Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Fried Green Tomatoes

Green Tomatoes waiting to be made famous...
 A great chick flick that is said to have started a big following for the now-popular Southern sidedish. While many argue the origins of this dish now and since the movie came out, I cannot argue that it is an interesting one and a really tasty one if done correctly.
My favorite restaurant in town does a fabulous fried green tomato stack with goat cheese on top, and I think there might be some bacon in there, too? I might have to go back this week before we leave to double check that! Anyway, it's amazing, so tonight I tried my best at what has become my favorite southern appetizer.
My plan was to make shrimp and grits to really round out this southern meal, but it turned out that most of my kitchen had already been packed up and I just didn't have the right measuring tools for the job. Alas, mac and cheese would have to do as the side- Cakes was extremely disappointed at this as she also loves grits and was looking for them when I served dinner, but the boys didn't even flinch. Well, mac and cheese is also considered a southern staple, so I didn't deviate too far from my plan.
There is nothing complicated about cooking fried green tomatoes.  Slice the tomatoes, not too thin so that they'll hold up through the frying process. Dredge them in a beaten egg, and then a flour and bread crumb or cornmeal mixture.  I'll be honest since it's the first time I've ever cooked them myself, there was a tanginess that I could have done without. As I began writing this post I did a little research on fried green tomatoes and found out that a good way to "mellow them out" is by boiling them just a bit in water before dredging them to be fried. Interesting. I probably should have done my research before I cooked them, but I will have to settle for perfecting this recipe the next time around. One last sidenote: I think a little goat cheese and maybe a drizzle of really sweet balsamic vinegar with some caramelized onions on top of the fried green tomatoes would have done the trick tonight (and always!), but I was working with limited supplies so plain would have to do.

Fried Green Tomatoes served up with local Garlic Shrimp
Anyone out there a fan of the dish? Any expert pointers on how to prepare them?