I’ve always heard it said there’s more than one way to skin a cat. Such is the case with fried green tomatoes. Most cookbooks with a section on garden varieties will have a fried green tomato recipe. They often range from cheesy to spicy to refreshingly cool. In most cases, the taste cues are provided by the breading or coatings, and not changes in the taste of the fruit … remember that tomatoes are, in reality, a fruit and not a vegetable.
And then, every so often you find a version of a dish that you just have to try to replicate when you get back home. That was the case when Jessica Bouse and her husband, Denny, traveled to Savannah, Georgia on vacation. They ate at The Olde Pink House restaurant, a renovated mansion, built around 1789. They chose the fried green tomatoes appetizer, although neither routinely ate the heirloom dish back at home.
Jessica said they both really liked the appetizer, and she took close note to the breading and determined she could do something similar when she made it back to Missouri. Just a couple days after they arrived home she began experimenting. Here’s the simple but tasty result she came up with.
Ingredients:
5 medium to large green tomatoes
3 eggs
¼ cup milk
1 package fish seasoning (she prefers Andy’s spicy seasoning)
Crack eggs into mixing bowl and add milk and blend well.
Dump contents of fish seasoning package in separate bowl. Heat frying pan with about ¼-to ½-inch cooking oil (vegetable, olive, etc.) of your choice.
Slice tomatoes to about ½-inch thick slices. Dip each tomato slice into milk/egg mixture, dredge in seasoning, and gently set in hot oil. Fry until the bottom side turns golden brown, then turn and cook other side to golden brown. Remove tomatoes from pan and drain slices on towel-covered plate to absorb excess oil.
Serve them up and enjoy. They’ll make a great appetizer or side dish.
