Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Fried Green Tomato and Polenta Sandwiches!

One of my favorite things in the summer time is fried green tomatoes!  My favorite part about them, is that they are sweet, and sour you can't get better than that!  I went blueberry picking the other day (yes, I go a lot), and they also have veggies for sale.  I was able to go to their garden and pick the tomatoes that I wanted.  Man, if you don't live in NH I'm sorry.  I love polenta, and I thought that it would make a fun sandwich paired with fried green tomatoes.  This is completely my recipe, so let me know what you think.

Polenta
4 cups water
1 cup corn meal
1 tsp salt

Bring 3 cups of water to a boil, then add the remaining water, corn meal and salt.  Stir constantly until thickened.  Cover and cook over low heat for 5 minutes.  Place in a greased bread pan, and cool in refrigerator until firm or over night.  Once cooled, cut into 1-1 1/2  inch slices, then place on panini press
until crispy (with cooking spray).

Fried Green Tomatoes
2 large green tomatoes
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup bread crumbs ( I use Italian)
1/2 cup corn meal
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2-3 eggs

Cut tomatoes into 1 inch slices.  In a bowl whisk eggs.  In another bowl add all the dry ingredients, and mix it well.   Dip tomato in egg batter (coat both sides), and then into the dry ingredients (coat both sides), grill until crisp on a panini press (with cooking spray to crisp them).

* if you don't have a panini grill, you can make both of these in a regular pan but make sure for use either butter or olive oil to brown them up.


Fried Green Tomato Sandwiches
Place one fried green tomato in between two fried polenta's with slice of fresh mozzarella and a few slices of fresh basil (with a little mayo, or a dash of wasabi sauce).  Place these of the panini press again, until the mozzarella is melted.

These were sooooooo good!  The texture of both the polenta and the fried green tomatoes were the same, crispy on the outside but had a warm gooey center that burst in your mouth after every bite.  The fresh mozzarella adds a creamy texture that simply melts in your mouth.  I will definitely make these again this summer.

Now is the time for green tomatoes, so make sure you try them!!!

Buon appetito friends,

Mary Proulx

Ps.  I'm going home, so the rest of the week I will be cooking from my parents....My favorite place in the ENTIRE WORLD!!!!!!

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