FRIED GREEN TOMATOES

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

Southern cooks have long made the most of an unripe tomato crop by dunking sliced green tomatoes in breading and frying them to a golden crust. For a crisp, stay-put coating, we first drained tomato slices on paper towels. Once dry, the tomatoes were ready for breading. We found that processing some of the cornmeal to a fine crumb minimized its grittiness. We then dunked the slices in egg and buttermilk
and dredged them through our cornmeal blend before frying. The acid in the buttermilk helped the starchy coating absorb moisture, making it especially crisp when fried. After just a few minutes, these sweet-tart tomatoes developed a golden-brown crust that was so good, we found ourselves looking forward to the first frost and its bonanza of never-to- ripen green tomato

MAKES: 4 to 6

TOTAL TIME: 45 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

1½ pounds green tomatoes, cored and sliced ¼ inch thick
⅔ cup cornmeal
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon pepper
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
⅔ cup buttermilk
1 large egg
2 cups peanut or vegetable oil

INSTRUCTIONS:

Prepare the tomatoes:

Place tomatoes on paper towel–lined rimmed baking sheet.
Cover with more paper towels, let sit for 20 minutes, and pat dry.

Prepare the cornmeal mixture:

Process ⅓ cup cornmeal in blender until very finely ground, about 1 minute.
Combine processed cornmeal, remaining ⅓ cup cornmeal, flour, salt, pepper, and cayenne in a shallow dish.

Prepare the buttermilk mixture:

Whisk buttermilk and egg together in a second shallow dish.

Dredge the tomatoes:

Working with 1 tomato slice at a time, dip in buttermilk mixture, then dredge in cornmeal mixture, pressing firmly to adhere; transfer to clean baking sheet.