Fried Green Tomatoes

Being a true Southern girl now for 6 years, I felt it was my duty to make fried green tomatoes.  I made my first batch last year but, unfortunately, it was towards the end of summer and the only green tomatoes weren't absolutely green so the outcome was a bit messy and not firm.  When I was in the market the other day, I spotted some new-crop firm green tomatoes from a local farm.  So I picked one up.

I will be honest:  I would only make these once a year for two reasons.  One, it's a bit messy and two, this doesn't really fall into the healthy/lo-cal category.  But these are better than the ones I've ordered in local restaurants.  I initially thought the 1/2" cuts were going to be too thick, but if you get yourself a very firm green tomato, it comes out perfectly and you still get that bit of tanginess.  And for me, freshly-ground coarse black pepper makes all the difference.  But be careful not to overdo it.

This is a great side dish for shrimp and grits and even better if you eat them while watching the wonderful movie "Fried Green Tomatoes!"

FRIED GREEN TOMATOES (4-6 servings)

4 large green tomatoes
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 cup AP flour
1/2 cup cornmeal (I used both white and yellow)
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 tsp coarse kosher salt
1/4 tsp (or more to taste) ground black pepper
1 quarter vegetable oil for frying

Slice the tomatoes 1/2" thick.  Discard the ends.

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

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

Recipe Source:  www.allrecipes.com