I appreciate you effort. As I live in the southern US, I can tell you that fried green tomatoes uses a variety of tomato that is green when ripe. It's not simply unripened red tomatos. great video though!
I've heard of such tomatoes and I don't doubt that happens, but you are the first person ever to tell me this (and a lot of people, also from the southern US, have said they use unripe tomatoes) Edit: Pinning this comment so we can get some more opinions...
@@AtomicShrimp Yea I also live in the southern part of the USA and we always used unripe tomatoes. There is nothing inherently wrong with using a ripe tomato if you want though.
@@zemagaia could be but there are varieties like the green giant or the Cherokee green that stay green when they ripen. Though like I said earlier we always just used the green unripened tomatoes from our garden.
@@AtomicShrimp I have never heard of this. Being from the south and in the tomato growing capitol of the US; Ruskin, FL. Fried Green Tomatoes are early season, under ripened tomatoes. I remember as a child, going with my dad to the tomato fields and buying grocery bags full of green tomatoes off of the trucks. As they would pick them a bit early so that they could transport them to the store and they would be ripe upon arrival. Edit: After watching your video, a great interpretation of a southern classic. I might suggest, if you don't have corn meal on hand, just exclude it. Just using seasoned flour (salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper). We also always add some hot sauce to our egg wash, about enough to turn it a pinkish hue (totally guessing here but maybe a tablespoon or two?). Would love to see your interpretation on some more southern classics. Maybe try your hand at smoking some pork butt or ribs. Attempt making your own BBQ sauce. Maybe some collard greens. Okra and Tomatoes. Black eyed peas. Love your videos Shrimp. Love seeing you and Mrs. Shrimp living your best life.
I'm currently doing my internship in a French bio-village, where a lot of vegetables are preserved for winter times. I had just decided that I was really tired of the cleaning work they make me do, when I saw your green tomato chutney video. I loved it and found the concept of using unriped vegetables really appealing, so I wrote the instructions down. The very next day, they came with the idea to make exactly that kind of chutney so I immediately found the energy to put my foot down and say that I wanted to contribute. In the end, we used my (your) recipe for about 35 kilograms of green tomatoes and they were so amazed that it has completely changed my internship for the better. I am doing a lot more fun things now. So thank you for these wonderful video's, you've really changed my entire mindset and future months with these simple recipes!
Almost every year in my youth I got in trouble for "accidentally" pulling green tomatoes off our vines. My grandma would then fry them up. It wasn't until years later that I learned she knew I was picking them on purpose and didn't mind because she loved them too! She would have loved the idea of using corn chips for the breading. Her favorite way to bake chicken was with a corn flake coating.
Southerner here: I love your take on fried green tomatoes. The spirit of the dish is one of using what is findable and on-hand, and that’s exactly what you did!
If you still have some unripe tomatoes, I can highly recommend pickling them. In Romania, we call green tomatoes "gogonele" (can't tell you why or what that means), and many people put them to pickle together with other veggies such as carrots, celeriac, cauliflower, etc. Here's a few details as I remember (haven't pickled things in a long time): - for every liter of water use a tablespoon of pickling salt - wash the veggies well before pickling, and cut them into a size that's easy to work with (so they fit well and snugly in the jars) - often we use garlic, horseradish, thyme, dill, celery greens, and occasionally a hot pepper (if you like it spicier) for seasoning. For me the combo of garlic, horseradish, thyme, and dill, is something truly spectacular. - the jars and their lids need to be well washed, but they don't need to be sterilized as with other canning/preserving recipes. - I recommend putting the aromatics at the bottom and at the top of the jar - the ones at the bottom stay nicely out of the way while giving flavor, and the ones at the top serve to press down and hold the pickled veggies in place. - You don't necessarily have to add other veggies if you just want to pickle the green tomatoes. I just find that it makes for a better, more complex flavor when you do so. It also helps stuff the jar nicely with little batons of carrots or other small/cut things. - the important thing when pickling green tomatoes is that they're firm. Even if they're a bit red/ripening it's okay as long as their flesh is firm. - The pickling process: mix the water you need (actually a bit more than you think you need) with a tablespoon of pickling salt per liter of water. Boil it for 5 minutes, then let it cool for a bit - it needs to be hot but not boiling hot. It's useful to have the pickling jars in a metal oven pan, as it takes away some of the thermic shock. Pour the liquid over the veggies slowly, 1-2 ladlefuls at a time in each jar, until the jars are completely full. Keep the remaining pickling liquid for the next day. Leave the jars open with the lids on top (but not secured) for 24 hours - the fermentation process will begin, and a foam will form (do not remove it!). After the 24 hours have passed, add about a tablespoon of white vinegar in each jar (or 2 tablespoons if it's a bigger jar such as a 3L), and add pickling liquid to fill up the jars to the brim as needed. After this, you can close the jars and put them away into a cupboard/wherever you store things. - in the first few days, the liquid becomes cloudy from fermentation, but after 2-3 weeks it clears up on its own. If it's hot in the house or in the pantry, the jars can eliminate gases - in which case you can open and close the lids back up properly. If they "flower" (mold), you can boil a new brine to replace the old one (simply drain it and rinse the pickles with cold water, put them back in the jar and cover them with new brine). If the fermented brine shows signs of "flooding" you must agitate the pickles. Open the lids, drain the brine in a bowl and pour it back. This process oxygenates the brine. In 4-6 weeks you'll have really tasty, crispy, aromatic pickles! Anyway, even if you don't try to make these, I hope it was interesting to read about the process which we use in Romania to make these kinds of pickles :D
The rack versus paper thing is almost definitely not about oil dripping away so much as it is about the integrity of the crisp. My definite instinct is, in fact, both. Quickly drop the things on paper towel or whatever to absorb the excess oil, but immediately move them to a rack so trapped steam can't soften the crispy shell I worked to get.
My grandma took years to get me to try green tomatoe pie. When I finally did it tasted like the best apple pie ever! Recipe Cut into slices like an orange. Soak over night in vinegar and salted water in the refrigerator overnight. Rinse and make exactly like apple pie. As far as I can tell this recipe is found in the Ozarks.
I think an experiment is in order. Have some apple slices go in the dehydrator for 12 hours in one shot and another batch going through two separate drying sessions with a resting period in between. Then use a moisture reader to see the difference.
