Family Recipe Friday - Fried Okra

Fried Okra

Borrowed from thekitchn.com

I said this many times on this blog, my dear Mama was not much of a cook. Oh, we didn't starve. She just had a limited repertoire of recipes that she did well. And Mama's fried okra was one of those few things that she could do well!

Mama would take fresh okra and wash it up. Then she'd pat it dry with a tea towel. (What do you mean you don't know what a tea towel is? Child, that's what we used before paper towels!)

Next she'd put yellow cornmeal in a bowl or on a plate. And then she'd mix together milk and an egg. (Mama never did master the use of a whisk, so she simply used a fork to whip it together. Works just as well.)

She'd gather her salt and pepper. Then she'd heat shortening in the skillet, and once the skillet was good and hot she'd dip the okra, piece by piece into the milk and egg, and then she'd roll it around in the cornmeal so it was coated well, and then she'd drop it into the hot grease in the skillet. She'd make sure it was browned completely on one side before turning it onto the other. Then she'd put a clean tea towel on a platter and place the freshly fried okra on it, which she had seasoned generously with salt and pepper. It would take a while to get a whole mess cooked up. And unless you've been in the house, you have no idea how good that okra frying smells!

Mama served it up onto our plates. She and Daddy used hot sauce on theirs. I just liked it with plenty of salt and pepper. It was good!

How - good - was - it?

Well, once you finished eating what you had on your plate, you had to chase your tongue across the table because it was already lapping its way over to the platter just to get seconds!

I guess I thought of Mama cooking the okra because I've been eating a lot of okra lately. I've been eating a lot of veggies since I went vegan! And remembering some of those good recipes that Mama used to make.

Did your Mother have a special recipe that she made particularly well? Be sure to share it with us!