Crispy Fried Okra!

It's here folks, that's right, it's summertime! Well, it is in South Carolina anyway, the calender may not say so, but the heat index does not lie! Beautiful okra has been coming in from Homestead, Florida for a few weeks now, which is wonderful since it's going to be a little while before the local okra crops will be ready, and I can hardly wait for that! Nothing beats a great bowl of crispy, fried okra served with sliced tomatoes and biscuits on a warm evening. Who needs meat? Well okay, maybe some country ham would be nice...

Ingredients:

1 pound okra, rinsed, dried and sliced into 3/4 inch pieces.
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups canola or peanut oil

To begin, rinse the okra in cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Trim and discard just the tips of both ends of the okra. You'll need three bowls for this recipe, one for all purpose flour, one for buttermilk and one for cornmeal, as pictured below. Add the salt and pepper to the cornmeal and stir to mix.

First, add the okra to the flour, making sure you cover all of the surfaces well.

Now it's time for it to take a swim in the buttermilk, this will help the cornmeal to stick to it, resulting in the crispy crust!

 At this point, it's a good idea to go ahead and get your oil heated. Place the oil in a medium pot and heat on medium heat to 350 degrees. Add the okra a little at a time to the cornmeal, and coat it well.

If you don't have a thermometer, place the end of a wooden spoon into the oil, if it bubbles up around the spoon, you're ready to fry!

Add the okra to the pot, but don't crowd it, give it some space to get golden and crispy...

Remove the okra and drain on paper towels before serving. If you're making this ahead, just drain it, place it in an oven safe dish and reheat on 300 degrees in the oven. 

You know what's also delicious with this? My Nanny's creamed corn. I'll go next door to the produce stand and get some fresh corn soon and post that recipe soon. Oh. My. Goodness! I love summer food!