Not clarified, just regular 'ol salted butter to keep the tomatoes from sticking to the pan. The buttery taste is transferred into the dredged coating, and that's not a bad thing. We just use milk to get the tomato slices wet and then flop 'em into the flour. A little salt and pepper after it hits the pan. Fry until the coating is crispy, flip 'em and another sprinkle of salt and pepper. When that side gets a little crispy, serve and eat 'em while they're hot. We use a Medium to Medium-low heat setting. Like many things in cooking, getting it right is little bit of an art form. It'll take a few tries to get it just the way you like it. You use a lot of green tomatoes this way but don't get to far ahead or the first ones will start to cool before you get to eating them. Get 'em while they're hot is best.