I’m betting all the green tomatoes on the vine turn luscious red, yellow or orange before it’s too cold. Nevertheless, a lot of you are lamenting the abundance of green tomatoes awaiting more warm, sunny days. So I’m sharing some green tomato recipes.
The New York Times’ recipes for health series has a collection of green tomato recipes including fried green tomatoes, a frittata and green tomato salsa verde.
Mark Bittman in How to Cook Everything Vegetarian also has recipes for a green tomato chutney, ketchup and pico de verde. What intrigues me is a variation on plum upside-down cake that substitutes green tomatoes. I’ll be testing this later in the week but here goes:
sweet green tomato upside-down cake
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
6 or more thick slices of green tomatoes
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 cup corn meal
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Liberally grease a 9-inch round cake pan or cast-iron skillet with half the butter. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the bottom of the pan and spread the tomatoes on top.
2. Whisk the remaining melted butter, sugar, buttermilk and eggs until foamy. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, meal, soda and salt. Gradually add the egg mixture and stir well until all incorporated.
3. Carefully spread the batter evenly over the tomatoes, using a spatula. Bake until the top of the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 50-60 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes.
4. Run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake. Put a serving plate on the top of the cake pan and flip the pan so the serving plate is now on the bottom and the cake pan is upside down and on top. The cake should fall out on to the plate. If the cake sticks, turn it right side up and run the knife along the edge again, then use a spatula to gently lift around the edges. Invert the cake again and tap on the bottom of the pan. If any of the tomatoes stick to the pan, don’t worry. Simply use a knife to remove the pieces and fill in any gaps on the top of the cake. Serve warm.
Let me know what you think.