Pan-Fried Okra

Brace yourself.  I have a confession to make.  I have never had fried okra before.

If you've been a long-time reader of mine you'll recall that I have a deep disdain for frying food.  It's greasy, it's messy, and it's just plain unhealthy.  When I do get the urge to fry my food, I'll go halfway and do pan-fried.  This way, I can better control the amount of oil that I use and it doesn't generally smell up the house like a McDonald's nearly as much as deep-frying does.

I loved the way this pan-fried okra turned out and can understand why after I bookmarked this recipe on my Pinterest board why they got repinned over and over again. They were like little golden nuggets of crunchy goodness.  Very addicting.


Pan-Fried Okra

Ingredients:

• 3 cups okra, cut into 1/2 inch rounds
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (may need a bit more)
• Salt, to taste
• Pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. If using frozen okra, just lightly rinse and do not let thaw. Trim off ends of okra and cut into 1/2 inch rounds. Place okra in a gallon zippered bag and add buttermilk. Seal bag and toss to coat okra. If okra is not well covered, add more buttermilk 1 tbsp. at a time until okra is well coated.
2. In a separate clean gallon bag add cornmeal and then add the okra to the bag, seal and toss until okra is well coated with the cornmeal. If needed add an additional tbsp. of cornmeal.
3. Meanwhile, in a large skillet add olive oil (need enough to cover the bottom of the skillet). Heat over medium high heat until oil is hot. Add the coated okra to the skillet and reduce heat to medium. Cook on one side for 5 minutes allowing okra to begin to brown. After five minutes, turn okra and sprinkle with salt. Turn okra every 5 minutes, sprinkling with salt each time until okra is golden brown in color. This should take approximately 20-25 minutes. Taste okra and salt more if needed.

Source: Barely modified from Macaroni and Cheesecake