To my way of thinking, Everett cook and longtime helper-outer Jeanne Metzler really nails it when she says, “Three cheers for green tomatoes! They never go to waste around our house, especially the small Romas. I use my dill pickle recipe and pickle them.
“And fried green tomatoes are delicious. You can also use this recipe for your overabundance of zucchini. Or eggplant. The dilly dip is essential!’’
And another gal after my own heart, Barty Jean Pinkham of Snohomish, chimes in with another favorite take on this yummy specialty. “Thank you for the green tomato recipes,’’ she writes. “They were delicious, and now I would like to submit a wonderful old recipe from my ‘Southern Gentleman,’ Hubert Nelson of West Virginia.
“He makes outstanding fried green tomatoes, and they’re almost too easy to be considered a recipe. He slices the unpeeled tomatoes 1/8- to 1/4-inch thick, dips the slices into milk only, then in yellow cornmeal. He fries the coated slices in a hot skillet with about 1/4 inch good cooking oil. No salt, pepper or other seasoning added. He fries them until they are crispy brown on both sides, then drains them on paper towels.
“I call them my ‘tomato chips’ and they are a little healthier than potato chips. We both call them “deleecious,’ as he says. Please try them!’’
Then, before we leave green tomatoes for good, Camano Island cook Jeanette Huntsman has one last honey of a must-try green tomato mincemeat recipe for us and says, “This mincemeat without suet comes from ‘Desserts from the Garden,’ and we’ve even made this through bad tomato years. Hope someone can use it.’’
First, the fried green tomatoes and dip, then on to the mincemeat:
Fried green tomatoes with dilly dip
Green tomatoes
Salt and pepper
Flour
Egg wash (beat egg and cold water to combine)
Dry bread crumbs
Butter and oil (equal parts)
Dilly dip:
1/2 cup each mayonnaise and sour cream
1 tablespoon dill weed
1/2 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 tablespoon onion flakes
Slice tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Dredge slices in flour, then in the egg wash. Pat slices into the bread crumbs to thoroughly coat both sides. Transfer to a cookie sheet and refrigerate until ready to fry. Heat butter and oil in a frying pan, add tomato slices and fry until golden brown on both sides. Drain quickly on paper towels and serve with the dilly dip.
For the dip: In a small mixing bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, dill weed, parsley, garlic salt and onion flakes; mix well, cover and refrigerate until needed.
Green tomato mincemeat (no suet)
8 cups finely chopped green tomatoes
About 11/2 cups apple cider
8 cups finely chopped unpeeled apples
11/2 pounds raisins
1 pound dates, chopped
2 cups honey
11/3 cups cider vinegar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
2 teaspoons cloves
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons grated orange rind
2/3 cup vegetable oil
Drain the chopped tomatoes for 5 to 10 minutes, reserving juice. Measure drained juice and replace with the same amount of apple cider. Turn into a large stainless-steel pot and add apples, raisins, dates, honey, vinegar, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, pepper and orange rind. Mix well and simmer until thick, stirring as needed, for approximately 2 hours. Add the oil and stir well.
If you want to keep the mincemeat for a long time, ladle the hot mincemeat into sterilized hot pint jars, leaving 1/2-inch head space. Seal and process for 25 minutes in a boiling water bath. Or, remove mincemeat from heat, cool, ladle into suitable freezer containers, seal tightly and freeze. Makes 10 pints.
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