Fried Green Tomatoes (GAPS-legal, grain-free)

As summer draws to a close, it is time to harvest green tomatoes before they freeze.  My favorite way to eat green tomatoes is battered and fried.  With a little experimenting, this year I learned how to make them grain-free and delicious!  Everyone in my family gobbled them up.  The hardest part is not eating them all straight out of the pan.

Fried Green Tomatoes

• green tomatoes
• one egg (you may need more eggs if you're making a large batch)
• coconut flour
• salt and pepper
• butter and refined coconut oil (or use all coconut oil)

1. Slice the green tomatoes about 1/8-1/4 inch thick.  If they're too thin, you won't get that great zingy flavor of the tomatoes; if you make them too thick, the tomatoes will not cook enough before the batter burns.
2. Break an egg into a bowl and beat it lightly with a fork.
3. Put some coconut flour into a pie plate bowl (a pie plate works particularly well, but you could use a bowl instead).  Coconut flour is rather expensive, so I start with only about 1/4 cup and then add more if needed.
4. Season the tomatoes and the coconut flour with plenty of salt and a little pepper. 
5. To make battering easy, line up your tomatoes, then the egg, and then the coconut flour. 
6. Melt a couple tablespoons of butter and refined coconut oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. 
7. Dip the sliced green tomatoes first in the beaten egg, and then in the coconut flour.   Make sure they are well-covered with the egg and coconut flour.
8. Pan-fry the battered tomatoes in the butter/coconut oil mixture in batches.  Let the tomatoes just hang out without moving them around; otherwise you'll lose most of the batter into the pan. You'll know it is time to turn them when the edges start to turn golden brown.  
9. Line a plate or cooling rack with a paper towel or clean cloth.  As the tomatoes are done, place them on the towel to drain the excess oil.
10. Between each batch in the pan, clean out the pan to remove all the little bits and remaining oil.  Otherwise, subsequent batches will have a burnt flavor since the coconut flour burns somewhat easily.
11. Serve and enjoy!  These make a great side dish or starter course.  Make sure to add a little sprinkle of salt to the finished tomatoes if they need a little flavor kick.

This post is part of Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade, Pennywise Platter at The Nourishing Gourmet, Real Food Wednesday with Kelly the Kitchen Kop, Fat Tuesday at Real Food Forager and Monday Mania at The Healthy Home Economist!