Its fairly obvious that doing the right thing is better than doing the wrong thing. But less obvious is that doing the wrong thing is better than doing nothing at all. Lessons are learned, and being in motion is far easier to correct than getting a standing object moving.
You’ve gotten them pretty spot on, honestly gotta love the ingenuity with ingredients that are available to you! Most people season the tomatoes before breading them to draw out the moisture and help with the flavour. :D
2:05 I found a tiny creepy crawly friend between the handle of your chopping board and the plastic container your tomatoes are in. Thought I'd point it out and make the creepy crawly famous.
If I didn't have cornmeal, I'd make it with flour, like fried chicken. I think the corn chip breading looked pretty thick. When I make fried green tomatoes, the sharp green tomato flavor comes through strongly. If the tomato is a little ripe (punk or red inside) I notice they have a lot less flavor.
I was amazed to see grapes still growing on the vine, not in a greenhouse or anything, just in an allotment in North Yorkshire yesterday. Loads of heavily laden apple trees too that seem to be going to waste. I might be a bit old for scrumping and leaping over fences, but it isn't half tempting.
Hey shrimpy, good to see you again. Another interesting video! Something my friend did with her green tomatoes is put them in an unused fish tank, and she put a fresnel lens on top in the window on the south side of the house, so it was pretty warm in there, and they ripened and did look like sun dried.... Maybe something to try?
I believe fried green tomatoes are basically a way of not throwing out edible food, without being a treat of any sort in themselves. Although anything that is deep fried is going to be a bit of a treat, right? The food value of the green tomato won't be lost by quickly frying them, in any case. I have held tomatoes for a few months by wrapping them loosely in newspaper and storing them on a basement shelf. A few rotted, most ripened, none tasted any worse than supermarket tomatoes. Fortunately , hothouses all over Delta BC grow tomatoes and peppers all winter. The cherry tomatoes are pretty good as are the Roma-types. The bell peppers are quite good.
I have had a lot of success dehydrating on the top of my log burner. I got a couple of stainless steel steamer inserts ( the folding ones) and sliced apple thinly, spread on the steamer insert and left on the stove top over night. The following morning the dried apple goes in a jar and lasts for months, we are still eating and using last years. I don't think it will work as well with tomato as I guess the moisture will drip on the stove top but might be worth a try, no expense if you have the log burner lit anyway. Keep up the good work pal.
Thank you. I have a log burner and dead trees (Ash die back), but no dehydrator, so a no expense, experiment! I usually leave my green tomatoes on a window sill with my red tomatoes with other fruit. I've made mixed tomato chutney as so many of this yeard tomatoes seemed to start rotting on the vine. Very muggy summer, I think water condensed overnight and pooled in the dips around the stalks. I prefer the deeper flavour of red tomato chutney to green.
In my faraway youth my mother brought home "Princess Pamela's Soul Food Cookbook" one day, and I was intrigued to try several of the recipes which were all really good. I was not a farmer or gardener back then, but since there was nowhere I knew of to obtain green tomatoes in our part of Northern California then (or even now), I had to wait till I grew a tomato plant to try the recipe for fried green tomatoes. I remember thinking they were really tasty. I don't recall having a sauce with them. Yours looked delicious! Funny thing, when I grew up and moved into my home in Oakland, one day beginning to grow three tomato plants per season, I had nearly limitless opportunities to try them again but never did. I gave green tomatoes to a neighbor so she could fry them up, but I just never bothered. I completely took the bounty from my three plants for granted; having the luxury of getting through Winter, Spring, and part of Summer with bags full of frozen tomatoes for many delicious tomato based dishes. I had never heard of blights, till I moved back to the home of my youth a decade ago just thirty miles away, where Summers are scorching, and Winters are cold. Here I have early blights, and late blights. I must spray weekly with a copper solution or all of the beautiful plants collapse and die in a few days. I must have six plants to have enough fruit for Summers and early Falls, though none for freezing! What a difference a few miles can make. Anyway, I really do appreciate all I've learned from you on your channel, your gardening efforts, the many recipes, and SO much more. I always find the videos interesting, often beautiful, and packed with info. Thank you!
Mr. Shrimp, I was born and raised on the southside of Atlanta, so I have eaten my fair share of fried green tomatoes for sure. You did it quite differently than what my mom made growing up, but they look perfectly edible. Breading was maybe a little thick, and the slices themselves could have been thinner, but you made something that I would absolutely eat and not be offended by.
My mother always cut the tomatoes pretty thin. Outside of French fries and sometimes onion rings, I don't really like fried food. I'm not sure I've ever eaten a fried green tomato.
The batter you made is absolutely wild... when I don't have masa or anything on hand I will just make a classic flour batter with some extra seasonings. But I'm happy to see the resourcefulness. Also happy to see you added chili, I've found every time I skip that pinch they just turn out not as flavorful.
I tried once to pull the tomato plants up whole, and shake the soil off the roots. Then I hung them upside-down from the ceiling in my basement room. And several of the green tomatoes on them ripened(more than what would have if I just put them in the windowsill, I think). So if you have some dry place without pests to try that, it might be worth it.
Assuming they're decently palatable, maybe the dried tomatoes could just be eaten as a nutritious (high fiber, high potassium, vitamins A, C, and K) snack? It seems like the kind of thing that would be sold in trendy health and suppliment stores.
Your videos really helped me a while back endnote I was quitting substances. I’d put on one of your long videos whenever I woke up in the middle of the night drenched with sweat and a racing heart from a night terror.
Mike, I always appreciate your creativity in selecting ingredients or making them, when necessary. Born and raised in the southern US, fried green tomatoes are a staple. If you venture another effort, I might suggest to slice the tomatoes a bit thinner. Also, try them on a BLT in place of regular red tomatoes. The flavor difference is incredible. Wishing you, Jenny, and Eva all the best from across the pond.
This is perfect timing! I have so many green tomatoes I wasn’t sure what to do with. I will learn from your experiments. I’ll also go find that green tomato chutney video you mentioned.
What about... Pied green tomatoes: put them in a big savory pie Cried green tomatoes: seasoned only with salt from tears Dyed green tomatoes: dye them red to trick people
I am glad you tossed those dehydrated green tomatoes because in large quantities green tomatoes can be toxic and you concentrated it in the dehydrator. Great improvising with the tortilla chips.
