It’s that time of year. A lot of people automatically think pumpkins in the fall. Me? I think about green tomatoes. I am on a personal mission to try as many of the fried green tomato appetizers available in restaurants across the land as possible. When I’m home, and particularly about this time of year before the frost sets in, it’s fried green tomato time. Here’s a recipe I tried from dependable Paula Deen. Between Paula and the Pioneer Woman, you just can’t go wrong.
One thing I noticed about Paula’s recipe is this dictate: she instructs you to sprinkle salt on the sliced tomatoes to pull some of the moisture from them. Then, let them set for up to two hours. It seems to work, since mushy fried green tomatoes don’t have the right texture.
For Paula Deen’s recipe, you’ll need the following ingredients:
You’ll need to all at least an hour to make this dish. You can see the exact recipe here.
It’s an assembly-line process to get the tomato slices from a bowl of flour to the buttermilk/egg combination and then, dredged through a cornmeal concoction. I used a cast iron skillet, and had a platter ready with paper towels for reception of nuclear hot tomato slices.
You can concoct a sauce to go with your slices, or use Thousand Island or Yum Yum dressing. Fried green tomatoes make for an epic Southern appetizer, but lately, I’ve heard tell that someone thought to put a slice or two smack dab in the middle of a bacon, lettuce and (fried green) tomato sandwich.
On another note, once while shooting in Kentucky with Crimston Trace, I experienced a new version of a BLT, one that I have since made a few times to the delight of family and friends. That is the egg salad BLT. Yes, make your favorite egg salad and slather it onto a BLT in place of mayonnaise. Exquisite.
The fried green tomatoes tasted delicious right out of the skillet, and again, the next day after I reheated them in a Ninja air fryer.
Stay tuned for my green tomato odyssey in the kitchen this fall. Next to serve up will be Jim’s famous chow chow.
Publisher/Editor Barbara Baird is a freelance writer in hunting, shooting and outdoor markets. Her bylines are found at several top hunting and shooting publications. She also is a travel writer, and you can follow her at https://www.ozarkian.com. View all posts by Barbara Baird
