Cajun-spiced fried green tomatoes is a fitting coda to summer

Many times I’ve tried to replicate the taste or flavor of a specific dish I’ve had. Sometimes, though, the memory is so distant that it turns out all

I’m trying to capture is a feeling — and create a delicious meal in the process.

That’s how I felt about fried green tomatoes. Despite having lived most of my life in Virginia, the Southern staplewas not something I often had. The only concrete, but now fuzzy, instance I definitely recall is eating themwas in Huntsville, Ala. I was in betweenawork assignment and a trip to visit family, and while I waited for my husband’s flight to arrive, I found somewhere to eat. I remember the fried green tomatoes being fantastic, but not much else about them. However, theweatherwaswarmand pleasant in the courtyardwhere I sat, and I was relaxed and happy. Now wouldn’t it be nice to feel that way again, albeit briefly?

Enter chef Adrian Lipscombe, a Wisconsin chef by way of Texas who recently launched the 40 Acres & A Mule Project to help Black farmers buy agricultural land. When speaking to her about eggplant, she suggested treating the purple-skinned fruit like fried green tomatoes. An intriguing thought, for sure, but when I decided I wanted to tackle actual fried green tomatoes, especially nowthat peak tomato season is wrapping up, I circled back with her.

And did she ever deliver. As someone who had never made fried green tomatoes and is generally fryingaverse, I found the recipe absolutely airtight. Just a cup of oil goes into a deepcast-iron skillet, so there isminimal risk of splatters or boil-overs. Lipscombe coats the sliced tomatoes in an egg-buttermilk mixture and then dips theminto a combination of flour, cornmeal and panko enlivened with Cajun or Creole seasoning. Then she does it again, ensuring a crackling crust that stays intact. Theymaywell be the best things I have ever fried, and I’ve fried some good things.