My French neighbor Janine and I were musing that we had lots of green tomatoes on the vine, and couldn’t wait for them to ripen. But I have a recipe! I said. So she and Marc came over for dinner. We made fried green tomatoes together, definitely a new adventure in eating for her and for husband Marc. They were great sports and politely proclaimed to like them. Is this dish an acquired taste, or does everyone love them like southerners do? Y’all will have to let me know. But isn’t it true that if you drag something through egg and flour and then fry it up in a skillet, anything will taste pretty great, even cardboard? Photo: the garden at the château.
Anyway, Janine and Marc reciprocated in a big way, they had us over and served a Baba au Rhum and Janine taught me to make it.
I’m happy to know how to make a baba—it’s an elegant French speciality. It's a yeasty cake baked in a mold and heavily soaked in a rum syrup. The original recipe is said to have originated with a Polish king, exiled in France, who dipped some stale cake in spirits to make it taste better. Janine’s version is sort of more rum than cake, which makes it a real crowd pleaser. Of course it doesn’t hurt that you put obscene amounts of chantilly on top
Her recipe is not your normal baba, by the way, it’s a version facile, fast and easy. The French baba is normally a cross between cake and bread, made with dry yeast. We’ll try that another day, but Janine’s simple baking powder version is hands down the fastest cake I’ve ever made. Put stuff in bowl. Stir. If you like, add a little scoop of rum raisin ice cream on the side in addition to the whipped cream, pourquoi pas?
Now about those fried green tomatoes: even if they don’t sound good to you, you might want to give them a try. The tomatoes are lemony with a bite, and you get to smother them with sour cream and salsa and cheddar cheese. Not a bad summer lunch on a shady terrace
So for our post this week I’m offering up both recipes. Now I’m not sure I’d serve them at the same meal. One’s back porch and a beer, the other is Dîner chez nous.
RECIPE: Charleston Fried Green Tomatoes
Yes this is a lousy photo, but we were in a hurry to eat them, OK? These are usually served as a starter or side dish, but I like to make them the main attraction.
For these I used roma tomatoes from my garden, but big round ones are the best. Pick them when they’re green and firm but thinking seriously about turning red.
Slice them a scant ½” (12mm) thick. Get out three shallow bowls for dipping. You’re going to dip them in flour first; then in a beaten egg, with a tablespoon of water added; then I dip them in a mixture of half flour, half cornmeal, though you could also use panko or fine dry bread crumbs for the final dip. ( I’d still throw in a some corn meal, though, for flavor). Season all three dips with salt and pepper, and a bit of cayenne pepper in the corn meal, if you like.
Dip the slices into each mixture and put them on a plate. Do ahead and chill them a while if you like. A dipping tip: use one hand to do the dry dips, and the other hand for the egg. Then you won’t turn into a gooey mess. Or you’ll be less of one.
Cover the bottom of your pan with about ¼” (6mm) of vegetable oil and get it very hot. This works best in a black skillet, but it’s going to splatter. So I often make them in a pot with high sides, to keep my clean up crew (that would be Ron) happy.
Cook about a minute per side, until nice and brown. Drain on paper towels, and serve immediately. For a main dish I like to serve them on a bed of peppery roquette (arugula), and top them with sour cream, salsa, and cheddar cheese.
RECIPE: Janine’s Baba au Rhum, Fast and French
Make this early in the day. 6 modest portions.
- 1 cup flour (125 gr)
- 2/3 cup sugar (125 gr)
- pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon baking powder (10 gr)
- 3 eggs
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (50 ml)
- Rum syrup
- Whipped cream
Heat oven to 350 (175C). Butter and flour a mold, small bundt pan, or an 8” cake or springform pan (though a little smaller would be better. I used an 8" flat bottomed springform bundt pan with a big hole in the middle). Mix dry ingredients. Beat eggs with oil, stir into flour mixture until smooth. Pour into pan. Bake 30 minutes, or until tester comes out clean. Cool.
Chill in mold for 4 hours or more; the cake needs to dry out a little so it will absorb the rum. Then run a sharp knife around edges and unmold. Spoon some of the syrup over, wait a while, spoon more over. You may need to do it three times, to absorb it all. Serve with lots of whipped cream.
SYRUP: Mix 1 cup water (250 ml), ¾ cup sugar (150 gr), bring to boil, stir and cool. Stir in 1 tablespoon lemon juice and ⅔ cup rum (170 ml), plus 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla.
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Ron's corner: The cake is good, let's try it next with Gran Marnier, cognac…..
16 thoughts on “Baba and the Green Tomatoes”
Both sounds delish!!!
