A breading epiphany?

I still have a gazillion tomatoes on my vine -- but they're all green.

My neighbor told me about having a green tomato pie that tasted like apple pie so I started searching for the recipe. No luck. I did, however, come across a million recipies for fried green tomatoes. Okay, I'll try that.

One of the recipes was a video recipe. In it the guy floured the tomato slices and insisted that they sit for 10 minutes on a wire rack before proceeding with an egg wash and a cornmeal/breadcrumb coating that had to sit for another 10 minutes on the rack before frying.

I'd never heard about these resting periods before but I can't belive the difference it made! It was insane!

It was immediately obvious that things were happening differently when I started the egg wash. They slices repeled the wash for a bit before soaking it in. The bread crumbs stuck magnificently. The slices fried up to this amazing golden, non greasy, crisp, perfect texture.

I'm wondering if this "resting time" works with other fried foods.

Do you let your foods rest when breading?

Do tell....

Thanks!