Grab one of these:
Add some of this:
You can have some of these:
Heaven on a plate.
Mr. Kim went by the farm where we buy Hanover tomatoes in summer and picked up a few early tomatoes and some green ones, too. These are classic fried green tomatoes. This method is based on a Tyler Florence recipe. If I had 3 hands, you'd get pictures.
Slice 4 large green tomatoes into 1/2-inch thick slices. Salt and drain in a colander for 1 hour (don't skip this step - it's KEY for the texture). Pat them dry and put them into a dish of buttermilk for a few minutes. You want them to be covered. Go ahead and use the full fat buttermilk - it's thicker and will hold on to the coating better. And you have fried green tomatoes...what...4, 5 times tops a year - splurge.
Mix:
1 cup of stone ground cornmeal
1 cup of flour
1 tablespoon garlic powder
pinch cayenne
salt & pepper
Drain the tomato slices slightly and then dredge in the cornmeal mixer. Press it in good! You want this to stick. Then put them on a rack over a baking sheet and refrigerate for at LEAST 30 minutes. An hour would be good, too. Press well and refrigerate. This is a good rule for anything breaded. Otherwise the coating just floats off in the oil and burns. Nothing good about that. (Unless you have one of these:
In which case you can fish those little bits out and turn them into a cooks treat. Delicious. I'm not sure how I know this. I musta heard it somewhere.)
Put your skillet over medium-high heat and add some of that bacon grease and some shortening or oil. About half and half, if you have enough bacon grease. If you don't have enough bacon grease, you need more bacon in your life. When the fat gets hot, fry the tomatoes (in batches) until golden brown and crisp - about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Drain the tomatoes on a rack. You can keep them warm in a 200 degree oven while frying the rest.
That's it. These are good as is or with a puddle of ranch dressing to dip them in. They also make a stellar BLT! The proper beverage is sweet tea w/ or w/out lemon.
Make these soon. It's 1000 degrees everywhere. These will make you feel better.
I think I heard that, too!! I'll have to try it and see.
ReplyDeleteWe're comin' up on picking a few green ones in a little while---Papa's rule was that you didn't pick a green one til you'd had a bait of "sliced, twice."
I've just never had much luck with meal breading on tomatoes, even with the resting steps. I DO think about three of those nice emerald Early Girls just MAY have fallen off on the ground. I'd better go look.