When I was a teenager, one of the defining books in the kitchen was ‚The Joy of Cooking‘ by Irma Rombauer.
It proved to be a treasure trove of dependable recipes covering just about anything in the kitchen.
I baked more in those days, but skimming through the book I would sometimes be intrigued with recipes I stumbled over.
One such recipe was one for fried green tomatoes, a southern recipe, as I learned from the book.
I thought it was a clever way to use a vegetable that wasn’t going to ripen to its red state anymore and having some at the time, I tried it. Turns out the cooking process softens the tomato, making it palatable, while the tang of the tomato combined with the crunch of the breading makes a very delectable dish.
I only tried it once and was reminded of it when I saw some green tomatoes on the market the other day.
These days its quicker to google things, so I looked up a dozen or so recipes before making them like this.
All the recipes were similar, so take your pick of any you can find out there.
A few green tomatoes, sliced 3/4″ thick
flour
corn meal
1 egg
salt, pepper
chili powder
combine flour and corn meal, about 1:1
dredge both sides in flour
beat egg
coat tomatoes with egg
dredge through flour/meal mix
coat with egg/dredge through flour again
fry over low heat prick for softness
I decided on a little homemade mayonnaise/aioli to accompany the tomatoes.
For this I slowly added oil to an egg yolk I was beating until it emulsified.
My mayo had a few drops of lemon juice, a pinch of cayenne, garlic and some parsley in it.
Ms. B really liked the tomatoes and had the leftovers the next day.
heat'n'eat 