Our White Christmas in Santa Fe and Dad's Fried Green Tomatoes

Pin It Now! We're back!  I hope your Christmas was joyful and happy.  We spent ours with my family in Santa Fe, New Mexico and had a gorgeous white Christmas.  I have a major fixation with snowmen and on Christmas day we spent a good hour (two?!) making my very first snowman in the back yard.  Aint he cute?!

Mom and I got to spend lots of time together in the kitchen, our favorite, and even tried our hand at making a wreath.  A restaurant in Albuquerque had their wreaths hung flat on the ceilings and it was so pretty!  So we took inspiration from that and hung ours from the dining room chandelier.  Here's the finished product:



Not bad for first timers, eh??



The logs across the ceiling are "vigas," and are very common in Southwestern architecture.
Grandpa C. built the house with his own hands, lifting each end of every (very heavy!) viga himself!

 Now on to the recipe for today...  My dad had told me some time back that he was enjoying green tomatoes from their garden.  Up until about a year ago I wouldn't touch tomatoes of any kind or color with a ten foot pole.  I was always that pain in the neck girl that told the server "I'm allergic" to keep them from tainting my salads with the wretched things.  I'm not sure what prompted my venturing out, but I started giving them a try, and now I don't mind them.  In fact, I kinda like them.  So when Dad mentioned fried green tomatoes, I was intrigued.  The green fruit has a tart, slightly citrus-like flavor.  Dad topped his with creamy goat cheese - yum!

Green tomato tip: Allow them to sit for a day or so to develop a slight "blush." 
Makes for sweeter flavor.

Fried Green Tomatoes
2 green tomatoes
1 1/2 c Italian style bread crumbs (or panko)
1 large egg
1/2 c buttermilk
1 c AP flour

Start by setting up your breading station:  Pour the bread crumbs into a shallow pan (pie pans are great for breading stations) and shake lightly to level.  Pour flour into second pie pan, shaking to level.  In a small bowl or shallow pan, beat the egg and buttermilk lightly.

In a non-stick skillet heat about 3 tbsp of olive oil on medium-high flame.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice the green tomatoes to desired thickness (1/2" - 3/4" is ideal).  To bread the tomato slices, dip in this order: Egg, flour, egg, bread crumbs.  Carefully lay in the hot oil and brown on both sides.  Meanwhile, line a baking dish with paper towels.  After tomatoes are browned, place in baking dish and bake until tomatoes are tender (time will vary depending on thickness - check them every few minutes.)  Enjoy!



Merry Christmas from the Montalvo Family!