Re: Fried Green Tomatoes

Hi! This is my first posting on this most interesting forum! I'm originally from the deep south, and one of the most delicious dishes I've ever had of southern cooking was fried green tomatoes at a little cafe in Jonesboro, TN. It had "secret" herbs and spices in the batter which they wouldn't divulge--but it was to die for! Alas, the place has closed up, I believe, and they took the secret with them! Anyone know of any yummy recipe for this dish other than just the usual flour or cornmeal batter version? Thanks!

Welcome,
Maybe Sundancer has some ideas for you regarding that place in TN.
Good luck... keep looking around, there is a post regarding FGT archived here...
I LOVE FGT also!

http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1178

Just found this thread..

Experiment with seasonings in the "breading" and use bacon drippings to fry. A favorite at home in So.jersey was fried tomatos (redNripe)with a white sauce

quote:

Originally posted by dreamzpainter

Experiment with seasonings in the "breading" and use bacon drippings to fry. A favorite at home in So.jersey was fried tomatos (redNripe)with a white sauce

I love Jersey tomato's and jersey corn!
I wish it was going to be in season when I drive thru there in 10 days...
((sigh))..

Marinated Fried Green Tomatoes

3 pounds green tomatoes
2 cups water
1 tablespoon English mustard -- powder
4 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons peanut oil -- divided
4 tablespoons cider vinegar
4 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons salt -- divided
1 teaspoon celery salt
2 dashes cayenne
5 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup flour


Prepare and start marinating the tomatoes early in the day. Cut the stem button out of each tomato and cut it in half lengthwise. Trim off a small slice on the round side of each tomato half and discard it. Then cut each half, lengthwise, into 2 slices, each about 1/2 inch thick. Pack the tomato slices into a bowl.

In a saucepan, slowly stir the 2 cups of water into the mustard powder and tomato paste until the mixture is smooth. Add the 2 tablespoons of oil, the vinegar, soy sauce, honey, the 2 teaspoons of salt, the celery salt and cayenne. Bring the mixture to simmer over medium heat then simmer it, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Pour the hot marinade over the tomatoes in the bowl and set a saucer with a weight upon it on them to keep them submerged, and allow them to marinate at least 6 hours.

Just before serving time, drain the tomatoes in a large strainer set over a bowl. Measure out the drained marinade liquid and add enough water to it if necessary to bring the total measurement to 3 cups. Dissolve the cornstarch in the liquid and bring it to simmer in a heavy saucepan over medium heat while stirring constantly, with a rubber spatula. When the liquid simmers, reduce the heat slightly and simmer 2 minutes longer, still stirring constantly. The sauce will be very thick and is meant to be so. Keep the sauce warm, covered with a trimmed piece of paper towel and lid, over very low heat until serving.

Heat 1/4 inch of oil in a heavy, 10-inch frying pan over medium high heat. There will be around 8 tomato slices per serving so work in batches of 8. Meanwhile, lightly salt both sides of each slice, dredge it in a bowl of the flour and set it on a plate. (Do not dredge more than 8 slices ahead of time, they get soggy.)

Fry the floured tomato slices for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes on each side until they are golden brown. Do not overcook them. They retain their heat for a long time and consequently continue to cook after they are removed from the pan. We want them to remain crisp. Drain the fried slices for a moment on paper towels.

Transfer them to a warm dinner plate and serve the fried green tomatoes, immediately, along with a small, warm bowl of the equally divided marinade sauce.

Serves 6.

I have several recipes for Fried Green Tomatoes, but I can't find the one that I think you most be interested in. Like dreamzpainter said, you should try different blends of spices to see what gets you closer to the taste you remember. I think the spices in my missing recipe included salt, pepper, thyme, paprika and garlic and/or onion powder. The garlic and/or onion I specifically remember because I never use the stuff and the person who gave me the recipe said I had to for this dish to taste right.