This is wonderful vid. The best investment I ever made for my kitchen was getting a culinary style dehydrator that blows from the back of the trays to the front rather than up through the trays, it removes the need to rotate the trays, and does a lot to prevent the case hardening since you can modulate the temperature more precisely and use a lower temperature and more forced air without condensation ever being a problem since it vents it more effectively.
Excellent video! My grandmother used to use bread crumbs as the final coating. It depended on what kind of role the tomatoes were playing in the meal as to the seasoning she added to them. If we were having fried fish, she added some Old Bay seasoning to the crumbs. If we had a pasta dish, she added Italian herbs. Ok. Now I'm hungry. 😅😂 Cheers!
It's a testament to the power of music, perhaps, or maybe a symptom of my severe hyperempathy, that at the end of the video I felt genuinely morose that Mr. Shrimp's FDried green tomatoes didn't turn out
A couple of years ago I made some delicious green tomato bread with small green unripened cherry tomatoes. I've just cut my plants down today and plan on making a loaf tomorrow. It was a delicious loaf last time.
I would usually recommend cutting the tomatoes slightly thinner usually pinky thickness is what I recommend also recommend sprinkling them with salt and leaving the tomatoes to sweat out their excess moisture before breading and frying them or else I find that they become too mushy Thought this is just a matter of personal opinion
If you feel like exploring what you can make out of green tomatoes, some places in italy make jam with them, which is usually paired as a dip with cheese bites
Use a wok for shallow frying if you have one, the raised sides and surface smaller size means you can cook small amounts nice and quick and have all the oil safely contained within the wok :)
I quite enjoy these experiments! Two thoughts: 1. Making a pasta sauce with freshly picked green tomatoes, with or without some of them pureed into sauce consistency. 2. Putting some of the dried version into a jar and covering them in olive oil. The sourness probably wouldn't change but the texture would. Then maybe a brunoise or blending of those into a vinaigrette?
I found it interesting and I commend you on your willingness to risk failing occasionally (something I am not naturally good at, but your videos encourage). It wasn't a failure anyway because you learned something, so did I, plus we were entertained. Thank you.
I have just done a batch of 2kg red tomato soups. I have have any green ones that i can't ripen, i make green tomato soup. Green tomato soup just has a milder flavour to it and is less acid. You could add a bit of apple cider vinegar to it if you prefer.
Now I know this is months out of date at this point but I'd like to chime in what I do with my green tomatoes. We usually only grow cherry tomatoes in the garden cause they're generally easier to eat and they ripen faster (thus higher yield) so that should be taken into account. What I do is I half them, split them into ziploc bags for portioning and then freeze them as-is. They keep for a very long time and are a great addition to any tomato-based application. After I started adding some to my spaghetti sauce I've found a noticeable improvement in the flavor of it.
Fried green tomatoes usually have a really thin layer of breading, so a double dredge is probably too much. My grandma always made them with just egg, cornmeal, and seasoning. One real thin layer of cornmeal
I just use salt, pepper, flour. You dredge lightly in flour.(makes the coating stick) Dip in milk and egg. And dredge in flour again. Oil level half way up the slice. Fry it up- yum. I like the deep pot to catch the spatter. We have a first frost tomorrow- Green Maters are on the menu!!!
Arkansas here: my grandma just makes her Fried Green Tomatoes using while milk and flour before frying them in vegetable oil. Just really simple and tastes great. I like eating mine while they're still borderline scalding hot (which probably isn't safe but they taste really good right out the skillet to me.) Anyway great video, thanks for sharing, and happy tomato season.
I noted your comment about tartar sauce. I'm aware that that's how you make it in the UK, and I'm planning to try that myself sometime. Here, it's mayonnaise, sweet pickle relish and a little dill and vinegar!
Great video, as always...like a therapy after a hard day 😉 I come from Croatia, we used to pickle them every year, sometimes on their own and sometimes with other vegetables like peppers, chillis, coliflowers etc. Its perfect every time, and it lasts all winter 😉 I am sure you will figure something out...keep up the good work 😊
Mr. Mike Shrimp i implore you to deep fry things, occasionally, please. you can strain the oil and keep it in the fridge to keep it from going rancid. we strain it through teabag paper and keep it in a glass jar so it doesnt get any plastic-y flavo(u)rs. we can use it at least 4 times, up to 6 depending on what we're frying (and we dont fry that often. we keep oil like this for months). sometimes the deep frying really does improve a recipe, and I dont find that the cleanup of the pot used for deep frying is any worse than shallow pan frying
I probably would have chopped a small onion and a clove of garlic into the sour cream as well, but for that it would have had to be a richer Crème fraîche or Smetana with a higher fat content. You might want to keep an eye on your compost - some of the tomato seeds might like it there and grow.
@@pixie706 Just tasted them for the first time, very good! The recipe I used is from the website Valerie's Kitchen and being in the states, it's called "Refrigerator Zucchini Pickles". It's a pretty simple recipe so I'm guessing you could fiddle around with it. I wasn't sure about the sugar in it, but it's just a touch of sweetness and it works pretty well.
You can ripen green or yellow tomato's by putting them into a paper bag with ripe apples. Apples produce a gas that let's some other fruit and veggies ripen/get old around them faster. So if you keep them with tomatoes in a contained but just slightly breathable space the tomato's will ripen without anything getting moldy.
Roasting green tomatoes seems to bring out a more complex flavour. I made a fake salsa verde out of roasted green tomatoes, jalapeños, softened onion and garlic, coriander and salt and pepper to use up some green tomatoes. It worked really well. The roasting gave them a sweeter profile than if I’d put them in unroasted. Just an idea in case you have a glut in future!
Haha as I watch this I'm eating fried green tomatoes I just made, what a coincidence you just posted this! I like the double breading idea, I'm going to try that next time. I just used normal breadcrumbs because that's what we had.
As an American that lives in the Southeast, we always cut the tomatoes at a half inch or so. You don’t want them thick. Then we fry from a batter of salt, pepper, flower and obviously water. Often times we add cajun seasonings.
i made my first batch of fried green tomatoes after composting my black krim tomato plants. they were magnificent! might i suggest for your next batch of fried green tomatoes you try them with some nice pimento cheese? that's the caviar of the south (US) and goes perfectly with fried green tomatoes! some strong english cheddar could make a fine pimento cheese i'm sure.
