Tag Archives: tomatoes

Appetizers, Sauces. Jams. and Spreads, Side Dishes, Vegetables

Southern-Style Fried Green Tomatoes

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It’s August. I live in the South. We eat tomatoes. Green. Fried. Dipped.  I only fix these for us when we can get the green ones right out of our garden.  They are loaded with flavor — just not ripe yet.  Perfectly poised to be dipped and dredged, floured and fried.  This perfect season for green tomatoes isn’t very long, but it is long enough for a plate or two of these delicious tomatoes.  Our tomatoes this year are purple heirlooms – green in this picture.   I salt and pepper them and leave them to rest and drain a bit on paper towel.
The tomatoes then take a little swim in a mixture of egg and buttermilk.  There are all sorts of recipes for frying green tomatoes.  I use the process that works beautifully and always gives us crispy and tasty results!  For the coating I like to use a combination of flour and self-rising cornmeal.  I add in a good sprinkling of Slap Ya Mama seasoning for good measure!  (Thank you Linda and Don for the wonderfully tasty gift.)This is the step that keeps me from eating fried green tomatoes every week of my life. 🙂 The grease needs to be HOT. If it isn’t hot enough the tomatoes will just be greasy.  If it is just right HOT then the tomatoes will fry nicely without being the least bit greasy tasting.  I use a mixture of canola oil and a tablespoon or two of butter.  The tomatoes are fried about 3 minutes on each side.
Once they are nicely browned, just place them on a paper towel to drain off any lingering grease.
Fried Green Tomatoes are delicious eaten without dipping.  Or you can do as I did and make an Orange Yogurt Dressing spiced with chipotle pepper and the whole dish cranks up a notch or two!  I often times serve these with Aioli Sauce.

Thank you to my Chief Culinary Consultant … American Born, Southern By The Grace of God!

PRINT Fried Green Tomatoes from my Tasty Kitchen Recipe Box

PRINT Orange Yogurt Dressing and Dipping Sauce from my Tasty Kitchen Recipe Box

Aioli Sauce (found with Asparagus Fries)

~Blessings, Catherine

If you join me with daily Bible readings, this week we will finish up reading Isaiah. I have placed the daily reading plan on the right side of my home page.

Isaiah 40:31

New International Version (NIV)

31 but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

Everything Else, Sauces. Jams. and Spreads, Vegetables

Sue and the Amazing Victorio Food Strainer

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My heart is steadfast, o god, my heart is steadfast. I will sing and make music.   Psalm 57:7

Jesus Christ stands at the door. He holds out His hands that are scarred. His feet are pierced, and He bears in His body the marks of death.  He says, “I know the pressure you are under. I understand the strain. I know the unfair abuse. But let me offer you some encouragement. Don’t be afraid. Look at life through My eyes!  Stop letting life intimidate you! Stop running scare.  Trust Me!.”                                                                    Charles Swindoll

I am so darned excited tonight that I can hardly settled down to write about my new Victorio Food Strainer!  Thirty-four years ago I met my friend Sue when I moved into the house next door to her.  Sue is a walking book of knowledge and I kid you not.  She was a home economics major in college and she probably has forgotten more than I’ll ever know!  All through the years whenever I needed information, help, a suggestion or was stumped, I called her for the answers.   Last year I shared with her my tales of woe, as I peeled, cored, cooked, strained, mashed and pulverized tomatoes to get some fresh tomato juice to make marinara sauce for our favorite Italian dishes.  At the time, she told me I just HAD to get a Victorio Food Strainer.  She raved about it and said I would just love it!  Well, please forgive me Sue, but I just didn’t even have time to think about changing gears because I was way too busy peeling, coring, cooking, straining, mashing and pulverizing everything I could get my hands on!

Finally, after a not-so-subtle email suggestion this year (a year too late I can tell you that!) I did a little online shopping and my new Victorio arrived just a few days ago.  Our tomatoes are coming in slowly and so today I felt I had enough to actually take this thing out for a spin.  Twenty minutes later I had processed all the tomatoes I had on hand (including two I was saving for lunch but just couldn’t resist!)

I ended up with 10 cups of  this absolutely luscious tomato puree that seemed to come right from tomato heaven!  The whole thing went so fast that I was tempted to head to the local truck farm and BUY some tomatoes so I could keep playing with my new toy!  Thank heavens reason overcame my insanity and I am going to patiently wait for our own tomatoes to ripen — which my husband assures me will be “a plenty!”

The really cool thing about the Victorio is that I can buy additional screens and a grape spiral to expand the many uses!  This food strainer comes with one cone-shaped screen primarily meant for processing tomatoes or apples.

The real time saver is that it automatically separates the juice and pulp from the seeds, skins and stems.  (How does it know?)  The box says that it is perfect for purees – which I can attest to – and also pie filling, juices, jams, creamed soups, baby foods and more!  Whew, I am going to be so busy playing, I mean, working with this new strainer!

All I can say is that if you do any of the above you just might want to add a Victorio to your kitchen!  I wish I had bought it last year — or years ago for that matter.

Once again, thank you Sue!  You are the best friend anyone could ever have!  Please come visit – I will make you some  homemade tomato soup and some Italian Burgers with homemade Marinara Sauce!

Oh, speaking of marinara sauce – tomorrow I will show you the end result starting with 10 cups of this luscious puree and ending up with … well, you will just have to stop back by tomorrow and see for yourself!

Tomato/Apple Screen comes with the food strainer and has a medium screen for making tomato sauce and applesauce.

Berry Screen has a fine screen for removing small seeds in raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, etc. Ideal for making jams, jellies, and pie filling.

Pumpkin Screen has a coarse screen for processing pumpkin, squash, and potatoes.  Great for pies, breads, and side dishes.

Grape Spiral is used to process grapes for jellies and delicious juices.  Its shorter length eliminates jamming of seeds and skins.

Salsa Screen is a very coarse screen for processing salsa and chunkier recipes. Great time saver!