My friend Stuart (who happens to be the publisher of this paper) has a late blooming garden. I guess when you are a busy publisher you get to planting the garden when you can. But knowing Stuart, watching everyone else eat their tomatoes, as he waited, allowed him to appreciate his tomatoes all the more. He is like that, always seeing the light in everything. Late blooming vegetables and people make me think of God and His time. God’s timing is often one of those great surprises, it doesn’t match with our timing (of course we are always in a great hurry) but I think we often look back upon His timing and say, “Wow, that sure makes sense now.” And even if we can’t understand His ways we can trust His ways. After all, He does make the tomatoes. Well, Stuart gave me some lovely green tomatoes picked before their prime – even they have a purpose in it all. They are SO good – fry them up as follows…
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, divided
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 medium-size green tomatoes, cut into 1/3-inch slices
Vegetable oil
Salt to taste
-Combine egg and buttermilk; set aside.
-Combine 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, cornmeal, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper in a shallow bowl or pan.
-Dredge tomato slices in remaining 1/4 cup flour; dip in egg mixture, and dredge in cornmeal mixture.
-Pour oil to a depth of 1/4 to 1/2 inch in a large cast-iron skillet; heat to 375°.
-Drop tomatoes, in batches, into hot oil, and cook 2 minutes on each side or until golden.
-Drain on paper towels or a rack.
-Sprinkle hot tomatoes with salt.
