Fried Green Tomatoes

Abstract

Fried Green Tomatoes Mark F. Sohn My memories of eating fried green tomatoes go back almost thirty years to visits on our family's farm in Henderson County, Kentucky. Green tomatoes, picked fresh from the garden, were fried and served as part of special dinners. In the recipe given below, fried green tomatoes are prepared the way I think a true southerner would like them. As you eat them think of yourself going back in time, back perhaps to the 1930s at the Whistle Stop Cafe (from the movie Fried Green Tomatoes). In More Than Moonshine Sidney Saylor Farr shares her mother's recipe. She sprinkles the sliced green tomatoes with salt, pepper, and brown sugar. She then dips them in cornmeal and fries them in bacon drippings. When the tomatoes are cooked, she adds flour, milk, and seasonings to the bacon drippings and makes a milk gravy. The recipe as it appears in my forthcoming book Southern Country Cooking is quick and easy. Eat them fried, fresh, and hot out of your skillet. Fried Green Tomatoes 1-1/2 cups lard or, better yet, use bacon grease 5 medium-sized green tomatoes 1-1/2 cups self-rising cornmeal 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon black pepper Bring a pot of water to a boil, and one at a time boil the tomatoes (15 seconds) until the skin loosens and can be pulled off. Place the lard in a heavy iron skillet and heat to 350°. Cut the tomatoes into 3/8-inch-thick slices. Mix the self-rising cornmeal, salt, and pepper. Coat the tomato slices with the corn mix and fry on both sides until golden brown, toasty, and crisp. Drain on paper towels and serve immediately. If you let them sit, your crisp tomatoes will become soggy. Mark F. Sohn is a professor ofeducational psychology at Pikeville College in Kentucky. He writes a weekly newspaper column on cooking for Appalachian News Express and also has a television show that is aired monthly by Tel Com, Inc., ofHarold, Kentucky. 54 ...