Fired Green Tomatoes

The forecast for a hard frost meant that a friend picked the rest of his tomatoes, which he shared with me. They were still green.

So what to do with green tomatoes? Well, fry them, of course! Since I had never made (or even tasted) fried green tomatoes, I went on-line to find a recipe. There were many, but the one I chose had the word “Southern” in the title. I decided on that one because I connect fried green tomatoes with southern cooking.

I must admit they were delicious. Of course, they were – they were fried. But, after consuming them, I began to wonder if that was a good thing and how much fat I might have ingested. So here is a problem for all of you story problem lovers out there.

Problem

     Two green tomatoes were cut into 4 equal slices, giving a total of 8 slices. In a 10½” iron skillet, vegetable oil (1½ c.) was heated to 375°. Each tomato slice was dredged (southern cooking word) in flour, dipped in an egg/milk mixture, and then dredged in a mixture of cornmeal and flour. The slices were then dropped into the hot oil and fried on each side for approximately 2 minutes. After being removed from the oil, the slices were placed on paper towels to drain and sprinkled with salt.

     For frying, 100% vegetable oil was used. 1 tablespoon of this oil contains 14 grams of saturated fat, 2 grams of trans fat, and 120 calories (all from fat). When cool, the leftover oil measured 1¼ c. Only a thin coating of oil remained on the pan.

     Three green tomato slices were eaten by Anonymous. Approximately how many calories from vegetable oil did she likely take into her system, assuming that the oil absorbed by the paper towels was negligible? Extra credit: How many grams of saturated fat? How many grams of trans fat?

Now that I know about fried green tomatoes, I wonder how much extra fat I would consume if the first hard frost of the year occurred more than once.