Credit: Stephen Jackson
This week, a recipe that utilises the wonderful, underappreciated green tomato. We grow several green tomato varieties, and love their firm texture and tart acidity. If you grow green varieties, you’ll know how lovely they can be. Also, as the season ends, gardeners are sometimes faced with plants containing several less-than-ripe tomatoes, for whom there’s insufficient sunlight to take them to full ripeness. These green tomatoes can be harvested and used in many ways (chutneys, sauces, marinades), but we adore this classic recipe from the southern states of the USA. All at once crunchy and juicy, they make an amazing snack, starter or accompaniment to a main course. With our FGTs, we like to make a zesty mayonnaise dip using the excellent mayo from our friends at the Yorkshire Rapeseed Oil company.
For the tomatoes:
6 medium to large green tomatoes
3 free-range eggs
a little whole milk
3 heaped tablespoons fine polenta / cornmeal
100g plain flour
2 tsp fine sea salt
A few grinds of fresh black pepper
sunflower oil for shallow frying
For the dipping mayonnaise:
1 jar Yorkshire Rapeseed Oil Mayonnaise
1 tsp golden caster sugar
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp freshly-squeezed lemon juice
Method:
Make the dip first: whisk the ingredients together and decant into a serving bowl.
Bring a wide pan filled with a couple of inches of sunflower oil to 180°C, and heat the oven to 140°C.
Slice the tomatoes thickly, about 1½ cm.
Break the eggs into a small, shallow bowl and beat them lightly.
Stir in a tablespoon or two of milk.
In a bowl, sift the flour into the polenta, and season well with salt and black pepper.
Tip into a large wide bowl.
Press a slice of tomato into the flour and polenta mixture, then into the beaten egg, and then back into the flour again.
Shake off any excess. Don't worry if a few bits of tomato show through here and there.
Repeat the process until all the tomato slices are used up.
Gently lower the tomatoes into the pan, frying about 3 or 4 at a time, and let them colour lightly on both sides, turning gently after a minute or two.
They should be ready in four or five minutes, golden and crispy.
Remove from the pan and drain on kitchen paper.
Keep warm in the oven until all the slices are cooked.
Serve immediately with the mayonnaise dip.
