I love my air fryer. If you don’t have one I totally recommend getting one for your kitchen. The downside of them is that they are big and bulky. I am pretty lucky to have a lot of cabinet space, that I can store mine away, but honestly I use it so much it can sometimes be a fixture on my island for days on end.
One of my favorite fried fixes is fried green tomatoes. They are a component my favorite breakfast at one of my favorite local restaurants in Baltimore, Miss Shirley’s. We always go there for Mother’s Day and I always get one of 2 items on the menu that have fried green tomatoes in them. Shrimp and Grits and a Southern Slammer breakfast sandwich.
Making fried green tomatoes is easy. You need a little time cause you have to do them in batches. Often times when you are cooking up things in the air fryer such as fries or wings, you can just give the basket a shake. The tomatoes need a little more care.
You need to use the 3-tray dredging method. 3 plates or trays that start with flour, a seasoned egg mixture and then cornmeal/panko.
Once you slice the tomatoes into 1/4 inches slices, pat them dry well with a paper towel and sprinkle salt and pepper on them.
Pass them through the dredge. Dust with flour, shake off the excess, pass them through the egg/buttermilk and then the crumbs. Making sure the crumbs firmly adhere to the tomatoes.
Once the tomatoes are prepped, spray them with oil. Don’t use the stuff in the can. Use real oil in a spray bottle or mister. You don’t need much, but you do need some to make the tomatoes crisp up.
Cook them in batches of 4 (or however many you can fit in a single layer in your air fryer and 8 minutes at 400 degrees with a flip in between and they are perfect.
For dinner, I topped them with spoonfuls of cheese grits and lump crabmeat. It wasn’t really pretty looking, but damn, it was good. I’d imagine these tomatoes would make an amazing BLT as well.
FRIED GREEN TOMATOES (recipe adapted by Blue Jean Chef)
- 3 green tomatoes
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/3 cup flour
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons of hot sauce
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 cup cornmeal
INSTRUCTIONS
- Cut the tomatoes in ¼-inch slices. Pat them dry with a paper towel and season generously with salt and pepper.
- Set up a dredging station. Place the flour in the first shallow dish, combine the eggs, hot sauce and buttermilk in the second dish, and combine the flour and cornmeal in the third dish.
- Pre-heat the air fryer to 400ºF.
- Dredge the tomato slices in flour to coat on both sides. Then dip them into the egg mixture and finally press them into the breadcrumbs to coat all sides of the tomato.
- Spray or brush the air-fryer basket with olive oil. Transfer 3 to 4 tomato slices into the basket and spray the top with olive oil. Air-fry the tomatoes at 400ºF for 8 minutes. Flip them over, spray the other side with oil and air-fry for an additional 4 minutes until golden brown.
- When the tomatoes are done, transfer them to a cooling rack or a platter lined with paper towels so the bottom does not get soggy. Before serving, carefully stack the all the tomatoes into air fryer and air-fry at 350°F for 1 to 2 minutes to heat them back up.
Makes about 12-14 slices.
Moscato & Macarons 