Fried Green Tomatoes

Posted by Robert Dailey Nov 20, 2007

It came from the south, and they made a movie with the same name. But fried green tomatoes, using late-ripening tomatoes from a high desert garden make a truly great fall dish.

Here's a good recipe for fried green tomatoes:

Ingredients:

• Green tomatoes just turning pink, cut into ¼ inch slices. Use one to two tomatoes for each person. It the tomatoes are small (the size of an egg) then use two. If larger, use one. If really large, use a half per person. It’s meant to be a snack, not a meal.
• Two eggs, beaten
• Two-three cops of flower. Season the flour with salt, pepper, garlic powder and a little chili powder. Mix in well.
• About two inches of cooking oil. Use canola oil or peanut oil (if there are no allergies) because these two oils are lower in trans-fatty acids than other, more traditional oils. Olive oil won’t work because it will burn at the high heat required.
• Paper towels to drain off any excess oil.

Cooking:

• Heat to a very high heat two inches of oil in a seasoned black iron pot.
• Dust each tomato slice in flour.
• Drench each slice in beaten eggs and then dust in flour again.
• Drop the slices into the hot oil. Turn once. It should not take more that 30-40 seconds to cook each slice.
• When they are done, the slices will float to the top. Drain on paper towels and serve hot.
• A healthier alternative:
• Dust each slice with seasoned bread crumbs and place on an oiled cookie sheet.
• Bake at about 350 degrees in an oven until the bread crumbs begin to brown.
• Serve hot.