Fried Okra

To live in the south is to embrace okra. This humble vegetable thickens gumbo in Louisiana and adds slimy texture to Carolina stews, but here in Tennessee, we treat it like every other food--we FRY it! Since moving here, I've had fried yams, fried taters, fried green beans, fried grits, fried chicken salad (don't ask), fried zucchini, fried eggplant and even fried dill pickles.

Bill is still a non-believer when it comes to okra, but he'll pretty much eat anything if its been breaded and fried. I'm usually the opposite--grill it, bake it, steam it or broil it, but keep my food out of the deep bubbling vat o' fat, please. But okra is one of those strange oddities--I think the only good way to eat it is fried. It tastes crispy and green, without the mucilinigious breakdown other cooking methods expose.

I made a pot roast the other day with a 7-pound hunk of boneless pork loin on sale for only $3 because it was the last date of sale. I figured the safest food prep would be to simmer the darn thing for many hours, so I browned it and then poured in apple juice and the spicy Adirondack Death Sauce I make every couple of years and keep in corked glass bottles in the basement.

And because the Farmer's Market was overflowing with everything I already grow here at home (except okra), I brought home a bag of the little darlings and decided to experiment with Bill's palate to see if he would eat or balk at the side dish.

Easy Fried Okra

A small bowlful of okra pods, sliced into 1/2" rounds
1/4 cup low-fat milk

Let sit for about 10 minutes. Stir until it gets a little goopy.

Heat 1/4" peanut oil in a skillet until hot.

Stir together:
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
salt & pepper

Dump into okra and toss lightly. Turn the whole mess into the hot oil. It should sizzle aggressively. Separate the okra and let cook until browned, then flip them all over to brown on the other side.

Lift out with a slotted spatula onto paper towels, drain and eat while they're hot and crunchy!

Bill ate them and raved. He even took the last one.