Fried Green Tomatoes (not a very creative title...sorry)

Instead of studying for my test next week, I was busy being interrupted by Stacy and my dog multiple times.

As a result, I was persuaded into going to Fry's (Ghetto Groceries Inc.) and making Fried Green Tomatoes....yes like the movie. Although, I must admit that I've never actually seen it before.

In any case, the deep fried and green tomatoes were bomb.com

Fried Green Tomatoes

• 3 lbs green tomatoes (6-8 medium tomatoes)
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 3 cups vegetable or peanut oil
• 3 batches of dredge (recipe below)
• Kosher salt (You should buy this and not use regular iodized salt. You'll thank me later)
• Lemon Juice (if needed)

Slice the tomatoes into 1/4 inch think slices. Note: Don't use slices that include the stem. You'll regret it.

Next, whisk the eggs and butter milk together in a small bowl and place it to the side

Now, make the dredge (Fancy word for: flour and other crap that makes a very tasty and crunchy crust post frying). How do you do this? Technically you need to sift all the ingredients together, twice. But, if you are not a baker or do not shop compulsively at Ikea's cooking section like someone I live with, a fork will suffice to mix it all together in a wide shallow bowl or a plate.

Dredge Recipe

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons corn meal (can be found in baking aisle)
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 1.5 teaspoons of ground pepper (freshly ground preferable)

Now that all of your mis en place is ready, pour the oil into a 12 inch skillet or a normal frying pan. Turn on the heat to high. Typically you want to have a candy or digital thermometer around so you can maintain the oil at 365 F. I'm too cheap to buy one, so I just heated it up until the oil started to sizzle when I threw some flour into it. 

Note: Taste your tomatoes. They should taste tart. If not, sprinkle a little bit of salt and lemon juice onto them.

Once your oil is more or less at temperature, cover your tomatoes in dredge; try to dust off excessive amounts. Then coat the tomatoes in the egg/milk mixture and then re-dredge them again. Re dust off excessive amounts of dredge and throw...I mean gently place the tomatoes into the frying pan. 

Flip the tomatoes once they turn golden brown with a spatula. This should take 1-2 minutes on each side depending on how hot your oil is. Be sure not to let them burn because you left the kitchen to watch the Oregon vs Stanford game like I did. 

Once done, take your spatula and lay the tomatoes on a plate with paper towels on it. I had extra Trader Joe paper bags around, so I just used that.

Let them cool, and enjoy! If you are one of those types who needs to always have dips for their appetizers, I would suggest peppercorn ranch dressing.