An Inspired Cook

Are you ready for a second helping of fried green tomatoes?  This time I’m going to Chef Paul Prudhomme and his recipe for “Kentucky Fried Tomatoes with Cream Gravy”.  He places a fried green tomato slice over an English muffin and smothers it with a cream gravy that is out of this world.  I was in the mood for biscuits and have to thank Joe’s brother Chuck for his biscuit recipe which turns out great every time.  So pull out those leftover green tomato end pieces, flour mix and seasoning blend and get ready for some of the best biscuits and gravy you’ll ever have.

The biscuit ingredients include flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, butter and buttermilk.

Mix together your dry ingredients and cut in 4 tablespoons butter with a pastry cutter or your fingers, whichever is easier.

It should feel like coarse meal and the chunks should be no larger than pea size.

Add 1 cup buttermilk to the dry mix.

Stir it all together.  It will be sticky.

Generously flour a flat surface to form your biscuit dough.  I find that it’s easier to work with the dough if you flour your fingers as well.

Scoop the dough out onto your floured surface.

Turn the dough over so that the flour is on both sides and pat out biscuit dough about 1 inch thick.

Butter whatever baking pan you plan to use.

Cut out biscuits and place on buttered pan.  Make sure to transfer to a cutting board or safe surface to cut so as not to scratch your table or counter.

This made 10 biscuits plus the curly end piece that I squished together.

Bake in 450 degree oven for 15 – 18 minutes.  They come out of the oven fluffy and really good!

Getting set up with some fried bacon pieces (about 4 slices in all), the seasoned flour and sliced tomatoes.  You could skip the fried green tomato slices and just make gravy.  Not me though, I love my tomatoes!

Time to pull out those green tomato end pieces.

Dice them up.

These are going into the pan with the bacon grease.  Add additional canola or vegetable oil if needed and saute over medium heat until the tomatoes are tender about 4 – 5 minutes.  **If you are frying tomato slices, fry them in a separate pan.  The cornmeal mix from the slices remains in the pan and would make the gravy gritty and not very good.  For frying photos of the FGT slices go here.

Add about 1/3 cup flour to the pan.  Make sure to have enough oil in the pan to absorb the flour.  If the flour does not incorporate add a little additional oil.

Start pouring in the milk.  This is more of a feel for how much to pour more than an exact amount.  Gravy should have a somewhat thick consistency but not too thick.  I added about 1 1/2 cups to start with and as the gravy began to thicken I would add a little more milk until it was just the right consistency.

Now that the gravy is thickened just right it’s time to season it.  I added the bacon pieces and about 1 1/2 tablespoon of the FGT seasoning.  You may not want it that spicy, adjust the seasoning to your taste buds.

I have a weakness for cream gravy!  And look at those bits of tomato and bacon.  So Good!

Divide a biscuit in two and add a tomato slice.

Then ladle your fried green tomato cream gravy over top.





Biscuits and Fried Green Tomato Gravy

Biscuits (courtesy of Chuck)
2 cups Flour
4 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon Salt
4 tablespoons Cold Butter
1 cup Buttermilk

Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.   Cut in butter with pastry blender until it resembles coarse meal.  Add buttermilk to the mixture and blend well.  Place on a floured surface and pat out biscuit dough about 1 inch thick.  Cut out biscuits with a biscuit cutter and place in a baking pan or pie plate coated with butter.  Bake at 450 degree for 15 – 18 minutes.

Makes 10 – 12 biscuits.

Fried Green Tomatoes (from Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Kentucky Fried Tomatoes with Cream Gravy)

1/2 cup Buttermilk
Flour Cornmeal Mix
Canola or Vegetable Oil

Soak green tomato slices in buttermilk bath.  Remove and dredge in flour cornmeal mix.  Heat a skillet over medium high heat with canola or vegetable oil, just enough to coat the bottom of the pan.  Fry tomato slices 2 – 3 minutes on each side or until coating is crisp.  Remove to a warming plate.

Fried Green Tomato Gravy

4 – 6 end slices from about 2 – 3 Green Tomatoes
4 slices Bacon, cut into small pieces
Canola or Vegetable Oil
1/3 cup Flour
1 1/2 cups Milk, may need additional if gravy is too thick
FGT Seasoning

Dice green tomato end pieces, set aside.  Fry bacon pieces in a skillet until crisp.  Remove bacon to a plate lined with a paper towel and set aside.

Re-heat the skillet that the bacon was cooked in.  Saute the diced green tomato over medium heat until they begin to soften.  Make a roux by adding 1/3 cup flour to the oil and tomatoes in the pan.  Add additional oil if you don’t have enough to incorporate the flour.  Start pouring milk when the roux starts to bubble in the pan.  Continue stirring and adding milk until you get the right consistency.  The gravy will thicken as it heats up. Stir in bacon bits and 1 tablespoon FGT seasoning or more to your liking.

To put together biscuits and gravy, cut a biscuit in half, place 1 tomato slice on top and ladle gravy over top.