Fried Green Dreams

I had a dream about Fried Green Tomatoes last night.

Bizarre? Yes, I'm aware of the absurdity, but it still happened.

I think it was stuck in my subconscious because I was reading an article in one of my food magazines last week about Fried Green Tomato sandwiches. I was thinking about the fact that even though I have never had a fried green tomato, I crave them.

This is what I know about Fried Green Tomatoes:

• It was one of my favorite movies. It stars Mary Louise Parker and Mary Stuart Masterson, Kathy Bates and the late, great Jessica Tandy. It's one of those movies that when it comes on I have to stop what I'm doing and watch it. It was the first time I had ever heard of Fried Green Tomatoes and I have been curious about them ever since. 

• They are a southern thing. Who the hell came up with this recipe? Leave it to the Southerners to fry up a tomato that's not ripe and make it  delectable. I know only Frick and I would try them in my family, but I think I will make them sometime soon. I bet they are just as good cold as they are warm, too. 

So in honor of my fried green dreams, I searched the internet for a good recipe for Fried Green Tomatoes and came up with this one from AllRecipes.com:

Best Fried Green Tomatoes (how could I go wrong?)

Ingredients

• 4 large green tomatoes
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 2 teaspoons coarse kosher 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, bread crumbs and salt and pepper on another plate. Dip tomatoes into flour to coat. Then dip the tomatoes into milk and egg mixture. Dredge in breadcrumbs 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.