Fried Green Tomatoes ~ Grandma's Way

My Grandmother could cook and cook well. Nothing tasted like it did at Grandma's.

She would take green tomatoes right off the vine, right out of her garden patch.

She would slice those tomatoes thinly and coat with a mixture of corn meal, flour, and salt and pepper. She had her cast iron skillet hot and piping, always at just the right temperature. She used enough oil to coat the pan, but not enough that it covered the tomatoes. A couple of spoons of bacon drippings were added to the pan.

How she knew she had it the right temperature, I cannot tell you, there was never any water droplets dropped into her pan to test for readiness, I can tell you that!

The tomato slices were coated well and dropped gingerly into that hot oil in the frying pan and the aroma would arise in the bubbling, that just about 'made your tongue slap out your brains', so to speak. GRIN.

They were fried up, to a perfect golden brown, crispy, crunchy, perfection, then they were ladled out to rest and cool on a platter. They were then sprinkled lightly with sugar, just enough to pinch together with your thumb and forefinger, and sprinkle over.

My goodness, the tastebuds are alive, just writing about this.

Savory. Crunchy. Tart. Tangy. Sweet. Salty.

That taste that gets you in your jaw area. Yes. That kind of taste.

All of that and more. Oh my.

Letting the tomatoes ripen is going to be hard for me this season....