4-5 green (unripe) tomatoes, sliced thinly
1 3/4 cup buttermilk
1 3/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup cornstarch
salt
pepper
canola oil
Directions:
Soak the tomato slices in the buttermilk for 20-30 minutes.Meanwhile heat a 1/2 inch of oil in a frying pan. Pour the cornmeal, cornstarch, salt and pepper on a plate and stir to combine. Dip both sides of each tomato slice in the mixture. Add to the hot oil and cook until golden brown on both sides, flipping once, about 8-10 minutes. Remove to paper towel lined plates, blot and serve hot.
*If you really want to be decadent, add a couple tablespoons of bacon grease to the oil.
My thoughts:
I’ve always thought about making fried green tomatoes, but never followed through on the urge until today. My deep love for homegrown tomatoes has always prevented me from picking tomatoes from my own garden before they had ripened and my thrifty nature prevented me from buying green tomatoes from the farmers market when I could pick them for free, at home. Then yesterday I had a stalk loaded down with green tomatoes break off from the plant and didn’t want them to go to waste so I thought I’d fry them up.There is a limit to what you can do with an unripe tomato-the flesh is fairly firm, and while it is low in calories and high in nutrients; you don’t really want eat it raw. No wonder the traditional thing to do with green tomatoes is to fry them. It cooks them just enough that they aren’t too crunchy, but they still retain a certain toothiness that contrasts nicely with the thin, brittle crust. They are also slightly tart but have none of the bitterness you sometimes encounter with fried eggplant. div>
Oh, fried green tomatoes are a summer must & those look delicious. I use a cornbread batter for mine. toniacooks.blogspot.com/2007/06/fried-green-tomatoes.html
i’ve always been curious about fried green tomatoes and since my own tomatoes seem to be taking their own sweet time to ripen, maybe i’ll try this! looks good.
oooh! yummers! I made something like these a little while back and now the flavour of them is coming back in vivid daydreams. Thanks for the inspiration
I loooooove fried green tomatoes!
“Oh, what I wouldn’t give for a plate of fried green tomatoes like we used to have at the cafe. Oh!” LOVE that book. (And movie!) We use cornbread, too. Yours look perfect!
I, too, have always been curious about fried green tomatoes. I might have to sacrifice one or two that aren’t ripening quickly enough for me!
I adore fried green tomatoes, we always pick some of them just for that purpose! Another good use is green tomato parmesan- use an eggplant parmesan recipe but sub green tomatoes. And of course, relish or chowchow!
Just like all the other people who left comments, I LOVE this dish. There does seem to be a trick to getting the tomatoes to give up their sweetness during the frying process.
mmm… these just remind me of summer. i need to make some.
I’m a fried green tomato making machine. When I go home to my mom’s in the summer, there’s a stack of green tomatoes just waiting for me. I like to bread them in a mix of cornmeal and flour. I’ve never even thought to try cornstarch in the mix.. I’ll have to give it a try.
I LOVE fried green tomatoes. We don’t have our own plant this year, so I had to throw myself on the mercy of a neighbor for a few of his this year. And I didn’t fry them, because there is another great use for them: green tomato cake. I have a link to the recipe on my blog…probably a couple of posts from the top. The cake is incredible…the whole family has been walking past it and sawing off tiny slivers all week…it’s rapidly disappearing…definitely try it!! 🙂
I agree, fried green tomatoes in the summer…how wonderful! And yours have that perfect golden brown color, and I can just imagine them warm and crisp, with that green tomato yumminess inside the golden exterior…I’m glad you posted this. Now you’ve got me craving them myself. 🙂
Mmm, yes — let’s all make fried green tomatoes! I made some recently, too. I like your idea of soaking them in the buttermilk for a while first. I’m really hooked on these now.
I love fried green tomatoes, too. I saw a green tomato at a produce stand over the weekend but it was not green enough so I left it there. Now I’ll be on lookout for more produce stands so that I can rush home and fry me some.
Some of the green tomatoes on the vine appeared bitter on tasting. Does the frying reduce bitterness or is there something I can do to reduce bitterness? I have never tasted this so I am not sure what to expect of it.
The tomatoes are in various stages from tiny to fully formed but unripe. I suspect I should pick the fully grown unripe ones for the recipe but I am not sure.
Mishti-
I can't say I have really encountered any bitterness in unripe tomatoes but I don't think I have ever really eaten one that wasn't fully cooked. So maybe cooking is the key?
Your insincts were right, only use mature sized unripe tomatoes.