Fried Green Tomatoes

One of my favourite breakfasts to make on a sunny Saturday morning is fried green tomatoes on toast. FGTs is a traditional American "soul food", usually prepared breaded and served as a side dish. I prefer them fried, however, in just a bit of olive oil, with no breading. Green tomatoes, when cooked, give off a sweet/sour taste - a taste that is not easily compared with another food. It's something you just have to try.

Green tomatoes can be hard to find in shops, and even difficult to find at fruit & veg markets. Two places that usually have them are Mecca Bros Grocery in Clifton Hill and the Richmond Gleadell Street Market - look for "Adelaide Tomatoes". The best tomatoes to use are the greenest ones - if there's even a hint of red on the outside of the tomato, it is too ripe, and will not taste as good nor have as good a texture when cooked. Hint: you may need to look towards the bottom of the pile, as people are more inclined to buy the red tomatoes and the shops usually hide the green ones!

Here is the recipe I use to serve 2-3:

Ingredients:

• 3 medium green tomatoes
• 2 tbsp olive oil (roughly)
• salt
• pepper
• a few slices of really nice bread, thickly sliced is good
• vegan mayonnaise (Kingland brand tastes best but the Praise stuff will do in an emergency)

First, slice the tomatoes into slices about the width of half of a letter key on your computer's keyboard. Heat up the olive oil in your pan then spread out tomato slices in a single layer in your pan- you may need to cook them in batches, depending on the size of your pan. Keep the heat on med-high.

 

Grind some salt and pepper over your tomato slices and cook them for about seven minutes on each side. I usually flip them when the bottom side is a nice brown, salting and peppering the opposite side as well. They're done when both sides are brown and the tomatoes start to fall apart when moved with your flipping utensil (I use a fork).

I like to toast my bread under the griller, so one side is toasted and one side is soft. Spread the mayo on the toasted side, and top with a layer of FGT. Enjoy with a long black coffee.