The following recipes are from the Upperline Restaurant in New Orleans. There, the tomatoes are dipped in buttermilk before dredging them in seasoned corn flour (finely ground corn meal), although recipes vary tremendously; some cooks dip them in eggs and use plain corn meal or wheat flour.
Makes 4 servings (as appetizer)
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
4 to 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
8 slices green tomato (completely green if possible), approximately 1/2-inch thick
1 cup corn flour, lightly seasoned with salt, and black or white pepper
24 medium shrimp, poached, peeled and chilled
1 cup (approximately) chilled remoulade sauce (recipe follows)
Mixed greens
In a medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk and egg.
Heat oil in a large saute pan over moderate heat.
Meanwhile, dip tomato slices in egg mixture, then coat with corn flour. Place tomato slices in pan in a single layer. Do not crowd. Cook over moderate heat until golden brown on bottom. Turn and brown on other side. (Total cooking time is 3 to 4 minutes.) Tomato should be cooked all the way through but not mushy. Exterior should be golden brown.
On individual serving plates, place 2 slices of tomato next to each other and top each slice with 3 chilled shrimp. Spoon 1 1/2 tablespoons remoulade sauce over the shrimp on each slice and garnish plate with a few mixed greens.
The tomatoes are served warm or hot. The shrimp and remoulade sauce should be cold.
Variations: Eliminate the shrimp and put the remoulade sauce directly on the tomato slice. Crawfish, scallops or lobster may be substituted for the shrimp.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. 9(MDM3NjYwMjA5MDE1MjA1MzQ1NDk1N2ZmZQ004))