Fried Green Tomatoes

 Tomatoes will always, always make me think of summertime. I hate buying tomatoes at any other time than summer because I believe they just never taste the same. Tomatoes are slowly coming into season although it is still early. But what you can find at this point in the summer are green tomatoes. So I decided to make my version of fried green tomatoes that may be a little "fancy" for the traditional summer

 I think everyone has a song (or two or three) that will always remind them of summer. I polled a few of my friends/family to see what songs remind them of summer or songs they just like to listen to in the summer. Here is the list I compiled from these people, which had to be slightly shortened, so many music loving friends and family:

Soundtrack to Summer (Spotify Link)

Superchunk - This Summer

The Drifters - Under the Boardwalk

Sublime - Doin' Time
Blink182 - The Rock Show

Bananarama - Cruel Summer

DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - Summertime

Lifetime - Song for Me

Eddie Cochran - Summertime Blues

Len - Steal My Sunshine

Cut Copy - Where I'm Going

Kool and The Gang - Summer Madness

Don Henley - The Boys of Summer

Coconut Records - The Summer

SOJA - Summer Breeze

Muscles - Ice Cream

The Beach Boys - Surfin' Safari

Jonathan Richman - That Summer Feeling (not on Spotify)

Death Cab For Cutie - Summer Skin

Frank Sinatra - Summer Wind

Best Coast - Summer Mood

Bomb the Music Industry - Side Projects Are Never Successful
Ray LaMontagne - For the Summer

The Jezabels - Endless Summer

 So now that you have a summer dish and a summer playlist there is nothing else to do but kick back and enjoy yourself. Hit play and have a refreshing cocktail. All work and no play will not make for a happy summer. Slow down and enjoy it because life is never as good as it is when we are smiling. 

Fried Green Tomatoes
1 large egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup all purpose flour, divide in 1/4 cups
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
salt and pepper
3 medium green tomatoes
canola oil

Mix the egg and buttermilk together in a shallow bowl. Set aside.

Combine a 1/4 cup of flour with the cornmeal, breadcrumbs, cayenne pepper and then season with salt and pepper in another shallow bowl. Place the remaining 1/4 cup of flower in a third shallow bowl.

Cut the green tomatoes in 1/3 inch or so slices. Heat about a 1/4 inch of canola oil in a frying pan to approximately 375 degrees.

Take the tomato slices and first dredge in the flour, then dip into the egg mixture and finish in the cornmeal mixture until nicely coated.

Drop the tomatoes into the hot oil and cook for approximately 2 minutes per side, or until golden brown. Remove from the pan and drain on a wrack or paper towels. Salt both sides of the hot tomatoes.

Serve with your favorite sauce, such as ranch dressing. Or you can serve as I did with a drizzle of balsamic reduction and a few blue cheese crumbles.