Family Recipe Friday... Fried Green Tomatoes

Fried Green Tomatoes

Both of my grandmothers made this delicious dish, and their backgrounds were quite diverse! Dad's mother came from the hills and hollows of West Virginia, while Mom's mother from a French family having married into a traditional German family.

Both made this dish the same way.

Mama carried on the making of this dish, and I continue today.

Here's our fried green tomatoes!

Ingredients

• 4 large green tomatoes
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 quart vegetable oil for frying

Directions

1. Slice tomatoes 1/2 inch thick. Discard the ends.
2. Whisk eggs and milk together in a medium-size bowl. Scoop flour onto a plate. Mix cornmeal,  and salt and pepper on another plate. Dip tomatoes into flour to coat. Then dip the tomatoes into milk and egg mixture. Dredge in cornmeal to completely coat.
3. In a large skillet, pour vegetable oil (enough so that there is 1/2 inch of oil in the pan) and heat over a medium heat. Place tomatoes into the frying pan in batches of 4 or 5, depending on the size of your skillet. Do not crowd the tomatoes, they should not touch each other. When the tomatoes are browned, flip and fry them on the other side. Drain them on paper towels.

Please note that my grandmother's would have fried the tomatoes in lard. And they would have drained them on tea towels. [Let me also state that yes, there is indeed a difference in the flavor of tomatoes fried in lard rather than in vegetable oil! How "enlightened" we have become!] Nevertheless, this is simply a tasty and delicious way to use up the garden's bounty!