Fried green tomatoes are a favorite of mine so, as a salute to Cinco de Mayo (and because I have a ton of them in the refrigerator), I decided to do a little experimenting with Fried Green Tomatillos. I used my basic fried green tomato coating, adding in a couple of different spices. The result was great. The tomatillo brought a really beautiful, bright, tartness into the mix, which played nicely off the salty crunch of the crust and spicy creaminess of the sauce. This would make a great Cinco de Mayo appetizer. Or lazy Sunday afternoon snack.

Cook

Fried Green Tomatoes

1/2 cup masa
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon salt plus more for sprinkling
pinch black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 cups vegetable oil

Cut tomatillos into 1/4 inch slices and lay on top of a cookie sheet fitted with a cooling rack. Sprinkle with a little salt and let rest 15 minutes (to draw out moisture). Pat the tomatillos with a towel to absorb water, turn to the other side, and repeat.

In a medium sized bowl, mix together masa, flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, cumin and coriander. Put buttermilk in a shallow bowl. One at a time, dip tomatillos in buttermilk, dredge in masa mixture and place on a plate. Reserve the cookie sheet with cooling rack for after frying. Line the cooling rack with 2 layers of paper towel.

Preheat oil in a large skillet to medium heat. Working in small batches of no more than 5, fry tomatillos for 1 1/2 minutes per side. Using a slotted spoon or spider, drain oil off fried tomatillos and transfer to your cookie sheet/cooling rack/papertowel assembly to drain and cool.

Cool and serve with Creamy Picante Ranch Sauce.

Creamy Picante Ranch Sauce

1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon ranch dressing
1 teaspoons picante hot sauce (I use Tapatillo but if all you have is taco sauce, that would work fine)

Mix all ingredients together until well-combined.

Eat Well!

~Trish