Fried Green Tomatoes

The fried green tomatoes came out pretty well. Having lived in Texas for 2 decades, I know cornmeal is part of “authentic” fried green tomatoes. However, since this was an unplanned addition to our meal due to God’s bounty thru generous gardeners, I had to adapt the recipe using whatever I had on hand. Instead of bread crumbs and cornmeal, I used some Kroger Private Selection parmesan herbed panko crumbs I had bought on sale recently to try on baked tilapia.

I did see some other recipes using panko when I searched again, but I stuck with the original recipe I had printed from the internet, but substituted the panko crumbs for the cornmeal and bread crumbs.  I did follow some tips from other recipes such as salting the slices about 20 minutes before cooking them in order to draw out the moisture to have crispier results. I also sprinkled a little sugar on the slices at the same time as a few people suggested that the green tomatoes could be rather tart. I filled a non-stick skillet with about 1/4 inch of oil. Many recipes suggested much more oil or even deep fat frying.

I should have halved the recipe though. Way too many fried slices for two people to eat. I wrapped the leftovers in foil and will try reheating them Sunday morning to have with our scrambled eggs, but I suspect they will be soggy. The only other thing I would do differently would be to put the flour on a sheet of waxed paper and likewise the crumb mixture. Too many dirty plates otherwise.

 

Recipe:

4 large green tomatoes             1/2 cup bread crumbs

2 eggs                                             2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt

1/2 cup milk                                  1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 cup all-purpose flour                1 quart vegetable oil for frying

1/2 cup cornmeal

 

Slice tomatoes 1/2 inch thick. Discard ends.

Whisk eggs and milk together in a medium-sized bowl. Scoop flour onto a plate. Mix cornmeal, bread crumbs, and salt and pepper on another plate. Dip tomatoes into flour to coat. Then dip the tomatoes into the milk and egg mixture. Dredge in breadcrumbs to completely coat.

In a large skillet, pour vegetable oil (enough so there is 1/2 inch of oil in pan) and heat over medium heat. Place tomatoes into the frying pan in batches of 4 or 5, depending on skillet size. Do not crowd the tomatoes; they should not touch each other. When the tomatoes are browned, flip and fry the other side. Drain on paper towels and serve hot.