A little roadside restaurant over in south Alabama would cause me to plant more tomatoes, especially for my wife. Why? Because they make a sandwich that's out of this world. It's a "Southern BLT." It's not just a BLT. It's a BLT made with fried green tomatoes.

" /> A little roadside restaurant over in south Alabama would cause me to plant more tomatoes, especially for my wife. Why? Because they make a sandwich that's out of this world. It's a "Southern BLT." It's not just a BLT. It's a BLT made with fried green tomatoes.

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CAES Newswire

 College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences UGA Cooperative Extension
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Published on 02/21/02

Plant More Tomatoes -- for Frying

By Wayne McLaurin
Georgia Extension Service

Volume XXVII
Number 1
Page 6

A little roadside restaurant over in south Alabama would cause me to plant more tomatoes, especially for my wife.

Why?

Because they make a sandwich that's out of this world. It's a "Southern BLT." It's not just a BLT.

It's a BLT made with fried green tomatoes.

I know about cholesterol and all of that stuff. But you do what you have to do occasionally, and you have to eat one of those "samwiches."

For fried green tomatoes, plant extra plants and harvest the fruit when they're mature green and very firm. Almost all of the green tomatoes will have the same flavor, so you won't have to worry, discuss or get upset over tomato flavor.

No one really knows the origin of fried green tomatoes. But a movie from Georgia really put them on the national culinary map. And well it should.

Almost any good Southern cook can tell you how to cook a perfect fried green tomato. Most will say "meal 'em and fry 'em." However, some like to use a mixture of flour and meal, while others just use flour. Some cooks use an egg wash, while others use buttermilk. I've tried many recipes but have settled on the fine-ground fish coating made from corn flour. And I find I like it best along with a buttermilk/egg wash.

One of my favorites is to put pesto on toasted garlic bread and top it with fried green tomatoes and soft cheese. Oh, the taste of the fried green tomatoes and basil-filled pesto! You just have to experience it.

We Southerners can't keep all of the good food to ourselves. With their short growing season, our northern gardening friends may very well need a recipe for fried green tomatoes. We can cut the cholesterol on some other dish.

Wayne McLaurin is a professor emeritus of horticulture with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Experts/Sources:
Wayne J. McLaurin
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