Fried Okra

My grandmother taught me to love fried okra.  She lived on a ranch in Texas her whole life and was a really gifted home cook.  I loved to hear her stories of cooking for the ranch hands that she and my grandfather would hire at key times during the year.  She would describe their property as “small,” my grandfather was a horse and cattle trader and never had too much livestock on hand at any one time.  So I guess it was small by Texas standards–but 1200 acres seemed big to me and I marveled at how she ran the house, a huge vegetable garden, a smoke house, a salt house, the chicken coup where she raised the chickens and harvested the eggs, milked the cows and made her own butter, cooked three meals a day and still managed to fill an armoire full of the most beautiful hand-stitched quilts you have ever seen. I’m embarrassed to think myself busy when I consider what she got done in a day…

Anyway, her cooking was a study in delicious simplicity—good, fresh ingredients cooked perfectly—and I remember it to this day.  Here is how she made her fried okra—a five-minute wonder of a side dish.  I don’t think she used olive oil, probably bacon drippings or shortening, but the essential taste is the same.

Fried Okra

4 to 6 servings

1 pound fresh okra, washed, dried and cut into ¼ inch rounds
½ cup cornmeal
¼ cup olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Put the cornmeal in a medium bowl, add the okra rounds and toss with your hands to coat.  Transfer the okra to a dry colander and shake off the excess cornmeal.  Warm the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat and add the okra.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and slowly sauté, turning with a spatula occasionally, until the okra is golden brown, 4 to 6 minutes.  Drain on paper towels and serve immediately.