BY PATSY R. BRUMFIELD – THE SOUTHFACIN’ COOK   

Seems like everybody who eats in the South wants fried green tomatoes.

I like them, too. I just find the grilled ones more interesting, taste-wise.

EQUIPMENT

• bread knife
• chopping board
• medium bowl
• cereal bowl
• whisk
• measuring equipment
• parchment paper
• baking sheet
• frying pan

INGREDIENTS

• 1 green tomato per serving
• 2 cups yellow corn meal
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• vegetable oil

LET’S GET STARTED

Wash your tomatoes. Slice them 1/4 inch thick.

Place parchment paper on baking sheet.

In medium bowl, mix corn meal, flour, salt, pepper, other spices.

In cereal bowl, whisk egg, milk.

Dip tomato slice into meal-flour mix, then into milk, then back into meal-flour mix. Place onto lined baking sheet. Repeat until you’ve coated all your tomato slices.

Heat skillet with 1 inch of oil on medium-high. Add 3-4 tomato slices to begin browning. Don’t crowd or they won’t brown properly. When you see bottom-side brown, turn and brown other side. Remove browned tomato slices to wire rack. If you have a lot and want to keep them warm, place them on the rack on a baking sheet into a 300 oven. Don’t expect to keep them in there too long, though. (Which means, fry these tomatoes close to your serving time, if possible.)

If you want to jazz these up even more, pair them with homemade comeback sauce (recipe).