I’ve lived in the South for more than 3 decades now, and have been cooking Southern food for almost as long as that.
Despite that, I keep discovering new Southern classics.
Most of the “new” dishes I find come from the Carolinas. I just stumbled upon one today: peas and dumplings.
Never in my life have I heard of that combo.
Recently, I discovered chicken bog.
Years ago, I discovered fried green tomatoes.
I vaguely remember watching the movie when I was a kid, but I thought it was just a title—not real food. Boy, I’m glad I found out I was wrong.
Fried green tomatoes are one of my favorite summer delicacies to indulge in. The cornmeal coating is so crunchy and the tomatoes are so tangy and much milder than a ripe tomato.
You usually can’t find green tomatoes at the grocery store (and tomatillos ARE NOT the same, by the way), so these are relegated to your garden or local farmer’s market. The farmers market where I live always has an abundance of them in the summer, so making them is a no-brainer.
You can eat them as is (delicious), with ranch (even more delicious), topped with hot sauce (a fine option), or topped with pimiento cheese.
I discovered the pimiento cheese-and-fried green tomato option the other day and have never looked back. It’s the best compliment to the tomatoes and tastes even better with a few dashes of hot sauce and chopped scallions.
If you can find green tomatoes this summer, you should make this appetizer option.
Enjoy!
Fried Green Tomato and Pimiento Cheese Stacks
Classic fried green tomatoes topped with pimiento cheese, hot sauce and scallions.
Ingredients
Directions
- Pour vegetable or peanut oil into a deep skillet. Fill the skillet up to about 1 inch (not the top). Heat over medium-high heat.
- Start a dredging station for the tomatoes. In a shallow bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk. In another shallow bowl, add the flour. In final shallow bowl, stir together the cornmeal with the salt, pepper, garlic powder and ranch seasoning.
- Start by dredging tomato slices, a few at a time, in flour. Then dip in egg, shaking off the excess. Roll slices in cornmeal mixture.
- Fry tomatoes until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side. Let tomatoes drain on paper towels.
- Once tomatoes are cool enough to handle, top with a spoonful of pimiento cheese. Sprinkle on green onions and a few dabs of hot sauce and serve.
leencuisine.com 
Deliciousness that never goes away. 🍃🍅🧀