I am absolutely going to send this post to my son’s girl
friend, Dixie June! Now, where do you suppose she is from? Yes, Charleston. I wonder if she’ll try the fried green tomatoes? They both like to cook so we’ll see.
Right now they live in the far southwest corner of Colorado where my son works for the Bureau of Reclamation doing water stuff.
Thanks Caterina, for sending it on to Dixie June. Now THERE is a southern name, I just love it!
I absolutely love Baba au Rhum. My french born mother made it as my birthday cake for 30 years until she decided it was too much work. I will try this receipe as I miss having this so much.
Lynn, I think fried green tomatoes are a purely southern thing; none of my Yankee relatives do them. I grew up on them, and on all things “soul food.” I like to say I ate soul food before it had a name. I do mine almost like yours, haven’t tried the flour first step, but will. I have sometimes substituted buttermilk (thick, country) for the egg. The Baba sounds so simple I’ll have to try. What kind of rum did you use?
Greetings from Birmingham, AL home of the Irondale Cafe, Fannie Flagg, and fried green tomatoes served any time of day! We use them topped with crab cakes, eggs, etc. and any sauce you like–remoulade, bearnaise, tartar.
The most interesting use is our gourmet sandwich shop which uses them for crunch on any kind of sandwich. I will try to find and prepare them there this time next year. We will be near you in our self-drive rental canal boat on the Nivernais Loire.
We are with Ron and think we will like cognac also on the Baba. Still have some left from Cognac on the Charante canal from last year.
I am blaming you for my weight gain. Your recipes are tres bon! Love both of these and YES I am making them. My tomatoes are not up yet but they might never see red because I love this recipe for Fried Green Tomatoes so much!
Just got back from Quebec and Montreal and I am so totally in LOVE with French food even more than before. Is that possible?
My mom made fried green tomatoes for us in the fifties & sixties while we were growing up. She always had a large garden and didn’t waste anything. Anyone in rural Northern NY did the same. Mom had no southern relatives either, so I’m suspecting the custom was more rural than southern, or perhaps from people who lived through the great Depression?
….too much fried food! Bad for everything: blood pressure, cholesterin, veins and arteries. Your FIGURE!! The French are so figure conscious – you never see such obese people in France as in Australia and the US….. Is soul food fried food?
There is a wonderful green tomato chutney recipe I have somewhere – great to eat with grilled meat….spicy and hot and tangy….
Hi Lynn!
The Baba au Rhum recipe sounds similar to my Mom’s rum cake recipe, although Mom’s cake recipe and glaze are a little different.
Here’s Mom’s version of the glaze, which would probably also work on the Baba au Rhum cake…1/4 pound of butter, 1/4 cup of water, 1 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 cup of dark rum. The first three ingredients for the glaze are heated on the stove top while stirring, then removed from the heat before the rum is stirred in. Prick the top of the cake and then drizzle and smooth the glaze over the top and sides, allowing the cake to absorb the glaze. Repeat until all of the glaze has been used.
The cake tastes best if you cover it and let it sit for a day, so the cake can absorb the glaze. 🙂 Mom served it with whipped cream around the base, and a few marichino cherries added, for color. This is my brother’s favorite cake! I’ll have to make a Baba au Rhum cake for him…I’m sure he would enjoy the French version as well…thanks for the recipe!
Have a great weekend!
Carol Hjort
Bonjour fellow FURMAN alum! Just read your article in the FU magazine, and LOVE this blog! I miss Southern food since moving to California, et J’adore la France! I also took French class at Furman. I’ve gone to France to test my French, and would love to live there some day. For now I’ll have to live vicariously through you 😉
Thanks for sharing all these great recipes! I’m going to try the shrimp & grits on my boyfriend tomorrow. I’ll let you know how it turns out. Love your blog!
We don’t like rum very much, so our fave version of this dessert is Baba al Limoncello – yum!
Thanks for your mention of my blog! The Baba (isn’t it fun just to *say*?) sounds awfully good, and the comment above (Baba al Limoncello – why not?) sounds wonderful too! Maybe served with some Nutella and Limoncello ice cream? Hungry NOW! Mmmm…
Love the fried green tomatoes and we eat them now only once a year but do it up in fine style with a crawfish remoulade sauce on sourdough toast… miam-miam!
(Are you a FU Alumn? One daughter and son-in-law are also)
Bises,
Genie
Wow! Lots of great comments. I’ll answer them in this week’s post. Merci!
Hi Lynn,
I received a green tomato as a present and I had to dig out your recipe, I knew you had one, I’m glad I found it, I will cook my tomato for breakfast tomorrow morning, wish me luck, this is my first time trying this recipe. Thank you!!!
XXX Ido