Grandma's Fried Green Tomatoes

When late summer rolls around, a bounty of vegetables begins to arrive. When looking through Grandma's recipes, I found this one for fried green tomatoes. Although I do not remember Grandma making these, I bet she did. I am glad that I decided to give them a try. These fried green tomatoes were outstanding.

Now, you may find other recipes for fried green tomatoes that require more steps. For example, I saw one recipe that called for dredging the tomatoes in flour, then coating in a beaten egg, then dredging them through seasoned corn meal. There is nothing wrong with taking all those steps. But I plan to stick with the simplicity of Grandma's recipe. The only change I recommend from grandma's recipe is to use salt on the sliced tomatoes to draw out some of the excess water.

This year, Mom has a bumper crop of tomatoes in her backyard. I was lucky to already receive two lovely ripe tomatoes. They were delicious. As the tomatoes continue to grow, I hope to get more tomatoes from Mom, maybe even some green tomatoes.

Fried Green Tomatoes 

• 2 medium green tomatoes
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 2 Tbsp. butter or olive oil

Slice the tomatoes into 1/4 inch slices. Set in a colander and sprinkle with salt and allow excess water to drain for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the flour, salt, pepper on a piece of wax paper or in a shallow bowl. Coat the tomatoes with the flour mixture.

Heat the butter or olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the tomatoes in a single layer and cook about four minutes per side or until the tomatoes are lightly brown and barely tender. Repeat as necessary with remaining tomato slices. Enjoy!

Grandma included a note that if green tomatoes are gone, use firm red tomatoes. I will have to give red tomatoes a try some time.