O-o-o-okra...homa

Well,  fried okra is a southern thing.  I love fried okra,  so I met this recipe head on with great expectations.  Sadly, sometimes great expectations can lead to great disappointment.

Cornmeal-Crusted Okra pp.227

    I went to the farmers market this time with out a list made ahead.  It was a good thing because I do not remember seeing any green beans and I have yet to see broccoli.  I cannot wait to eat some local fresh broccoli.   I knew I had a few more recipes left in the okra chapter,  so I bought two things of okra and I planned for tonight and tomorrow night to be dedicated to okra.  Tomorrow is a video blog btw!

     One of my favorite ways to eat okra is fried.  Mrs. H got me started when she served us fried okra on the night we visited her family.  Of course,  no ones fried okra compares to hers!  Thankfully Mr. Bishop included salt in the ingredients,  to which was a relief to me because restaurants in the area has very bland fried okra.  I wonder if I am supposed to dip it in something down here?

    Chef Turbo was excited to help.  He took out his butter knife and began to "chop" up one okra.  After I finished chopping up the rest, he helped put them in the bag full of cornmeal and then he happily shook it up.   Of course, a four year olds thoughts of shaking something up is different from an adults idea of how it is supposed to be done,  so I had to do some augmenting afterwords.

Here's the depressing part:  Just recently I successfully fried something (I think it was fish).  It came out perfectly!  What helped was the book "How to Read a French Fry".  It explained the science behind frying.  Well,  Mr. Bishop did not have me do a pre-coating on the okra (and how would I on pieces that small).  I just shook up the pieces and voila! In the hot oil it went.  Instead of becoming instantly crisp,  the oil all but fell off.  That was a major disappointment for me.  The only thing I can think of is that the oil was not hot enough to crisp the batter on.

RESULTS:
It was really good.  The kids (who never eat the restaurant okra) inhaled my okra.  The texture was still great despite the lack of cornbread coating.  I think the extra salt helped.