I'm amazed by the parallels between this and a meal I cooked just this week for my wife and I. Instead of breading the green tomatoes I breaded some chicken mini fillets. I cut our green tomatoes into eighths and roasted them in the oven with a bit of seasoning and oil, alongside some bell peppers and onions. Then I pulse blended the veg all into a kind of salsa with a touch of spices. Also made a somewhat similar creamy dip to yours but from greek yoghurt and garden herbs, using mint, chives, and parsley.
Slice them a bit thinner next time. I always soak them in buttermilk and bread them in flour and corn meal mix with a bit of salt and a fair amount on black pepper. That is the recipe I have used for 50 years. I nor my Mother ever dipped them in egg. Drain them after frying on a metal rack to prevent them from going all soggy. If you don’t have access to buttermilk add vinegar to regular milk to make it go sour. It only takes a minute or two.
I think sundried tomatoes are often sold "rehydrated" in vegetable oil, maybe doing the same with your dried green tomatoes would give a better result? Great video nonetheless, as always :)
Definitely been interesting and saved me from having to make a decision. I have a bowl of green toms on the counter and had the same idea,; should I try dehydrating them or make my yearly end of season chutney. 😄
I slice and pickle my green tomatoes in 2 cups vinegar and 2 cups sugar brine. Then we drain part dry and fry after a light coating of flour only. Delicious!!!
I love love love fried green tomatoes, I am surprised you don't have corn meal, I thought that was pretty universal. Its not critical though, your corn chip hack was really clever and I'm sure its just as good. I've made it with panko and it was good too.
my late uncle said that the best tomatoes for fried green tomatoes are partially ripened, not sure but I think he liked them best when they were orangeish with green bits. pretty sure it was because they taste better that way
Corn meal is readily available here, so I'll give this a try! I have an overabundance of green tomatoes now at the end of the season! Your dish looks great! And I might dehydrate some as well. Thanks for the video!!
Try the dried tomatoes as a substitute for raisins in coronation chicken. I tried it a while ago (oven drying red ones) when I tried keto and I honestly preferred it to the "authentic" version.
Thank you for your splendid eclectic mix. Pleased to see how little electric a dehydrater takes, will revise our ideas on their usefulness with that in mind.. If you put one red or ripening tom\to in a brown paper bag with all the green ones and roughly close the bag , most tomatoes will ripen.. Take care all the best Me and Hecklewife.
Use organic neem oil diluted with water and a tiny drop of washing up liquid (to make sure the oil blends in) and foliar spray every inch of your plants …. For next season obviously It’s a natural organic pesticide, only spray once just before your plants start to bear fruit
OMG I haven't had fried green tomatoes in years! I always made mine with Jiffy corn muffin mix. The sugar in it really helps to balance out the tartness from the tomatoes. I only ever shallow fry them. Never heard of anyone deepfrying them. And I always just wrap them in paper towels and let them sit for a few minutes before dredging them. Those look delicious!
Same thing here with my tomatoes - so thanks for the inspiration what to do. Until yesterday I had the thought to put them under a grow light to ripen. :)
I've always used whatever breadcrumbs I have on hand for fried green tomatoes. Usually that's Italian seasoned bread crumbs or if you have plain you can add whatever spices/herbs/salt level you prefer and they are absolutely delicious. I have used corn meal on rare occasion for breading fish and I must say I prefer bread crumbs for that too. Corn meal is rather gritty as a breading so I save it for cornbread and muffins, a much tastier use I think.🌸
As someone who's roots run from the American South, the fried green tomato experiment was nice to see. Not something I expect to see from the UK. Nice job!
Still got healthy tomato plants up here in Scotland and it's a week into October! weird year, it's getting cold at night too. Black Krim and Black Russian seem very tolerant to less than perfect conditions though, I recommend it. No blight yet either which is weird
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I appreciate you effort. As I live in the southern US, I can tell you that fried green tomatoes uses a variety of tomato that is green when ripe. It's not simply unripened red tomatos. great video though!
I've heard of such tomatoes and I don't doubt that happens, but you are the first person ever to tell me this (and a lot of people, also from the southern US, have said they use unripe tomatoes)
Edit: Pinning this comment so we can get some more opinions...
@@AtomicShrimp Yea I also live in the southern part of the USA and we always used unripe tomatoes. There is nothing inherently wrong with using a ripe tomato if you want though.
@@christopher5855 I think AllenKll might be talking about Tomatillos, which as far as I'm aware, are bright green even when ripe.
@@zemagaia could be but there are varieties like the green giant or the Cherokee green that stay green when they ripen. Though like I said earlier we always just used the green unripened tomatoes from our garden.
@@AtomicShrimp I have never heard of this. Being from the south and in the tomato growing capitol of the US; Ruskin, FL. Fried Green Tomatoes are early season, under ripened tomatoes. I remember as a child, going with my dad to the tomato fields and buying grocery bags full of green tomatoes off of the trucks. As they would pick them a bit early so that they could transport them to the store and they would be ripe upon arrival.
Edit:
After watching your video, a great interpretation of a southern classic. I might suggest, if you don't have corn meal on hand, just exclude it. Just using seasoned flour (salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper). We also always add some hot sauce to our egg wash, about enough to turn it a pinkish hue (totally guessing here but maybe a tablespoon or two?). Would love to see your interpretation on some more southern classics. Maybe try your hand at smoking some pork butt or ribs. Attempt making your own BBQ sauce. Maybe some collard greens. Okra and Tomatoes. Black eyed peas. Love your videos Shrimp. Love seeing you and Mrs. Shrimp living your best life.
I'm currently doing my internship in a French bio-village, where a lot of vegetables are preserved for winter times. I had just decided that I was really tired of the cleaning work they make me do, when I saw your green tomato chutney video. I loved it and found the concept of using unriped vegetables really appealing, so I wrote the instructions down. The very next day, they came with the idea to make exactly that kind of chutney so I immediately found the energy to put my foot down and say that I wanted to contribute. In the end, we used my (your) recipe for about 35 kilograms of green tomatoes and they were so amazed that it has completely changed my internship for the better. I am doing a lot more fun things now. So thank you for these wonderful video's, you've really changed my entire mindset and future months with these simple recipes!
