How to make fried green tomatoes

This one is for you, Daddy! As I have mentioned before, my dad was from Georgia. He knew how to make good ol' Southern food like nobody's business. Fried green tomatoes is my all time favourite Southern dish (closely followed by home made biscuits with honey, grits and fried chicken)

When we go to Gabriola for Thanksgiving we always stop at one of the local gardens to pick up green tomatoes. It is almost impossible to find proper green tomatoes at the veggie markets in town. The tomatoes have to be totally green - not even a speck of red on them!!! This year we got to go back into the greenhouse and hand pick the ones we wanted. We came home with two big bags - one for us and one for my sister to fry up. Yum!

So, here in 7 easy steps...how to make yummy, delish, scrumptious fried green tomatoes!

1. Slice the tomatoes thinly (but not too thin!). I usually cut them about 1/8" to 1/4". The thinner you cut, the crispier they will be when you fry them!

2. Lay them out on paper towel and salt well. Let paper towel absorb water from tomatoes. Put layer of paper towel on top and absorb water. Switch paper towels as needed. You want the tomatoes to be as water free as possible!

3. Dredge (or do the shake it method I use!) the tomatoes in flour (I added a touch of Seasoning Salt but this isn't necessary)

4. Let floured tomatoes sit on paper towels for a little while so that the flour really sets in.

5. Fry in fry pan using vegetable oil at medium heat (if you want them to be healthier I guess you could use olive oil but I just go with the cheap stuff) This photo only has 3 tomatoes in it but I usually put about 6-8 slices in at a time.

6. Fry for 5-8 minutes, turning as needed. The longer you fry, the crispier they will be.

7. Put onto paper towel to absorb some of the oil. Eat and sigh in satisfaction!