The paths between three of my raised beds were so overgrown with untamed tomato vines that I had to walk all around the perimeter to get into the garden. This puts me near the chicken yard which makes one squawky Australorp, the one who’s always eyeballing me, set up an opinionated rant.
I don’t know what it is about that one chicken, but she feels entitled. I guess I’ve trained her to be that way since I usually relent and go over there and give her something tasty from the garden, like an overripe cucumber or a bug-defiled tomato.
All of which is a long way to say that I pruned the tomato vines, opened up the paths in the garden, can now avoid the judgmental eye of That Chicken, and had several green tomatoes for a late-summer treat: Fried Green Tomatoes.
There are many variations, including using flour instead of cornmeal. That’s good, too. I prefer the crunch of cornmeal. I also use corn meal mix. I do this because my husband, a creature of habit, does the grocery shopping and somewhere along the line he got the idea I prefer mix to plain cornmeal and I’m fine with that. Ordinary cornmeal with a bit of salt would do just great as well. This is a guideline, adjust amounts depending on how many you intend to feed. Here’s how I do it:
Fried Green Tomatoes
sliced green tomatoes
corn meal mix
egg(s) and water
salt & pepper
vegetable oil of choice, canola or olive are both good
Wash and slice tomatoes about the same thickness you would for a platter of sliced tomatoes, not too thin and not too thick.
Lightly beat an egg and add about a tablespoon of water. Blend.
On a plate, mix a quantity of the cornmeal or cornmeal mix with a bit of extra salt and enough pepper to lightly fleck the meal. Use enough cornmeal to cover the plate to a thickness of about a half an inch.
Heat about a quarter of an inch of oil over medium heat until the corner of a tomato dipped in the oil sizzles enthusiastically but not, say, at an Elvis concert level. If it sounds like the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, turn it down a good notch. If the oil is smoking, that’s also too hot.
Dip the tomato slices in the egg and then in the cornmeal, turning to coat both sides.
Place in the oil and brown both sides. If you are making several successive batches, it’s a good idea to wipe out the skillet between batches to remove the excess cornmeal in the bottom of the pan which will burn and give a scorched flavor to the second batch. Slosh in fresh oil and let it heat to the right temperature before starting a new batch.
Drain on towels and enjoy hot. They just aren’t the same leftover.
In discussions of what sets fresh eggs apart from their factory counterparts, you’ll likely hear the word “bloom.”
What exactly is “bloom” and what is it for?
In short, it’s a coating, courtesy of the hen herself, deposited on the outer surface of the shell, which helps protect the contents of the egg from contamination.
Another name for it is “cuticle.” It is a protein, a mucous secretion of the hen’s cackleberry chute, to get scientific.
It’s necessary because eggshell is permeable, with about 80,000 microscopic pores on the surface of one egg. Bloom blocks bacteria, etc., from entering the egg and keeps the egg fresh longer.
Factory eggs, among their other issues, have been washed to make them palatable for the public and this removes the bloom. A coating of mineral oil is substituted to prolong their shelf-life. Like most man-made interferences, it is unequal to nature’s own.
Now our own homegrown hens’ eggs get dirty sometimes and need to be washed, which leaves us with a sort of Catch-22: leave the bloom and the surface contaminants can’t penetrate the egg, but they are still there on the outside, looking gross, getting into the egg when you crack it open, getting on your hands when you handle it, and looking really not cool at all sitting on your counter or in the fridge. Heaven forbid one should present a poopy egg to a friend, family member, or customer.
But, see, the bloom is there, protecting the egg inside . . . You explain and point and nod authoritatively but no, the horror is still frozen on their faces. And understandably so.
What to do?
The general consensus is that washing dirty eggs is indeed fine. Best to do it soon before using the eggs to take advantage of the natural protection of bloom for as long as you can, but a washed egg is a lovely egg as well, and much more presentable to the general population.
Use water that is 20 degrees F. warmer than the temperature of the egg itself. This will prevent thermal cracks from developing in the shell which would shorten the fresh life of the egg. A vinegar solution or a mild soap followed by a dry towel is fine. You’re really not trying to get an absolutely aseptic shell, just remove the exterior contaminants that gross people out and might fly into your food when you crack the egg.
Speaking of cracking, chefs and foodies recommend cracking eggs on a flat (or nearly flat) surface for the best, most shell-free result.
Prevention is even better. Collect eggs soon after they are laid if possible. Maintain clean bedding and make it nice and deep. Straw is one good one. Keep roosting areas up and away from the nesting sites.
And remember, if in doubt, place a suspect egg in a glass of water. If it floats, it’s past its prime. If it sinks, it’s likely a good’n.
It sounds very Renaissance Fair, doesn’t it? Anything with the word “wort” in it does, I think.
I had to look up the word, in fact, for this post, hoping it had a bizarre, archaic meaning, but really it only means herbaceous (non-woody) plant. Unless you are talking ale, then it means the liquid produced from mashing grains.
St. John’s Wort, in particular, is a medicinal herb. It doubles as a dyer’s plant, producing a yellow or gold color. Lots of studies have been conducted to see if it works as a treatment for depression, but the results are often inconclusive and sometimes contradictory. It’s been used traditionally for a slew of other complaints as well, something I find to be the case for most medicinal herbs. What this means I hesitate to speculate, but it seems that once a use is found for a plant, it gets tried for many ailments.
If you want to read more about this plant, here’s a general overview.
It grew easily in my garden from seed, but it hasn’t flowered yet. Hopefully it will and I can get some photos of the yellow blooms.
If you have experience of this plant, let’s hear it!
