Scrumptious Saturday #9

SOUTHERN FRIED OKRA!

I am doing a piece by piece of southern foods that can later be put together as one large meal. I started with Fried Green Tomatoes and Johnny Cake Cornbread and now without further ado... Southern Fried Okra!

First I want to show the difference between the okra from my local grocery store (in the colander) and from my in laws garden (on the marble cutting board) . I didn't have the opportunity to go to the farmer's market this morning, c'est la vie.

OK so with Okra you need to select firm bright green, when you slice it it will get a little slimy, this is OK because that is what helps hold the flour mixture to the okra. Slice it about 1/2 in or less (discard the tips).

As usual there are no measurements (especially since it depends on how much okra you slice) so here's what I do. A handful of wheat flour, a handful of white flour, a half handful of cornmeal and about 4 TBSP of sugar. In this case as always its better to under measure as you can always add more. Fold it into the bowl (I kinda throw the bowl to let the mixture work itself, but you can use a spoon or spatula to fold).

Heat enough oil in a skillet to just cover bottom, dump floured okra in and keep it moving. Don't let it sit in the same place too long or it can easily burn. If it gets too gooey just add more corn meal and keep it cooking. I can't really tell how long exactly it should go, just until it looks bright green and the breading is a little crispy. If done right with little oil you shouldn't need to drain on a paper towel, however if it's a little too oily go ahead and do that real quick.