Holy hell
Brilliant
How did you fry 35 kilos of tomatoes
Almost every year in my youth I got in trouble for "accidentally" pulling green tomatoes off our vines. My grandma would then fry them up. It wasn't until years later that I learned she knew I was picking them on purpose and didn't mind because she loved them too! She would have loved the idea of using corn chips for the breading. Her favorite way to bake chicken was with a corn flake coating.
Southerner here: I love your take on fried green tomatoes. The spirit of the dish is one of using what is findable and on-hand, and that’s exactly what you did!
If you still have some unripe tomatoes, I can highly recommend pickling them. In Romania, we call green tomatoes "gogonele" (can't tell you why or what that means), and many people put them to pickle together with other veggies such as carrots, celeriac, cauliflower, etc.
Here's a few details as I remember (haven't pickled things in a long time):
- for every liter of water use a tablespoon of pickling salt
- wash the veggies well before pickling, and cut them into a size that's easy to work with (so they fit well and snugly in the jars)
- often we use garlic, horseradish, thyme, dill, celery greens, and occasionally a hot pepper (if you like it spicier) for seasoning. For me the combo of garlic, horseradish, thyme, and dill, is something truly spectacular.
- the jars and their lids need to be well washed, but they don't need to be sterilized as with other canning/preserving recipes.
- I recommend putting the aromatics at the bottom and at the top of the jar - the ones at the bottom stay nicely out of the way while giving flavor, and the ones at the top serve to press down and hold the pickled veggies in place.
- You don't necessarily have to add other veggies if you just want to pickle the green tomatoes. I just find that it makes for a better, more complex flavor when you do so. It also helps stuff the jar nicely with little batons of carrots or other small/cut things.
- the important thing when pickling green tomatoes is that they're firm. Even if they're a bit red/ripening it's okay as long as their flesh is firm.
- The pickling process: mix the water you need (actually a bit more than you think you need) with a tablespoon of pickling salt per liter of water. Boil it for 5 minutes, then let it cool for a bit - it needs to be hot but not boiling hot. It's useful to have the pickling jars in a metal oven pan, as it takes away some of the thermic shock. Pour the liquid over the veggies slowly, 1-2 ladlefuls at a time in each jar, until the jars are completely full. Keep the remaining pickling liquid for the next day. Leave the jars open with the lids on top (but not secured) for 24 hours - the fermentation process will begin, and a foam will form (do not remove it!). After the 24 hours have passed, add about a tablespoon of white vinegar in each jar (or 2 tablespoons if it's a bigger jar such as a 3L), and add pickling liquid to fill up the jars to the brim as needed. After this, you can close the jars and put them away into a cupboard/wherever you store things.
- in the first few days, the liquid becomes cloudy from fermentation, but after 2-3 weeks it clears up on its own. If it's hot in the house or in the pantry, the jars can eliminate gases - in which case you can open and close the lids back up properly. If they "flower" (mold), you can boil a new brine to replace the old one (simply drain it and rinse the pickles with cold water, put them back in the jar and cover them with new brine). If the fermented brine shows signs of "flooding" you must agitate the pickles. Open the lids, drain the brine in a bowl and pour it back. This process oxygenates the brine. In 4-6 weeks you'll have really tasty, crispy, aromatic pickles!
Anyway, even if you don't try to make these, I hope it was interesting to read about the process which we use in Romania to make these kinds of pickles :D
The rack versus paper thing is almost definitely not about oil dripping away so much as it is about the integrity of the crisp. My definite instinct is, in fact, both. Quickly drop the things on paper towel or whatever to absorb the excess oil, but immediately move them to a rack so trapped steam can't soften the crispy shell I worked to get.
My heart feels the other way. Let them drip a min then use the roll to draw the rest out. Definitely want to see which actually works!
Ahh, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Shrimp Cottage Cafe...Brilliant x
Mr. Shrimp may I inform you that your videos are the absolute highlight of my weekend.
@@matthewb192you're not wrong 😂
New Friday routine:
1. Finish work
2. Make a cuppa
3. Whack Atomic Shrimp on
@@matthewb192- some of us can’t do that, and Shrimp is a lifeline, bringing a colourful variety to our lives.
Maybe if its a budget challenge
They are strangely interesting
My grandma took years to get me to try green tomatoe pie. When I finally did it tasted like the best apple pie ever!
Recipe
Cut into slices like an orange. Soak over night in vinegar and salted water in the refrigerator overnight. Rinse and make exactly like apple pie.
As far as I can tell this recipe is found in the Ozarks.
I think an experiment is in order. Have some apple slices go in the dehydrator for 12 hours in one shot and another batch going through two separate drying sessions with a resting period in between. Then use a moisture reader to see the difference.
Cheers for blocking out the flickering clock. That’s the kind of thing I noticed and usually would distract me! Thanks!
Fools. He just doesn't want you to know how long he stays up doing these videos
this guy does all the things i think about at 3am - love it
I think that might be why I do it. The ideas need to be tried, then I can sleep.
@@AtomicShrimp thanks for the reply - keep up the good work
Its fairly obvious that doing the right thing is better than doing the wrong thing. But less obvious is that doing the wrong thing is better than doing nothing at all. Lessons are learned, and being in motion is far easier to correct than getting a standing object moving.
You’ve gotten them pretty spot on, honestly gotta love the ingenuity with ingredients that are available to you! Most people season the tomatoes before breading them to draw out the moisture and help with the flavour. :D
2:05 I found a tiny creepy crawly friend between the handle of your chopping board and the plastic container your tomatoes are in. Thought I'd point it out and make the creepy crawly famous.
If I didn't have cornmeal, I'd make it with flour, like fried chicken. I think the corn chip breading looked pretty thick. When I make fried green tomatoes, the sharp green tomato flavor comes through strongly. If the tomato is a little ripe (punk or red inside) I notice they have a lot less flavor.
As someone with photosensitive seizures I really appreciate you censoring the flickering oven clock
Mr. shrimp is a very considerate man. He also makes sure, when tasting food, to not have the eating and masticating sounds in the videos.
Come now
I was amazed to see grapes still growing on the vine, not in a greenhouse or anything, just in an allotment in North Yorkshire yesterday. Loads of heavily laden apple trees too that seem to be going to waste. I might be a bit old for scrumping and leaping over fences, but it isn't half tempting.
Why not knock on their door and ask if you can pick some if they're not going to eat them?
I love the internet so much because how else would I, as a city-bound American youth, experience good old-fashioned European scrumping?!
