Hi Marissa,
as promised, here’s what I did with your fabulous green tomatoes. This is great as an appetizer, or served with poached shrimp. They also make a yummy BTL sandwich. The feta cheese isn’t the traditional Southern way to do it, but I had it in a restaurant in Florida once and liked it so much I serve them that way every time.
Fried Green Tomatoes – Cooking With Kathy
Some people prefer the tomato sliced a bit thinner. Like most things about cooking, that comes down to personal taste and its quite easy to just slice them to your preference.
Its important to use firm green tomatoes. They can have a hint of pink blush to them, but once they’ve started to ripen they get too mushy when cooked this way.
4 large green tomatoes
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 cup a/p flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup bread crumbs *
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
Cajun seasoning to taste
1/4 tsp celery salt.
Vegetable oil for frying.
Slice tomatoes 1/2 inch thick. Sprinkle with some of the salt and let sit for 5 min while you prep the other ingredients. This helps draw some of the moisture out so they aren’t too wet for frying.
Whisk egg and milk together in a flat bowl for dipping.
Mix corneal, bread crumbs, remaining salt, pepper, cajun seasoning and celery salt on another plate. Dip tomatoes in flour to coat, then dip in egg wash, then cornmeal/bread crumb mixture to completely coat.
If you don’t have cajun seasoning, try seasoning salt or a bit of cayenne pepper.
In a large skillet (I prefer cast iron) heat about a 1/4 – 1/2 inch of oil over medium heat. When its hot enough to fry place your tomato slices in and fry till browned. About 2-3 minutes/side. Make sure not to add too many slices at once or your oil temp will be reduced and the tomatoes will absorb the oil. Also make sure slices aren’t touching each other.
Drain the tomatoes on paper towels.
Serve with crumbled feta cheese and remoulade sauce.
Makes 4 – 6 servings.
* I keep my leftover bread in the freezer (crust ends, dry slices etc) then when I need bread crumbs I just whiz them up in the food processor for instant bread crumbs.
You can buy remoulade sauce – or make your own. Here’s a good recipe. You can alter it to be more or less spicy depending on your personal taste. If you don’t have pickle juice, use lemon juice or vinegar
Remoulade Sauce.
1 1/4 cups mayonnaise.
1 tsp hot sauce (tobacco or something similar)
1 – 2 cloves of garlic well minced.
1/4 cup grainy mustard (creole if you can find it).
1 tbsp sweet paprika
1 – 2 teaspoons cajun seasoning.
2 tsp prepared horseradish
1 tsp pickle juice (can use dill or sweet depending on what you like.
Mix all the ingredients. Like most sauces, this is better if the flavors have time to meld so let it sit for a few hours. The leftovers will keep in the fridge for about a month. Its great with shrimp too.
Happy cooking :).
Regards,
Kathy
