Early this summer when I put in my herb garden, my son planted a lone tomato plant. The herbs are doing well, but the tomato plant really was the gift that keeps on giving. We are heading into the end of the season and it is starting to wind down, but still has a few green fruit on it -- hence this recipe.
Fried green tomatoes are usually dredged in flour, egg and then breadcrumbs, and often served with Rémoulade sauce. I streamlined the recipe, and made it (IMO) more flavorful, by dredging it in the sauce and then in panko for extra crispiness -- no messing around with flour and beaten egg. The Internet is awash with Rémoulade sauce recipes as everyone seems to have a different version. I mixed and matched from my research and picked what made sense to me so the recipe below is not authentic, but strictly my own.
I served these as part of a twenty-minute dinner (garlicky grilled pork chop topped with a few slices of fried green tomatoes, a steamed potato, and a side salad, with lashings of Rémoulade sauce on the side) but, if you have green tomatoes feel free to make these in their own right as they are definitely moreish as a snack.
For the Fried Green Tomatoes:
1 large green tomato or 2 small
2 Tbsps Rémoulade sauce
1/3 cup panko
1 Tbsp oil
For the Rémoulade sauce:
3 Tbsps of your favorite brand of mayonnaise (I am unequivocally a Hellman's girl)
2 tsps prepared horseradish
1 tsp sweet chili sauce or ketchup
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp finely chopped Italian parsley
1/4 tsp Old Bay
Mix all of the ingredients for the sauce together until well combined.
Place two tablespoons of the mixture in a shallow bowl and place the rest in the fridge until needed.
Slice your green tomato(es) into slices of equal thickness. Dredge each piece in the Rémoulade sauce that you set aside in the shallow dish for that purpose and then roll in panko, pressing down to make sure that each slice gets a generous coating.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. As soon as the oil starts to shimmer, add the tomato slices to the pan. Since you are cooking for one, they should fit in the pan in one go but, if you have more than fit comfortably in the pan without touching, make the fried green tomatoes in several batches and add more oil as needed.
Cook the fried green tomatoes for ninety seconds on each side until golden brown and warmed through.
Set aside on a paper towel lined plate and serve hot or warm , with the cold Rémoulade sauce on the side.
I did not feel that this needed salt because the Old Bay is salty, but you may feel differently once you taste the first slice.
This is an eight minute and fourteen second to the table dish.