I didn't think one ever got too old for scrumping! Leaping fences, sure, but that's why you bring a accomplice (Oh, Sorry) erm, FRIEND along. ❤
@@applegal3058 scrumped apples taste better😂
@@ShellyS2060 haha!!!
"Its the middle of September" .. checks calendar in temporal panic!
Hey shrimpy, good to see you again. Another interesting video!
Something my friend did with her green tomatoes is put them in an unused fish tank, and she put a fresnel lens on top in the window on the south side of the house, so it was pretty warm in there, and they ripened and did look like sun dried.... Maybe something to try?
I believe fried green tomatoes are basically a way of not throwing out edible food, without being a treat of any sort in themselves.
Although anything that is deep fried is going to be a bit of a treat, right?
The food value of the green tomato won't be lost by quickly frying them, in any case.
I have held tomatoes for a few months by wrapping them loosely in newspaper and storing them on a basement shelf. A few rotted, most ripened, none tasted any worse than supermarket tomatoes.
Fortunately , hothouses all over Delta BC grow tomatoes and peppers all winter. The cherry tomatoes are pretty good as are the Roma-types. The bell peppers are quite good.
I have had a lot of success dehydrating on the top of my log burner. I got a couple of stainless steel steamer inserts ( the folding ones) and sliced apple thinly, spread on the steamer insert and left on the stove top over night. The following morning the dried apple goes in a jar and lasts for months, we are still eating and using last years. I don't think it will work as well with tomato as I guess the moisture will drip on the stove top but might be worth a try, no expense if you have the log burner lit anyway.
Keep up the good work pal.
Thank you. I have a log burner and dead trees (Ash die back), but no dehydrator, so a no expense, experiment! I usually leave my green tomatoes on a window sill with my red tomatoes with other fruit. I've made mixed tomato chutney as so many of this yeard tomatoes seemed to start rotting on the vine. Very muggy summer, I think water condensed overnight and pooled in the dips around the stalks. I prefer the deeper flavour of red tomato chutney to green.
In my faraway youth my mother brought home "Princess Pamela's Soul Food Cookbook" one day, and I was intrigued to try several of the recipes which were all really good. I was not a farmer or gardener back then, but since there was nowhere I knew of to obtain green tomatoes in our part of Northern California then (or even now), I had to wait till I grew a tomato plant to try the recipe for fried green tomatoes. I remember thinking they were really tasty. I don't recall having a sauce with them. Yours looked delicious! Funny thing, when I grew up and moved into my home in Oakland, one day beginning to grow three tomato plants per season, I had nearly limitless opportunities to try them again but never did. I gave green tomatoes to a neighbor so she could fry them up, but I just never bothered. I completely took the bounty from my three plants for granted; having the luxury of getting through Winter, Spring, and part of Summer with bags full of frozen tomatoes for many delicious tomato based dishes. I had never heard of blights, till I moved back to the home of my youth a decade ago just thirty miles away, where Summers are scorching, and Winters are cold. Here I have early blights, and late blights. I must spray weekly with a copper solution or all of the beautiful plants collapse and die in a few days. I must have six plants to have enough fruit for Summers and early Falls, though none for freezing! What a difference a few miles can make. Anyway, I really do appreciate all I've learned from you on your channel, your gardening efforts, the many recipes, and SO much more. I always find the videos interesting, often beautiful, and packed with info. Thank you!
Mr. Shrimp, I was born and raised on the southside of Atlanta, so I have eaten my fair share of fried green tomatoes for sure. You did it quite differently than what my mom made growing up, but they look perfectly edible. Breading was maybe a little thick, and the slices themselves could have been thinner, but you made something that I would absolutely eat and not be offended by.
My mother always cut the tomatoes pretty thin. Outside of French fries and sometimes onion rings, I don't really like fried food. I'm not sure I've ever eaten a fried green tomato.
“I would not be offended by” - a ringing endorsement to be sure 😂
The batter you made is absolutely wild... when I don't have masa or anything on hand I will just make a classic flour batter with some extra seasonings.
But I'm happy to see the resourcefulness. Also happy to see you added chili, I've found every time I skip that pinch they just turn out not as flavorful.
I am so happy that you took the effort to cover up the flickering stove light! This looks like a really nice meal!
Beautiful dish and it’s also a wonderful movie! Thanks for the video, Shrimp 🥰🥰
I tried once to pull the tomato plants up whole, and shake the soil off the roots. Then I hung them upside-down from the ceiling in my basement room. And several of the green tomatoes on them ripened(more than what would have if I just put them in the windowsill, I think). So if you have some dry place without pests to try that, it might be worth it.
Assuming they're decently palatable, maybe the dried tomatoes could just be eaten as a nutritious (high fiber, high potassium, vitamins A, C, and K) snack? It seems like the kind of thing that would be sold in trendy health and suppliment stores.
Your videos really helped me a while back endnote I was quitting substances. I’d put on one of your long videos whenever I woke up in the middle of the night drenched with sweat and a racing heart from a night terror.
Mike, I always appreciate your creativity in selecting ingredients or making them, when necessary. Born and raised in the southern US, fried green tomatoes are a staple. If you venture another effort, I might suggest to slice the tomatoes a bit thinner. Also, try them on a BLT in place of regular red tomatoes. The flavor difference is incredible. Wishing you, Jenny, and Eva all the best from across the pond.
This is perfect timing! I have so many green tomatoes I wasn’t sure what to do with. I will learn from your experiments. I’ll also go find that green tomato chutney video you mentioned.
If you have loads of Green tomatoes, I would highly recommend Pachi Tomato Pachadi. It's quiet nice.
Pickle them straight off without dehydrating, amazing little salad topper
What about... Pied green tomatoes: put them in a big savory pie
Cried green tomatoes: seasoned only with salt from tears
Dyed green tomatoes: dye them red to trick people
Nice pan for frying. Thanks for experimenting for us.
I have some great suggestions for the dried green tomatoes if you are interested
I am glad you tossed those dehydrated green tomatoes because in large quantities green tomatoes can be toxic and you concentrated it in the dehydrator. Great improvising with the tortilla chips.
This is wonderful vid. The best investment I ever made for my kitchen was getting a culinary style dehydrator that blows from the back of the trays to the front rather than up through the trays, it removes the need to rotate the trays, and does a lot to prevent the case hardening since you can modulate the temperature more precisely and use a lower temperature and more forced air without condensation ever being a problem since it vents it more effectively.
