Fried Green Tomatoes

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I was at the farmer's market this last week and saw my favorite vegetable seller had baskets and baskets of ... green tomoates! I've been craving fried green tomatoes all summer but hadn't seen any (and my own foray into growing tomatoes this year was, let's just say, completely unsuccessful.) It's been years since I tried making fried green tomatoes last, and thought I would give it another go as a more experienced cook.

And let me tell you. So easy. I wish green tomatoes were available year-round, I'd make these all the time.

Start out with, what else, green tomatoes. I gave mine a light wash and then dried them really, really well.

Cut them about 1/2 an inch thick. I like when they're more substantial--easier to grab. If you like thinner slices, well, then, that's between you and your tomatoes.

Now get your coatings ready. The amount you make will completely depend on how many tomatoes you fry. So everything given from here on out will be "equal parts."

In one bowl, you'll want equal parts of bread crumbs and cornmeal. I apparently did not take a picture of this. Just imagine a bowl full of salted and peppered bread crumbs and cornmeal.

Uh. Now here's the reason there's no picture of the bread crumbs and cornmeal. I got a little too creative with the wet mixture and took tons of pictures of it and neglected my dry ingredients completely. Sorry, dry ingredients.

This fine gentleman is a mix of equal parts eggs and buttermilk, with some hot sauce thrown in.

I think I got up too early this morning.

Anyhow. Mix your ingredients together and start a pan of oil on the stove. Medium heat'll do ya.

Dip your tomatoes into the wet mixture.

Then coat them in the dry.

When your oil's hot, carefully slide your tomatoes in. Not too many in the pool at once--you want your tomatoes to be crisp.

When one side is golden, it's time to (carefully) flip.

Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with salt right away.

Here's my frying setup. Each stage has tomatoes waiting in line for the next one.

Serve with ranch, bleu cheese, honey mustard, bbq, hot sauce, or your "other" condiment of choice. And eat them while they're hot!

Recipe: Fried Green Tomatoes
 (this recipe is for 3 tomatoes. If you do more, you'll want to increase your ingredients in equal parts.)

3 green tomatoes, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces

1/2 c. breadcrumbs
1/2 c. cornmeal
salt and pepper

1/2 c. buttermilk
2 eggs
dash of hot sauce
salt and pepper

Oil for frying

Heat oil over medium heat.

Combine mix buttermilk, eggs, hot sauce, and salt and pepper in a bowl.

In another bowl, breadcrumbs, cornmeal, and salt and pepper.

Dip tomato slices into buttermilk mixture.

Coat buttermilked-tomato slices in breadcrumb mixture.

Gently put tomatoes in pan; flip when one side is golden brown.

Remove from oil when all sides are golden brown and fried. Drain on paper towels or newspaper. Sprinkle with salt.

Serve while hot.