Fried Green Tomatoes

Inevitably, Sacramento gets some pretty hot days. Between the last week of June an first week of July, we had 8 days of temperatures 105F and over. But as much as tomatoes love the heat, they too can get sunburnt. This typically only effects the green ones, but it's still sad to see so many hurt tomatoes. And what can you do with sunburnt green tomatoes? Fry them, of course!

Ingredients

- a few medium fried green tomatoes

- 1/2 cup flour

- 1 tsp sugar

- 1 tsp salt

- 3/4 tsp cumin

- 1 egg

- 1 TBL milk

- 3/4 cup bread crumbs

- Oil for frying (start with about 2 TBL and add as needed)

1. Slice the tomatoes into about 1/2" thick slices. Use a paper towel to soak up any extra juices. Being green tomatoes they probably won't be very juicy, but just in case. I actually put the slices on a plate and put it in the fridge overnight (mostly because I ran out of time to make them) but that ended up helping them dry up a bit. 

Step 1

2. In a shallow bowl, mix the flour, sugar, salt and cumin. In a second shallow bowl, mix the egg and milk.  In a third bowl, pour the bread crumbs. Salad bowls from my dinnerware set worked well for this. 

Step 2

3. Heat oil in a pan. Once hot, reduce to medium. One at a time, coat each tomato slice in the flour mix, then in the egg mix, then in bread crumbs. Then place in hot oil. Allow to fry on each side about 3-4 minutes, until golden. Remove and drain on paper towels. 

Step 3

4. Serve with salsa cruda as a side or appetizer. 

Sunburnt tomatoes