scrambled egg and a mustard cream sauce all layered
neatly in a pita. Well, I knew I had a
bunch of green tomatoes in my yard so I picked some, gathered the ingredients I
needed and went to her house to make her vision our reality!
Did you know
that green tomatoes are just as healthy as red tomatoes? They are loaded with
vitamin C and beta-carotene as well as vitamin E, K, A and B; they have iron,
potassium, magnesium, copper, chromium, folate, phosphorus, tryptophan and
molybdenum in them as well. All of these
vitamins, minerals and antioxidants are necessary to help keep our body
healthy. As if that’s not enough reason
to try green tomatoes – I have to tell you, they taste pretty good too!
This is such
a delicious and simple dish – I can’t believe it’s not a staple in my house at
this time of year. These fried green
tomatoes were so good yesterday, that I went back into my garden today, picked
more green tomatoes and made myself another delicious fried green tomato
sandwich for lunch today!
OK, so you
want to know how to make these little gems … here’s the recipe we created:
Fried Green Tomatoes1 cup buttermilk
1 cup cornmeal
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil or grapeseed oil for cooking
Thick slice
each tomato – about ¼ inch thick. I
consistently got 3 thick slices out of each tomato. Next, put the buttermilk in a bowl and the
cornmeal in another bowl. Then dip each
tomato slice into the buttermilk – covering it completely, then the cornmeal –
covering both sides. Sprinkle each slice
with salt and pepper to taste. Place the
coated tomato slices on a flat surface – like a cookie sheet, until ready to
fry.
Meanwhile
pour enough oil in your fry pan to cover the bottom and turn the heat onto
medium. When the oil is hot place the
tomato slices in the pan. Cook the
tomato slice on each side until brown, and the tomato is soft when poked with a
fork -about 5 minutes (or longer) on each side.
When done,
remove tomato slices from the frying pan and place on paper towel to cool until
ready to assemble sandwich. 1 tbsp Dijon mustard (or more if you want a little more flavor)
½ tsp yellow mustard
½ tsp paprika
¼ tsp salt
Mix all
ingredients together and store in refrigerator until ready to use.
Pita bread – ½ for each sandwich
3 fried green tomatoes for each sandwich
Mustard sauce for each sandwich
1 scrambled egg for each sandwich - optional
Enjoy the
late summer harvest!
