Fried green tomatoes.
Fannie Flagg’s novel and the subsequent movie made that dish popular for a while, so let’s just skip it.
There are many more ways to use those stubborn tomatoes that refused to ripen in the last bit of early fall’s warm sunshine. You may have noticed Judyrae Kruse’s Sept. 23 Forum, which offered a couple of green tomato mincemeat recipes. So, no mincemeat today, either.
Soup — yes, soup for you — followed by a green tomato frittata topped with a red and green tomato salsa and paired with a nice chardonnay. It’s a nice little meal built around a green tomato theme. And it takes a bite out of your GT supply.
Green tomato soup with garlic, ginger, cumin and coriander
From “Recipes From an American Herb Garden” by Maggie Oster, among green tomato recipes compiled online at www.chef2chef.net.
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onions
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 pounds green tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
1/2 pound boiling potatoes, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 cups vegetable broth
1 tablespoon honey
1 small red hot pepper, fresh or dried
1/2 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk (or skim milk)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1/4 cup dry-roasted cashews, unsalted
4 teaspoons fresh cilantro, minced
In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat, then add the onions, ginger, garlic, coriander and cumin. Cook, stirring, until the onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, bell pepper, potatoes, broth, honey and hot pepper.
Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Remove the hot pepper.
Using a blender or food processor, puree the soup in batches. Return it to the pot, stir in the coconut milk and salt, then heat just to a simmer.
Serve, garnished with dollop of yogurt, cashews and cilantro.
Serves 4.
Notes on the soup: I used more like a tablespoon of minced ginger and probably half-tablespoons of coriander and cumin for more flavor; two hot peppers instead of one.
Although green tomatoes, especially the Romas I was using, will peel fairly easily with a vegetable peeler, I find this step tedious and unnecessary. Everything is pureed, anyway.
I had no cashews on hand and substituted toasted pumpkin seeds. Tasted fine. This soup also could be eaten chilled.
Green tomato frittata
Adapted from a recipe on www.chef2chef.net.
1 pound firm green tomatoes (approximately)
cornmeal or flour for dredging
6 eggs
3 tablespoons chopped scallions
3 basil leaves torn or finely sliced
Grated Parmesan cheese
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
Red and green tomato salsa (recipe follows)
Slice the tomatoes into rounds a little less than 1/2-inch thick and dredge them in the cornmeal or flour. Heat enough oil in a 10-inch nonstick pan to cover the surface lightly and fry the tomatoes briefly on each side, until they are lightly colored. Do not let them get soft.
Beat the eggs with the scallions and basil and season them with salt and pepper. Pour them over the tomatoes. Cook over medium-low heat until the eggs are nicely colored on the bottom, then sprinkle the top with Parmesan and pop the pan under a broiler to cook the top side.
Flip the frittata onto a serving plate and cut into wedges. Add a dollop of salsa to each serving (recipe follows).
Serves 6.
Notes on the frittata: The cheese was my addition, and I altered the cooking method from the Web site recipe, which follows a fussy procedure of sliding the half-cooked, runny frittata onto a plate, inverting your pan over it and flipping everything over to get the uncooked side into the pan.
Believe me, the broiler method works just fine.
Red and green tomato salsa
Adapted from a recipe on epicurious.com.
1/2 pound green tomatoes, finely chopped
1 pound vine-ripened tomatoes, finely chopped
3/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1 jalapeno, finely chopped (fresh serrano or cayenne is good)
Juice of 1/2 lime
Salt to taste
Mix all ingredients in a bowl and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes, then chill, if serving later.
Makes about 3 1/2 cups.
Notes on the salsa: I used green and red cherry tomatoes for this. The original recipe was a little light on onion for my taste, and the whole thing definitely needed a kick, so I added the peppers. It is supposed to be a salsa, after all. It worked very nicely on the frittata.
And here’s a bonus for you — a nice chutney to have around for sandwiches, burgers or spicy Indian food. Tightly sealed, it should keep in the refrigerator for up to a month.
Green tomato chutney
From “Vegetarian Planet” by Didi Emmons.
2 cups minced onion
1 tablespoon canola or corn oil
2 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 3/4 pounds green tomatoes, cored and chopped
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 cup raisins
In a large saucepan on medium heat, combine the onions and oil. Add the ginger, coriander and allspice. Stirring often, cook the onions and spices for about 5 minutes.
Add the green tomatoes, sugar, vinegar and water. Let the chutney simmer for on hour, stirring occasionally.
Remove from heat and add the raisins. Let cool, then transfer to a container with a tight-fitting lid.
Makes about 2 cups.
After all that fun, I still have an imposing pile of green tomatoes. Well, there’s still piccalilli, green tomato pie. … Don’t tell anyone, but I may just go ahead and fry some of them.
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