Summer recipe, Crispy Fried Okra

Now I must admit, before moving back to Kansas I had only ever fried ONCE. One time in my life (I was 40 years old). It was onion rings and it seemed like an ordeal.

Since moving back, I have tackled it - dove fingers, wild turkey fingers, jalapeno poppers, okra, zucchini. We don't eat fried a whole lot, but I am so happy to say I can now do it if I want.

I used to think it was hard and messy. But mostly it just takes a little time and care. It's not near as hard as I once imagined. I'll put the basic recipe here and walk through the steps in the photo captions.

Ingredients: 

1 bowl of either egg and milk whisked together or (for egg allergy) just milk with maybe a bit of applesauce or cornstarch mixed in

1 bowl of seasoned flour - I season it with salt, pepper, garlic and Head Country seasoning

1 bowl of okra, cut about 1/2 wide

1 pan with about 1/2 inch of oil in the bottom, I use canola but I'll bet olive would be glorious! 

Mess of okra from the garden. Frozen okra would work too!

Cut 'em up.

Egg and milk in this case since The Boy With Egg Allergy was out of town.

I use a slotted spoon so the egg doesn't goop up in the flour.

Fluffy flour mixture, seasoned as much or as little as you want.

I use a slotted spoon to get them out of the flour too, shaking well to lose excess before putting in a bowl to transfer to pan.

Heat oil on Medium. Get a few drops of water and flick in. If it splatters and sputs, it's ready! If not, turn heat up a little but not too much! You want it hot enough they cook fast and don't get soggy, but not so hot they burn.

Watch them fairly close. In a couple minutes, when the bottom edges looks golden, flip them over with a spoon.

Once again, a slotted spoon is your friend to minimize oil transfer.

Let cool on paper-towel-lined plate. Maybe not the healthiest (better with canola or olive oil) but has the best flavor!