Baked green tomatoes recipe

I distinctly remember the first time I saw the movie Fried Green Tomatoes. I took a trip with my aunt and uncle to their lake house, and my aunt, always making sure that there was something to entertain me, brought a ton of movies. My aunt and uncle went to a neighbor's party one night, so I stayed at the house by myself and had a movie marathon. I don't know if I was old enough to really understand the movie, but I loved it, and still do.

With that being said, the last time I remember tasting a fried green tomato was over 15 years ago at Cafe Tu Tu Tango in Atlanta. It's just not something I think about very often. But the other day my friend Sam asked me about green tomatoes and then the idea was planted in my head. As luck would have it, there were green tomatoes when I arrived to pick up my friend's CSA share last week. Rather than frying them, I attempted a baked version. I learned one important lesson: whatever you do, remember to oil your baking sheet.

Baked green tomatoes

(Printable version)

1 cup cornmeal

1 Tbsp cumin

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs, beaten in a small bowl
3 green tomatoes, sliced thinly

Combine cornmeal, cumin, pepper, and salt on a small plate. Dip each slice of tomato into the eggs and coat well in the cornmeal mixture. Place on a well oiled baking sheet and bake at 400 for 20 min. Flip the tomatoes over and bake for an additional 10-20 min, until the tomatoes are tender and the outside is brown and crispy. Serves 3.

Of course I forgot to oil the baking sheet, and they stuck like crazy, but they were still tasty. When I bit into one, I had a flashback to the last time I ate them. To me, there's nothing like a ripe red tomato that's fresh out of the garden, but the green ones have an interesting flavor that is all together different. They're not that great raw, but they develop a great flavor when cooked, even though they lack the sweetness of ripe tomatoes. Obviously they're great fried, but I enjoyed these baked ones. I wish I had a finer grind cornmeal on hand, but it worked out ok anyway. The contrast of the crispy coating and the mushy tomato is fabulous! Just make sure that you don't loose half of the coating on the pan.