Today I learned how to do a double coat with breading. Didn't even know that was a thing.
In my experience, draining on a paper towel makes some things soggy, whereas a rack does not
Excellent video!
My grandmother used to use bread crumbs as the final coating. It depended on what kind of role the tomatoes were playing in the meal as to the seasoning she added to them. If we were having fried fish, she added some Old Bay seasoning to the crumbs. If we had a pasta dish, she added Italian herbs.
Ok. Now I'm hungry. 😅😂 Cheers!
Green tomato chutney always worked really well. It was my favourite. Adding apples helped.
It's a testament to the power of music, perhaps, or maybe a symptom of my severe hyperempathy, that at the end of the video I felt genuinely morose that Mr. Shrimp's FDried green tomatoes didn't turn out
A couple of years ago I made some delicious green tomato bread with small green unripened cherry tomatoes. I've just cut my plants down today and plan on making a loaf tomorrow. It was a delicious loaf last time.
It's cool looking through these comments and seeing how different people do their fried green tomatoes
I thought unripened tomatoes were inedible
I would usually recommend cutting the tomatoes slightly thinner usually pinky thickness is what I recommend also recommend sprinkling them with salt and leaving the tomatoes to sweat out their excess moisture before breading and frying them or else I find that they become too mushy
Thought this is just a matter of personal opinion
If you feel like exploring what you can make out of green tomatoes, some places in italy make jam with them, which is usually paired as a dip with cheese bites
Use a wok for shallow frying if you have one, the raised sides and surface smaller size means you can cook small amounts nice and quick and have all the oil safely contained within the wok :)
I quite enjoy these experiments!
Two thoughts:
1. Making a pasta sauce with freshly picked green tomatoes, with or without some of them pureed into sauce consistency.
2. Putting some of the dried version into a jar and covering them in olive oil. The sourness probably wouldn't change but the texture would. Then maybe a brunoise or blending of those into a vinaigrette?
I found it interesting and I commend you on your willingness to risk failing occasionally (something I am not naturally good at, but your videos encourage). It wasn't a failure anyway because you learned something, so did I, plus we were entertained. Thank you.
I have just done a batch of 2kg red tomato soups. I have have any green ones that i can't ripen, i make green tomato soup. Green tomato soup just has a milder flavour to it and is less acid. You could add a bit of apple cider vinegar to it if you prefer.
Now I know this is months out of date at this point but I'd like to chime in what I do with my green tomatoes. We usually only grow cherry tomatoes in the garden cause they're generally easier to eat and they ripen faster (thus higher yield) so that should be taken into account. What I do is I half them, split them into ziploc bags for portioning and then freeze them as-is. They keep for a very long time and are a great addition to any tomato-based application. After I started adding some to my spaghetti sauce I've found a noticeable improvement in the flavor of it.
Fried green tomatoes usually have a really thin layer of breading, so a double dredge is probably too much. My grandma always made them with just egg, cornmeal, and seasoning. One real thin layer of cornmeal
At least you tdried it.
I just use salt, pepper, flour. You dredge lightly in flour.(makes the coating stick) Dip in milk and egg. And dredge in flour again. Oil level half way up the slice. Fry it up- yum. I like the deep pot to catch the spatter. We have a first frost tomorrow- Green Maters are on the menu!!!
Arkansas here: my grandma just makes her Fried Green Tomatoes using while milk and flour before frying them in vegetable oil. Just really simple and tastes great. I like eating mine while they're still borderline scalding hot (which probably isn't safe but they taste really good right out the skillet to me.) Anyway great video, thanks for sharing, and happy tomato season.
I recommend powdering the dehydrated tomatoes to use in a sauce or soup or added to the dry ingredients of your fried green tomatoes.
They didn't taste good
I noted your comment about tartar sauce. I'm aware that that's how you make it in the UK, and I'm planning to try that myself sometime. Here, it's mayonnaise, sweet pickle relish and a little dill and vinegar!
Great video, as always...like a therapy after a hard day 😉 I come from Croatia, we used to pickle them every year, sometimes on their own and sometimes with other vegetables like peppers, chillis, coliflowers etc. Its perfect every time, and it lasts all winter 😉 I am sure you will figure something out...keep up the good work 😊
Mr. Mike Shrimp i implore you to deep fry things, occasionally, please. you can strain the oil and keep it in the fridge to keep it from going rancid. we strain it through teabag paper and keep it in a glass jar so it doesnt get any plastic-y flavo(u)rs. we can use it at least 4 times, up to 6 depending on what we're frying (and we dont fry that often. we keep oil like this for months). sometimes the deep frying really does improve a recipe, and I dont find that the cleanup of the pot used for deep frying is any worse than shallow pan frying
I probably would have chopped a small onion and a clove of garlic into the sour cream as well, but for that it would have had to be a richer Crème fraîche or Smetana with a higher fat content.
You might want to keep an eye on your compost - some of the tomato seeds might like it there and grow.
I made pickled green tomatoes last month and they turned out delicious!
Have you tried pickling courgettes. ?
I'm curious as I adore pickled anything .
@@pixie706 I have not but I'm making a grocery trip today, might do some fridge pickles with them. I'll report back!
@@thatcriticvideo really look forward to that 😊
@@pixie706 Just tasted them for the first time, very good! The recipe I used is from the website Valerie's Kitchen and being in the states, it's called "Refrigerator Zucchini Pickles". It's a pretty simple recipe so I'm guessing you could fiddle around with it. I wasn't sure about the sugar in it, but it's just a touch of sweetness and it works pretty well.
You can ripen green or yellow tomato's by putting them into a paper bag with ripe apples.
Apples produce a gas that let's some other fruit and veggies ripen/get old around them faster. So if you keep them with tomatoes in a contained but just slightly breathable space the tomato's will ripen without anything getting moldy.
I'm sorry it didn't go as planned. You sounded a little sad about it - hope you're ok
Thanks for thinking of me. I'm OK.
One of my favorite dips for fried green tomatoes is to use mayonnaise, paprika, pimento, black pepper, and dill, with just a splash of white vinegar.
when the fall came, my granma would pull off any unripe tomatoes and store them in a pantry at room temperature until they ripen
Wow! I've never considered cornmeal might not be readily available everywhere.
