Devinely Fried Green Tomatoes– The Recipe and Story

Today I was driving through a small town with my girls, and spotted a farmer selling produce. The first thought that came to my mind was, “I wonder if they have green tomatoes yet!” I had been looking for them for since the first day of summer. I turned the car around and BINGO! There they were–beautiful green tomatoes fresh off the farm.

As far as I am concerned, there is only ONE purpose for green tomatoes. They were meant to be FRIED (yes, I am from the SOUTH where we fry almost everything). Frying green tomatoes also brought back a great memory for my family. Last summer, my mother-in-love (not LAW) came to stay with us for a few weeks for the first time ever in the 17 years my husband and I have been married. I welcomed the opportunity to learn from her cooking expertise. As a mother who cooked for her ten children, who are now all grown, she has earned her cooking credibility. I wanted to learn to cook some new things, and possibly some things that would remind my husband of fond childhood food memories from his parent’s home. When I found out she knew how to cook fried green tomatoes, it was ON! After a quick trip to our local farmers market, and a check of the pantry to make sure we had all the appropriate seasonings, she agreed to THROW DOWN in my kitchen.

Oh my goodness! Those fried green tomatoes were so good, our family ate them all before dinner. After my mother-in-love’s visit was over, we couldn’t stop craving those tomatoes. I continued making trips to the farmer’s market and buying green tomatoes and frying them until green tomatoes could no longer be found for that season.

My Devinely Fried Green Tomatoes

I studied her simple recipe pretty good, and eventually learned to make fried green tomatoes that taste as good as she made them. Today I made fried green tomatoes and posted them on Facebook. After receiving a couple of requests for the recipe, I decided to blog the recipe. It was SO HARD to put this into a formula that others can follow because I pretty much eyeball everything I cook. No worries though. My kids and I were more than happy to test this formula to make sure it was just right. Furthermore, it gave us a great excuse for eating more fried green tomatoes tonight! Also, putting this recipe in writing was great practice for my upcoming cookbook that focuses on fast meals for MOMS (or anyone) on the go!

Devinely Fried Green Tomatoes

Ingredients  

4-5 medium sized green tomatoes (make sure the tomatoes have NO RED outside or inside once you cut them. Redness makes fried tomatoes too soggy)

1 cup of cornmeal

1/4 cup of flour

2 teaspoons of kosher salt or 1 teaspoon of table salt

1 teaspoon of black pepper

1 teaspoon of garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon of onion powder

1/4 teaspoon of paprika

Vegetable oil

Frying pan

Directions

1. Stir all the dry ingredients together into a mixing bowl.
2. Rinse the tomatoes and cut them into 1/8-1/4″ slices.
3. Place the tomatoes in the dry batter and coat them evenly.
4. Heat approx. 1″ of vegetable oil in a skillet on med-high heat.
5. Once the oil is hot, place a layer of the battered tomatoes in the skillet. Be sure not to overlap or stack any tomatoes.
6. Fry the tomatoes for 2-3 minutes, or until lightly browned.
7. Turn over the tomatoes and fry the other side for 2-3 minutes, or until lightly browned.
8. Remove from the skillet and place on a plate covered with paper towels to absorb excess oil.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. These fried green tomatoes taste great alone, with Ranch dressing, or with ketchup (so my kids say). Please share your results with me when you decide to make them. Oh yes, and create a memory with your family that involves this recipe!