The Secret’s In The Sauce!

Do ya’ll like fried green tomatoes dipped in a wonderful creamy dipping sauce??

Perhaps you have seen the movie with the same name.

‘Fried Green Tomatoes‘, not dipping sauce. LOL

The synopsis: “Kathy Bates stars as an unhappy wife trying to get her husband’s attention in this amusing and moving 1991 screen adaptation of Fannie Flagg’s novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. After befriending a lonely old woman (Jessica Tandy), Bates hears the story of a lifelong friendship between two other women (Mary Stuary Masterson and Mary-Louise Parker, seen in flashback) who once ran a cafe in town against many personal odds. The tale inspires Bates to take further command over her life.”

Actually, I watched this movie for the umpteenth time last week, and it got me to thinking about ‘Fried Green Tomatoes’.

And a dipping sauce.

I have to confess my favorite way of eating tomatoes is picking one fresh from the vine and rinsing…then biting (or cutting) ….and then using a sprinkle from the salt shaker…. and then eating it right on the spot with the rich red juices dripping down my arms and onto my apron.

Confession: THAT was when I lived in Kansas….where we managed to have a small tomato patch that produced boo-coos of tomatoes!

I love to ‘can’, as in ‘put up’ mason jars of food.

And “can” I did from tomato sauce and ketch-up, chow chow and chili sauce and of course tomatoes.

However, I was never too fond of fried green tomatoes, didn’t much care for cornmeal “batter”….and sometimes the green tomatoes can be bitter.

Which is why I like to have a dipping sauce.

So, after seeing the movie at the theater, (released in 1991), this ‘romantic at heart’ bit the bullet and I came up with a recipe for fried green tomatoes.  

source

Last week, after watching the movie again on TV, I decided to dig out my old recipe and make the fried green tomatoes that were being served at the ‘Whistle Stop Cafe’.

If you have watched the movie, perhaps you will remember the following scene which starred Kathy Bates as Evelyn:

I still laugh as I view that scene. You would have to see the movie to know that Evelyn used to be a very timid woman, who wouldn’t hurt a fly.

I also liked the line spoken by Mama Threadgoode regarding Ruth and Idgie’s friendship.

This line from the movie is from the book of Ruth chapter 1: verses 16 and 17….and in the Bible, Ruth is speaking to her mother-in-law.

Mama Threadgoode:
“It’s an obituary… oh no, honey, Ruth’s mother died. And this is from the Bible, it’s from the Book of Ruth. And Ruth said: “Whither thou goest, I will go. Where thou lodgest, I will lodge. Thy people shall be my people.”   ……

Sorry but I have to add the continuation of that verse even though it was not in the movie. The Bible verse goes on to say…“your God is my God; where you die, I’ll die and that’s where I will be buried, so help me God-not even death itself is going to come between us.”

Another line I like from the movie: This was Ninny, an elderly woman in a hospital bed in a retirement home .(She was played by the late actress, Jessica Tandy.)

Ninny Threadgoode: “Oh, what I wouldn’t give for a plate of fried green tomatoes like we used to have at the café. Ooh!”

So my friends, here is my recipe for Fried Green Tomatoes. (And my Captain always asks for more, when I make them :))

Do you make Fried Green Tomatoes?

Do you use a dipping sauce or do you have your way of using green tomatoes?

Fried Green Tomatoes

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Ingredients

  

• 2 Green Tomatoes Slice about 1/4 inch thick
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne depends on how spicy you like it
• 1/8-1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 cup Italian Panko bread crumbs you can use regular if you like
• 1/2 tsp salt I use Kosher salt
• Fresh Ground Black pepper to taste
• Grated Parmesan Cheese
• Oil for frying I use peanut oil
• Sauce for dipping See recipe below

Instructions

 

• Slice tomatoes about 1/4 inch thick, using a bread knife for even cutting. Mix egg, milk, garlic powder and cayenne and set aside
• Salt and pepper the tomatoes and let rest a bit on a rack before dredging in the flour (or you can put the S & P directly in the flour)
• Dip a tomato slice in the flour, then in the egg mixture and then in the Panko bread crumbs. Repeat with other slices and place on an elevated cookie cooling rack.
• Add about a 1/2 inch-1 inch of oil (give or take, you just want the tomato slices to be completely covered in oil when frying) to a cast iron skillet (or any heavy skillet) on a medium to high heat.
• Fry the tomato slices turning as needed just until turning a light brown. (remember you are only frying the coating as the tomatoes are fine just as they are)
• Drain the tomato slices on a rack over paper towels and immediately sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. (OPTIONAL: I then stand my slices up in a large colander to keep them from being soggy)
• Serve with buttermilk ranch or your preferred dipping sauce.

TIP and Recipe for dipping sauce

• TIPS: you may spice up the tomatoes with a dipping sauce.

  1 cup mayo, 1 T dijon, 2t red wine vinegar, 2 T horseradish, 1 T. diced red onion, and a little chopped cilantro.

  You can also add a little bit of  lump crab meat, tuna or salmon to the top of the cooled tomato slice!

  If you want to get even fancier, you can drizzle the dipping sauce over the sea food and sprinkle with diced sweet red pepper or chopped scallions. Yummy

  I find if I use a green tomato that is just starting to turn pink, the bitterness is not there.

  Salting the tomato slice and letting it sit for at least 20 minutes before dredging also makes the slice a little sweeter. (see note in recipe directions)