COOKING WITH CLORIS - FRIED GREEN TOMATOES

I first heard about fried green tomatoes when I saw the movie by the same name years ago. Last October I happened to be in a cafe in a small town in Georgia, and there on the menu were fried green tomatoes. Of course, I had to give them a try.

Here in New Jersey we've been inundated with tomato stealing squirrels. They don't even wait until they ripen. They pick the tomatoes, take a bite, then toss the tomato on the ground. You'd think after doing this a few hundred times, they'd remember that they don't like green tomatoes. But no, squirrels are stupid creatures. They keep biting into those green tomatoes and tossing them on the ground.

So I decided to grab the tomatoes before the squirrels got to them. Some I'm hoping will ripen on the window sill. Others I decided to try frying up before they ripened. Here's my recipe for fried green tomatoes.

Fried Green Tomatoes

Ingredients:

1/4 cup vegetable or peanut oil

3 medium green tomatoes

sea salt

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

3/4 cup flour

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs

Cut tomatoes into 1/2" thicknesses, discarding ends. Sprinkle with salt and let sit for 5 minutes.

Mix the flour, garlic powder, and paprika together in a shallow pan. Place the bread crumbs in another shallow pan.

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat.

Beat the egg and milk together. Dip tomato slices in flour/seasoning mixture, then the milk/egg mixture, then the bread crumb mixture. Fry the tomato slices in single layers with slices not touching each other, 3-5 minutes per side or until brown. Drain the cooked tomatoes on a paper towel.