Same. Even convenience stores around here sell it.
corn saturates our daily lives to a mind boggling degree over here! it's in everything, and i don't even just mean high fructose corn syrup.
I visited my uncle in the UK and he asked me to bring him grits from America. I wouldn't recommend it. He didn't like it lmao
@@AppleIPie Did he try it plain on its own, in a meal, or with gravy or other typical additions?
@AppleIPie I have some grits (from the UK)but I'm not sure what to do with them, any suggestions?
using the little bits that fall off your hand as a temperature test is fucking genius.
Roasting green tomatoes seems to bring out a more complex flavour. I made a fake salsa verde out of roasted green tomatoes, jalapeños, softened onion and garlic, coriander and salt and pepper to use up some green tomatoes. It worked really well. The roasting gave them a sweeter profile than if I’d put them in unroasted. Just an idea in case you have a glut in future!
Haha as I watch this I'm eating fried green tomatoes I just made, what a coincidence you just posted this! I like the double breading idea, I'm going to try that next time. I just used normal breadcrumbs because that's what we had.
As an American that lives in the Southeast, we always cut the tomatoes at a half inch or so. You don’t want them thick. Then we fry from a batter of salt, pepper, flower and obviously water. Often times we add cajun seasonings.
i made my first batch of fried green tomatoes after composting my black krim tomato plants. they were magnificent! might i suggest for your next batch of fried green tomatoes you try them with some nice pimento cheese? that's the caviar of the south (US) and goes perfectly with fried green tomatoes! some strong english cheddar could make a fine pimento cheese i'm sure.
I'm amazed by the parallels between this and a meal I cooked just this week for my wife and I. Instead of breading the green tomatoes I breaded some chicken mini fillets. I cut our green tomatoes into eighths and roasted them in the oven with a bit of seasoning and oil, alongside some bell peppers and onions. Then I pulse blended the veg all into a kind of salsa with a touch of spices. Also made a somewhat similar creamy dip to yours but from greek yoghurt and garden herbs, using mint, chives, and parsley.
Slice them a bit thinner next time. I always soak them in buttermilk and bread them in flour and corn meal mix with a bit of salt and a fair amount on black pepper. That is the recipe I have used for 50 years. I nor my Mother ever dipped them in egg. Drain them after frying on a metal rack to prevent them from going all soggy. If you don’t have access to buttermilk add vinegar to regular milk to make it go sour. It only takes a minute or two.
In a pinch, a metal sieve set over somewhere safe works quite well, at least as far as I've tested.
I recommend dipping the fried green tomatoes in Hidden Valley Ranch dressing. It is the condiment of the southern US .
I think sundried tomatoes are often sold "rehydrated" in vegetable oil, maybe doing the same with your dried green tomatoes would give a better result? Great video nonetheless, as always :)
Your fried green tomatoes looked so good. I liked your crumb mixture .
Definitely been interesting and saved me from having to make a decision. I have a bowl of green toms on the counter and had the same idea,; should I try dehydrating them or make my yearly end of season chutney. 😄
I slice and pickle my green tomatoes in 2 cups vinegar and 2 cups sugar brine. Then we drain part dry and fry after a light coating of flour only. Delicious!!!
I love love love fried green tomatoes, I am surprised you don't have corn meal, I thought that was pretty universal. Its not critical though, your corn chip hack was really clever and I'm sure its just as good. I've made it with panko and it was good too.
my late uncle said that the best tomatoes for fried green tomatoes are partially ripened, not sure but I think he liked them best when they were orangeish with green bits. pretty sure it was because they taste better that way
Corn meal is readily available here, so I'll give this a try! I have an overabundance of green tomatoes now at the end of the season! Your dish looks great! And I might dehydrate some as well. Thanks for the video!!
Try the dried tomatoes as a substitute for raisins in coronation chicken. I tried it a while ago (oven drying red ones) when I tried keto and I honestly preferred it to the "authentic" version.
Thank you for your splendid eclectic mix. Pleased to see how little electric a dehydrater takes, will revise our ideas on their usefulness with that in mind.. If you put one red or ripening tom\to in a brown paper bag with all the green ones and roughly close the bag , most tomatoes will ripen.. Take care all the best Me and Hecklewife.
Use organic neem oil diluted with water and a tiny drop of washing up liquid (to make sure the oil blends in) and foliar spray every inch of your plants …. For next season obviously
It’s a natural organic pesticide, only spray once just before your plants start to bear fruit
Banging video as usual. Where do you get the ideas from? You’re a legend. 👍
I've seen some people roast green tomatoes, onions, garlic, and jalapenos to make green salsa. I've heard it works well if you can't find tomatillos.
Those green tomatoes are just gorgeous !!
OMG I haven't had fried green tomatoes in years! I always made mine with Jiffy corn muffin mix. The sugar in it really helps to balance out the tartness from the tomatoes. I only ever shallow fry them. Never heard of anyone deepfrying them. And I always just wrap them in paper towels and let them sit for a few minutes before dredging them. Those look delicious!
At 10:50: "a change has taken place." Is this a subtle allusion to Look Around You?
Same thing here with my tomatoes - so thanks for the inspiration what to do.
Until yesterday I had the thought to put them under a grow light to ripen. :)
Oh. Sorry to hear the dried ones didn't fare so well. Thank you for the experiment, though!!
I've always used whatever breadcrumbs I have on hand for fried green tomatoes. Usually that's Italian seasoned bread crumbs or if you have plain you can add whatever spices/herbs/salt level you prefer and they are absolutely delicious. I have used corn meal on rare occasion for breading fish and I must say I prefer bread crumbs for that too. Corn meal is rather gritty as a breading so I save it for cornbread and muffins, a much tastier use I think.🌸
As someone who's roots run from the American South, the fried green tomato experiment was nice to see. Not something I expect to see from the UK. Nice job!
Still got healthy tomato plants up here in Scotland and it's a week into October! weird year, it's getting cold at night too. Black Krim and Black Russian seem very tolerant to less than perfect conditions though, I recommend it.
No blight yet either which is weird
A fried green tomato BLT with remoulade on it is the best fried green tomato dish I've ever had.
Those dried green tomatoes might have the potential to be "beer snacks".
I'd say get them a little bit softer and put some spices on, maybe fry them.