It turns out that fried green tomatoes are a fun thing to make with your children. If you are prepared for an unholy mess of flour and cornmeal, that is. Cooking with kids is not an experiment in ‘neat’.
But that’s okay. For once, Monkey actually did not … how to put this delicately … get her germs in the food as we were prepping it. Like any kid, she tends to like to taste what she’s working with, even if it’s plain flour — which she referred to as cauliflower the whole time — raw egg, and cornmeal.
Bun was a little less help and a lot more mess, but as her primary responsibility was to dip the tomatoes into veggie stock, and then transfer it to the flour, the damage was minimal. Although a lot of flour did somehow transfer to the veggie stock.
I simply fried ’em up. Monkey wanted to help with that, too, but I told her I had to do the step that involved “hot”. She actually listened to me through the process, which is a huge step.
The fried green tomatoes turned out very tasty. The children did not eat them, of course; instead they stuck with broccoli, carrots, peas, and a little bit of mac’n’cheese. (They had consumed a package of Lance peanut butter crackers, a treat from Nanny, prior to dinner. Hey, I have to pick my battles.)
Next time we undertake a mommy and girls’ cooking time, I will try to have the camera to hand. To capture the artistry, the aprons, the giggles, and the mess.
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If you’re curious, this was my first attempt at fried green tomatoes. They were at the farmers’ market on Monday, and they looked so luscious, I had to give it a shot. I used this recipe although I didn’t measure a thing; I used veggie stock instead of milk, and cornmeal not bread crumbs. Next time I will add some salt and pepper, and maybe some dried basil or something, to either the eggs or the cornmeal. They needed a little more seasoning. The cornmeal was a nice, crunchy coating over the still firm tomatoes. I will attempt this again, maybe on a night that DearDR is home so he can occupy Bun, and I’ll let Monkey help me. And enjoy the tomatoes when they are hot out of the pan!
Red Pen Mama 