fried green tomatoes

I don’t know if it’s the blight that everyone has talked about, spreading this far south, or if it’s been the cool weather, or what, but my farmer’s market has had a plethora of green tomatoes lately. And actually that’s fine by me because I love the tangy tartness of a green tomato – fried, grilled, or chopped up in a quick relish. Being a Southerner by birth, though, I have to admit my very favorite way of eating green tomatoes is fried.

I made this last night for dinner – it’s quick, easy, filling, and healthy.  It’s so easy I don’t even have a recipe for it … I just make it.

Start with 1 or 2 really green tomatoes.  I mean green and hard and not a bit of red on them.

Slice them into thin rounds – about 1/8th of an inch or so.  I used a sharp knife, but if you have a mandoline (I was too lazy to get mine out), it’ll make slicing more than 1 or 2 tomatoes a breeze.

Dip the tomato slices into a 50/50 mixture of corn meal and corn flour.

Then fry them in a hot skillet (my 12″ cast iron is my skillet of choice) in about 1/2″ of canola oil

When they’re nicely browned and soft, take them out and drain them on some papertowel or newspaper.  Then, sprinkle with salt and pepper, top with a little tomato sauce, and some shredded parm if you have it.

Voila – a quick and easy weekday meal.