Cornmeal-Crusted Okra

Summer yielded rich harvests, blistering hot days, and the best all-vegetable meals you could imagine. Pan-fried okra was one of my favorites served with fresh sliced tomatoes, little green butter beans, and creamed corn. When I left home and ordered fried okra, I was served these little battered puff balls fried hard around a slimy piece of okra. This was not my kind of okra (pronounced ok-ree where I’m from). So if I was going to get a fresh taste of home, it meant firing up the cast-iron skillet and mealin’ up some okree myself!

½ cup vegetable oil (or bacon grease if you have it)

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

4 cups rinsed fresh okra, sliced in rounds (remove the stems and tips)

Heat the oil in a large cast-iron skillet on medium-high. blend the cornmeal, flour, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Coat the okra with the cornmeal mix, covering each and every piece. if the okra is rinsed, it will be damp and the cornmeal will stick. Pour the okra into the hot oil, and fry, stirring often, until the cornmeal turns golden and the okra is slightly crunchy, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Makes 4 servings