Photos

Pretty simple dish, really. I soaked the green tomato slices in fat-free buttermilk (They’ll be fried later so they’ll get plenty of fat that way!). After a little soak, the go into a mixture of bread crumbs, flour, cornmeal and a little cornstarch for good measure. Be sure to season the breading with salt and pepper. I use cayenne and garlic salt.
After a good coating, I let them rest and add panko breadcrumbs (big, flaky breadcrumbs) and canned Parmesan cheese to the remaining breading. Back in the buttermilk go the tomatoes–but only to coat and then into the breading again for another light coating. Fry in plenty of oil until golden.

For the salad I used mache, but arugula would also be great in this. Only a handful is needed for each plate. I dressed the greens with a little olive oil, sherry vinegar, dry mustard and a hint of Alabama honey. On top of the greens go the still very hot green tomatoes. Surrounded by some sliced cherry red tomatoes, they made a nice presentation. The topping is a combination of mayonnaise, malt vinegar, olive oil, a pinch of sugar and cayenne pepper and fresh Alabama goat cheese with some fresh chives from the garden. Oh, and that fried thing on the very top: a jalapeno stuffed green olive fried with the tomatoes. (This seemed like a better idea than it turned out to be. The olive was good, but would have been just as good without frying.)

It made a very tasty salad or, in smaller portion size, an even better first course.

Recipe to come. The Sweet Potato Hash Browns aren’t mine–I pulled them from Frank Stitt’s cookbook, and they are fabulous.