If you’ve become accustomed to the wide variety of shapes, sizes and colors of the heirloom tomatoes available these days, you’ve probably met your share of tomatoes that are green when ripe. Varieties like Green Zebra, Emerald Evergreen and Aunt Ruby’s German Green tomato all have beautiful green fruits when fully ripe.
But today we’re going to talk about unripe tomatoes, tomatoes that would turn red (or yellow or orange) if left to ripen, the ones you need if you’re going to make fried green tomatoes. There are lots of opinions about where fried green tomatoes originated, but it’s pretty certain they became indelibly tied to the South when they were the star attraction in Fannie Flagg’s 1991 film “Fried Green Tomatoes.”
Mark Capps and Lynn Teddlie of Straight from the Backyard Farm in Loganville have 6 acres in production. They sell their produce at the Marietta Square, Snellville, Lawrenceville, Old Five Points and Piedmont Park farmers markets.
Capps says at this time of year he’s picking both green and ripe tomatoes, which gives his customer a choice at the markets. Some of his customers are buying green tomatoes to let them ripen at home, but others are buying them to cook at the green stage.
“Green tomatoes are great as an ingredient in themselves because of their acidity,” Capps said. He likes to pickle small green tomatoes or slice larger ones and dress them with olive oil and balsamic vinegar just like ripe tomatoes. He likes them in casseroles and finds they work well in stir-fries, too.
Capps told me that most commercial tomatoes are picked green and ripen as they are shipped and stored. They can’t be hard green when they’re pulled from the vine or they won’t ripen at all. “A tomato that’s getting ready to ripen will look different from the other green tomatoes, sort of whitish,” he said. When he’s picking them to bring to market, he’s choosing those that will go on to ripen for his customers if that’s what they want.
Some heirloom tomato varieties are bred to be long keepers, harvested green and stored throughout the winter, allowed to ripen slowly in boxes lined with newspapers. With the right varieties, it’s possible to have fresh tomatoes ripening all the way up until March, he said.
Of course you can make fried green tomatoes any time of year, and is there a restaurant in Atlanta that doesn’t serve fried green tomatoes year-round? But the season that seems most appropriate is late fall, just when the nighttime temperature is getting ready to drop below 32 degrees, signaling the end of the growing season.
As you gather up those last fruits before they’re turned black by that first frost, you’ll want to line some up on the counter to ripen slowly in the coming weeks, but it’s also a good time to think about frying up a few green tomatoes as well.
For fried green tomatoes, you can choose your tomato at any stage from rock hard to just beginning to ripen to fully red but still firm. There are as many ways to fry and garnish a fried green tomato as there are cooks and chefs and restaurants that serve them. Here we offer you one from Park Cafe in Duluth.
At local farmers markets
Cooking demos
6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27. Chef Seth Freedman, Ruby Root Connections. East Atlanta Village Farmer's Market, Atlanta. www.farmeav.com
9:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 29. Chef Pano Karatossos of Kyma working with fennel. Morningside Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.morningsidemarket.com
11:30 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 30. Chef Todd Ginsberg of Bocado. Grant Park Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.grantparkmarket.org
For sale
Vegetables and fruit: African squash, apples, arugula, Asian greens, beans, beets, broccoli, broccoli raab, butternut squash, cabbage, carrots, chard, collards, corn, cucumbers, dandelion, escarole, frisee, hareuki and other turnips, herbs, kale, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, mustard greens, okra, pea shoots, pears, peppers, potatoes, pumpkins, radicchio, radishes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes
From local reports
Park Cafe’s Fried Green Tomatoes
Hands on: 30 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4
Nancy May of Suwanee sent this note to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “My sweetie and I dined at the Park Cafe in Duluth. It's located in a beautiful old house by the town square. Everything we had was delicious, but especially the fried green tomatoes.” Chef and owner Michael Ganley provided the recipe, which we’ve taken the liberty of simplifying a bit. At the restaurant, these tomatoes are also garnished with candied pecans and a balsamic reduction.
It’s worth making the two different dressings given here. Though similar in ingredients, the two recipes yield very different results. The Park Cafe Restaurant and Wine Market is at 3579 W. Lawrenceville St. in Duluth. Its phone number is 770-476-2989.
2 slices bacon, diced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Salt and pepper
1 egg
1/2 cup panko
4 medium green tomatoes, cored, sliced 1/4-inch thick
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 English cucumber, diced
2 diced Roma tomatoes
1/2 cup Balsamic Emulsion (see recipe)
1/4 pound brie, cut into 4 1-by-1-by-1/2-inch pieces
1/4 pound spinach leaves
1/4 cup Sherry Vinaigrette (see recipe)
In a medium skillet, cook bacon until crisp, about 5 minutes. Drain bacon pieces and set aside. Discard fat.
Preheat broiler.
Put flour in a pie plate and season with salt and pepper. Put egg in a second pie plate and beat until foamy. Put panko in a third pie plate.
Take each slice of tomato and dip it first in flour, then in the egg and then in the panko. Press lightly to make sure panko is adhering; shake off any loose crumbs. Set prepared slices on a piece of parchment paper.
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat until hot. Carefully add tomato slices and cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Do not crowd the pan. Remove slices from pan as tomatoes are cooked, season to taste and keep warm on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Continue until all tomatoes are cooked.
While the green tomatoes are cooking, toss cucumber and Roma tomatoes with Balsamic Emulsion. Add reserved bacon and set aside. Toss.
When fried tomatoes are done, top each with a slice of brie and run under the broiler until cheese is melted.
When tomatoes are ready, stack 4 slices on each of four serving plates. Spoon cucumber-tomato mixture around tomatoes, then top with spinach leaves and drizzle with Sherry Vinaigrette. Serve immediately.
Per serving, entire recipe: 574 calories (percent of calories from fat, 70), 14 grams protein, 30 grams carbohydrates, 5 grams fiber, 46 grams fat (10 grams saturated), 84 milligrams cholesterol, 347 milligrams sodium.
Balsamic Emulsion
Hands on: 5 minutes
Total time: 5 minutes
Makes: 1 cup
This recipe will make about double what you need for this green tomato recipe. Store the remaining emulsion in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks. Bring to room temperature and give it a good shake before using.
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
5/8 cup canola oil
Salt and pepper
In the jar of a blender, combine vinegar, onion, garlic, mustard and sugar. When blended, slowly add oil until mixture thickens. Season to taste.
Per 2-tablespoon serving: 159 calories (percent of calories from fat, 95), trace protein, 2 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, 17 grams fat (1 gram saturated), no cholesterol, 33 milligrams sodium.
Sherry Vinaigrette
Hands on: 5 minutes
Total time: 5 minutes
Makes: 1 1/4 cups
This recipe will make a good bit more than you need for this green tomato recipe. Store the remaining emulsion in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks. Bring to room temperature and give it a good shake before using.
1/4 cup sherry vinegar
1 ounce honey
1/4 medium onion, diced
1 garlic clove
1/2 ounce Dijon mustard
1/2 ounce dark brown sugar
6 ounces vegetable oil
In the jar of a blender, combine vinegar, honey, onion, garlic, mustard and sugar. When blended, slowly add oil until mixture thickens. Season to taste.
Per 1-tablespoon serving: 84 calories (percent of calories from fat, 89), trace protein, 2 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, 9 grams fat (1 gram saturated), no cholesterol, 9 milligrams sodium.
About the Author