I suggest using a breading mix you like for fried chicken BUT add a small amount of cornmeal to the dry ingredients.
First - roll the pieces in corn starch,
Second - dip pieces in egg/milk wash
Third - roll in in the breading/cornmeal mixture.

Please keep in mind I'm not from the south and my recipe may offend official southerners.

Salt and pepper sliced green tomatoes, dip them in a beaten egg followed by corn flake crumbs and fry in oil. This was the way my grandfather always made them and they tasted good to me!

Fried green tomatores - keep em simple. Soak in milk or buttermilk, coat each side in seasoned cornmeal (salt, pepper), fry in hot oil. Drain on paper towels. Comes out great every time.

quote:

Originally posted by SassyGritsAL

Fried green tomatores - keep em simple. Soak in milk or buttermilk, coat each side in seasoned cornmeal (salt, pepper), fry in hot oil. Drain on paper towels. Comes out great every time.

Bingo. I use flour instead of cornmeal but less is more with fgt. Why hide the flavor?

We are lucky enough to have a lot of Roadfooders come to Alaska and visit us. When queenb asked, "what can I bring you?" I replied, tomatoes, green and red (she lives in Georgia). She did and made the BEST fried green tomatoes on our boat while I was grilling halibut (the grill was a gift from Redpatti and Jeff, other Roadfood friends). Queenb used self-rising white cornmeal with salt and pepper. They were spectacular! Best I've ever had.

Here in Northen Ohio I enjoy Fried Green Tomatos for a few months every year. I have never eaten any FGT's but mine, no one around here cooks them and I mean "no one" and I have never experienced them in my travels. Why did I try them for myself? Because I always enjoy a cooking adventure, and when I first heard about FGT's it sounded like a simple but tasty food to me.

Please remember, I have never had FGT's cooked for me by anyone but me, I have never looked for a recipe for FGT's, I just try what I think I will enjoy then try to improve on it to my tastes. You might hate this!

Here is how I cook FGT's now:
I slowly heat up 2" of canola oil to frying temp in my deep sided cast iron pan while I prepare the FGT coating. At this point my coating has evolved to consist of: egg, milk and flour mixed to pancake batter consistency. I spice the batter with fresh ground black pepper, paprika and a little "ancho chile powder".

After the GT slices are dredged through the coating and fried to "golden brown" I serve them along with my favorite "creamy horseradish sauce"!

Note: when fresh green tomatoes are not available you can substitute "Tomatillas", which are available when green tomatoes are not!

Tomatillas are way too small to make fried green tomato's......unless you get some that are grown near a nuclear power plant.. J/K
I love them, but best used in a green salsa, which I do every so often.....
And I love fried green tomato's.
Better off with huge fat boy's to make them with.
Tara

I enjoy both green and red tomatos breaded and fried, whichever is available. Even that horror of todays commercialization, the supermarket hardball tomato, comes alive blanketed in seasoned breadcrumbs and fried in real butter.

I will try a red "hardball" next time, sounds good.

Cornmeal, salt, pepper, basil and thyme is amazing, but my family prefers hotter fare so I just add cajun seasonings. Makes em happy. If it's just me, plain cornmeal and lots of pepper.

This thread make me long for "fried green tomato topped with shrimp and remoulade sauce" as served up at Uglesichs in New Orleans. By the way, their web site says "Anthony and Gail are still cleaning up from Katrina". It looks like they plan to re open. I'm going back to the big easy next month, and sure hope that they are up and running by then.

Hillbilly, I sure do hope they reopen Uglesich's. That was my favorite place in the big easy. The last I heard before Katrina was they were going to retire and close the restaurant.

I enjoyed everything they had on the menu. I always got there early to avoid the lines. Even then I had to wait. What a restaurant!

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Fried green tomatoes should be dipped in an egg wash (one egg and 1/2 cup of water) and then coated w/ corm meal and flour(3 to 1)

fry in butter or bacon grease.

My Grandmother did that way and I do also.