Hello Foodie Friends! I have got a special post for you today! Today's post is sponsored by my friends at Little Bearfox Farm. Little Bearfox Farms is two farmers focusing all of their efforts on growing tomatoes this year. They have 400 heirloom tomato plants, in 30 different varieties, and 400 conventional tomatoes making a whopping total of 800 tomato plants on about a third of an acre! Wowza, that is a lot of tomatoes. When I say friends, the great thing is- those guys are seriously my friends. My husband and I are actually renting them a strip of our property to farm on. The farmers are here working the ground every day, and we have all been patiently waiting for the first ripe tomato, which thankfully arrived last week.
However in the meantime, there's no need to panic because green tomatoes are a treat in themselves. Especially when your mother is a southerner and you know what to do with those babies.
So I introduce to you, Eggs Benedict with fried green tomatoes. This is an instant classic. The crunchy and sweet friend green tomato is perfect paired with an ooey-gooey egg (y'all can poach yours if you like, I prefer an over easy fried egg), and a simple Hollandaise sauce over the top brings it all together in creamy, eggy, buttery heaven.
Can we talk for a moment about Hollandaise sauce. I used this recipe for easy Hollandaise sauce that you make in the blender and just like the last time I tried to make it, it was not right. So I reluctantly put together a double boiler and did it this way, whisking rigorously while I cursed under my breath about having to make a sauce twice on one Sunday morning. Amazingly, even with the chip on my shoulder, the Hollandaise came right together the second time. So the lesson learned was don't use the blender and don't walk away, even for a second. Just keep whisking. And whisking. And whisking. Put the sauce in a container and hold it warm by placing it inside another container of warm water.
The Tomatoes were so insanely delicious! The farmers (as I like to call them) are practicing a farm technique called dry farming, where they water the tomatoes very sparingly. This makes the tomatoes flesh grow thick, less watery and more sweet. Seriously, the tomatoes sliced up into steaks. This makes these tomatoes especially well suited for friend green tomatoes.
For fried green tomatoes, the real gem of this recipe- you start by slicing the tomatoes horizontally into a uniform thickness. I aimed for half an inch. Then you dredge them in flour, then milk, and then finally in a breadcrumb/corn meal mixture. A lot of recipes are going to tell you to deep fry these babies, which is a delicious way to have them if your into that, or you have a deep fryer. I prefer to pan fry in about a quarter inch of oil. Make sure your oil is really hot and get those tomatoes in the pan, wait for the crust to turn brown and flip, about 3 minutes on each side. What you get is a crispy hard shell that you bite through to get to the sweet soft tomato flesh.
Another star of the dish is the European platter bacon. It's bacon that is less fatty, super smokey and a little bit hammy. It is all parts delicious. I remember from my trip to London that they called American bacon strippy bacon and always seemed to be looking down their noses at me when talking about the fat content and that the bacon I had there reminded me more of ham and less of bacon. This European style platter bacon was definitely bacon, the smoke flavor was apparent immediately upon opening the package. The butcher gave me some advice when buying it, be careful of overcooking it because it is less fatty, it could dry out. I took that advice and didn't cook it till crisp like I normally prefer my bacon- and the bacon turned out perfectly. It was not dried out, instead it was perfectly browned. My husband has asked if we can only buy euro bacon from now on, so I think that's a win.
Fried Green Tomatoes
This recipe is one part farm fresh and one part down home comfort food. Equal parts delicious and decadent.
Ingredients
- 1-3 green or slightly orange tinged tomatoes
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp pepper
- 1/2 cup grape seed oil
- 2 tbsp bacon grease
Instructions
Set up three bowls to dredge the tomatoes in. One for flour, one for milk and one for the breadcrumbs and cornmeal. Slice the tomatoes to about a 1/2 inch thickness. Start warming up a pan on med-medium high with oil in it. I used leftover bacon grease from frying the European bacon, and added about a 1/2 cup of grape seed oil. I was aiming to have about a 1/4 inch of iol across the bottom of the pan. I used a very large cast iron skillet for this amount of oil. Cast iron is great for frying. Dredge the tomatoes in the flour, then the milk, then the breadcrumbs. Add the coated tomatoes to the pan once the oil is very hot.Cook each tomato about 3 minutes on each size, or until breadcrumb coating is golden brown.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 4 servings
To make the Eggs Benedict I toasted a piece of french bread, then stacked on a fried egg, slab of european platter bacon and then the fried green tomato. I finished it off with a drizzle of homemade Hollandaise sauce, and bam- breakfast is served.
Little Bearfox Farm is selling their tomatoes at the Cedar Mill's Farmers Market, every Saturday for the rest of the season. This week they are entering a pie contest, and we are going to whip up a green tomato pie. I'll be sharing that recipe soon!
What are you guys growing in your gardens? Do you have a favorite green tomato recipe?
You can find out more about Little Bearfox Farm on their Facebook, Instagram and website. You can catch them at the Cedar Mills Farmers Market every Saturday from 9AM-1PM.
You can find out more about Little Bearfox Farm on their Facebook, Instagram and website. You can catch them at the Cedar Mills Farmers Market every Saturday from 9AM-1PM.
