Eric does not like tomatoes. It’s a fact that we’ve documented quite a few times. On the other hand, Eric loves fried things so we combined the two just to see how he fared, and he liked it! Granted a decent helping of “shut up and eat this” helped, but we definitely had a winner on our hands and hey, it makes for a great excuse to pull out the movie and watch it. The green tomatoes don’t really have that squishy squeaky texture that Eric can’t stand, and the acidity of the tomato is hidden pretty well by the breading and dipping sauce. It tastes more like a fried zucchini than a tomato and is a perfect bribe for anyone with a list of chores for their significant other to do. “Honey, can you vacuum the house, I’ll make fried green tomatoes”. We’ll bet you’ll never see the house vacuumed faster. Fried green tomatoes also are a pretty good snack to break out when you’ve gotten back from a long daytrip. We spend last Sunday in Half Moon Bay at the annual pumpkin festival enjoying the sights and sounds (and fair food!). Charisse enjoyed herself a nice turkey leg while Eric snacked on a Pumpkin mac and cheese thing. it tasted like Kraft mac and cheese with pumpkin spice added, we were disappointment but Eric ate it anyways. We got us some pumpkins at one of the most awesome pumpkin patches around (its off highway 92, neither of us can remember what it’s called but we know right where it is!) because Charisse can’t stand to cut up the dozen or so she got from our garden this year. She seriously got some of the best looking pumpkins we’ve ever seen so their scattered around the house as decoration.

Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival:

Fried Green Tomatoes:

Fried Green Tomatoes with Goat Cheese and Basil Dipping Sauce

What You Will Need

green tomatoes

1 cup flour

1 cup cornmeal

1 egg

2 Tbs milk

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp cayenne pepper

salt

pepper

oil to fry in

Dipping Sauce

1 cup sour cream

2-3 ounces goat cheese

hand full of basil leaves

salt

pepper

hot pepper sauce to taste

squeeze of lemon juice

Slice tomatoes to desired consistency and salt. Let them sit on a paper towel for about 20 minutes so they can sweat out a bit of water. Pat dry with paper towels.

Heat oil on stove top in a thick bottom pan.

In one dish place flour, second dish whisk egg and milk together, third dish mix the cornmeal and spices together. Dredge the tomato slices through the flour then the egg and finishing with a nice coat of the cornmeal. Fry until golden brown on both sides and drain on a paper towel. Serve hot with dipping sauce.

Goat Cheese and Basil Dipping Sauce

In a food processor, combine all ingredients to taste and serve chilled.