Ummmmm... I love fried green tomatoes. To me the most important thing is to find green tomatoes at the proper degree of ripeness. If the tomato is to green it will be hard and without flavor, if it's not green enough, it will be too soft and smushy. Yuck. I choose the ones that are firm with a blush of red. My grandmother made them with either a flour or cornmeal batter, but I don't like a batter on them so I cut the tomatoes and then dip them in water and toss them into a bag that I've mixed flour, salt and pepper in. If you like a batter then just mix your flour or cornmeal with water or milk and add one or two eggs. Mix well and add more milk or water as needed to get your batter to the consistency you like. Then dip the tomato slices in the batter and fry in very hot grease until they float.
Fried Green Tomatoes
4 medium green tomatoes
flour
salt and pepper to taste
canola, crisco or vegetable oil ( I like the way crisco fries anything)
Paper grocery bags or paper towels on grate
In a large frying pan, add enough oil of choice for the tomatoes to float (1 -3 inches)
bring oil to 350 to 375 (if you don't have a thermometer, the best way to tell if oil is hot enough to fry in, drop a dash of batter or flour into oil and it should begin to furiously fry and move around)
While oil is heating, slice tomatoes and dip in water then add to mixed flour bag or dip in batter.
When oil is at frying temp, gently add each sliced tomato in a single layer to the pan.
Tomatoes should fry quickly and will start to float when they are done. If you cut the slices too thick you may need to turn them once.
Remove tomatoes and add more to oil until all are cooked.
You may need to turn oil down if it begins to smoke during this process.
My preference in a pan is always a cast iron skillet for frying, but I can't use it on my glasstop stove, so my next preference is to use a deep fryer.
Do not leave unattended. Always keep salt, baking soda or a fire extinguisher close by when you are frying. You can also place the lid of the frying pan on the pan if a grease fire starts, then move (with protection) the closed pan off of the eye and turn the eye off. DO NOT try to extinguish with water.
Home Page and Daily Post
Welcome to my blog. This beautiful cook to my right is my grandmother and the inspiration for this work in progress. I was blessed to be raised at the knee of this amazing cook, but unfortunately, a cook who didn't use recipes. The breadbowl in the photo belonged to my granny. Many biscuits were mixed by hand in that bowl and when I inherited it, I thought it would be a breeze to continue the tradition. Major miscalculation on my part! I had grown up helping Granny mix and mingle ingredients, but never completing the dish from beginning to end. Granny cooked by adding a dash of this and a pinch of that and always cooking enough for six to eight people at a time. Imagine my shock when she died and none of her recipes were written down. Many phone calls were made to other members of our family to see if they had any of her recipes but I always received the same reply: "E'ner (her name was Eleanor, but every one in our family called her E'ner) always made that for me, but let me know if you figure out the way she cooked it". Great. Thanks. It then became obvious to me that I was going to have to recreate and record all that I could remember and make the recipes available in an easily accessible location.
As an aside, anyone looking for authentic southern recipes, whatever that means, should find comfort here. The flour should be White Lily (don't ever call the company with questions, they've moved up north and are clueless), most recipes call for shortening (Crisco) and, if you are looking for low fat and healthy, you are probably in the wrong place! All things in moderation......
As a disclaimer, it is not my intent to represent these recipes as original or unique to my family. Someone out there may have a recipe book filled with every recipe I worked out on my own. If that's the case, don't send it to me... I'm enjoying this too much. Having said that, this an open blog where anyone can add their own recipes and memories to my own.
Also, it is my intention to add photos of the completed recipes, but since it was a recent decision to create this blog and no photos are available of most of the dishes. I'll take the photos as the dishes are cooked, or, if anyone cooks the recipe and wants to add a photo, please do.
Thanks and God Bless... Deidre
Thursday, January 27, 2011
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