Fried green tomatoes are Southern treat usually saved for one of two occasions: You have unripened tomatoes on the vine, and it is about to frost, or you are overrun with tomatoes, and want to reduce the amount you are producing. These came about in neither way. We have lots of tomatoes on the vine, but unfortunately most of them are still green. I would definitely not steal any of the tomatoes my husband is so carefully watching over to fry before they were ripened. Instead, having the need for tomatoes and only getting about one a day at this point, I had stopped at a roadside stand to supplement our own harvest – and there they were, green tomatoes just waiting to be fried, so I bought some, and here they are!
While my research shows that fried green tomatoes may not have originated in the South and very well may be Northeastern, Midwestern or Jewish, I can tell you that they are definitely eaten in the south regularly. Though I must say that as a child, I only remember them being eaten once or twice a year as a delicious way to use up green tomatoes, so I think their commonness may have come with the movie. One of the things blogging has done for me is make me write things down that were not really recipes. If you had asked me how to make fried green tomatoes a few years ago, I would have said mix together some flour and corn meal and add enough salt to it so that it tastes salty. Dip the tomatoes in buttermilk and then dredge them in the corn meal mixture and fry them. Well, that is essentially what the recipe says, but the blog has made me get specific about how it is done. I served these with a yogurt dipping sauce I adapted from this recipe from Robyn’s View for ranch dressing mix. You will only need one tablespoon for this recipe, so you will have leftover mix for salad dressing. Hope you enjoy!
Historical Source: Robert F. Moss
Dipping Sauce adapted from Robyn’s View.
Fried Green Tomatoes
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 4
Ingredients
Tomatoes
- 3 large tomatoes, thinly sliced (about 1/4 inch)
- 3/4 cup corn meal
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsps. salt
- buttermilk for dipping (I put 1 cup in a bowl, but didn’t us it all.)
- oil for frying (I used canola oil.)
Sauce
- 1/2 cup powdered buttermilk
- 3 Tbsps. dried parsley
- 1 Tbsp. dried cilantro
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- 2 tsps. dried chives
- 1 tsp. powdered cayenne pepper
- 1 Tbsp. salt
- 1 1/2 tsps. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup Greek yogurt
- salt to taste
Instructions
Tomatoes
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium.
- Stir together corn meal, flour, and salt.
- Dip the tomato slices in the buttermilk and then dredge in the cornmeal mixture and place in the hot oil. You will have to do this in batches. Don’t let the tomatoes overlap.
- Cook until golden brown, and then turn the tomatoes over and cook until golden brown on the other side. The trick is to not let the oil get too hot because you want the tomato to actually cook through before the outside is too brown.
- Allow to drain on a paper towel lined plate while you cook subsequent batches.
Sauce
- Using a food processor, blend together first 9 ingredients.
- Stir 1 Tbsp. of mixture into yogurt. Reserve the remaining herb mixture for future sauces and dressings. If yogurt is very sour, you may want to add additional salt to taste
- Refrigerate until use.
Courses Side
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