One Of Our Favorite Ways to Cook Okra

We've been picking a lot of okra lately.  We have one row of closely planted okra on one of the last rows in the garden.  The thing about okra is that it will continue to produce okra for months!  That also means that you have to have more than a few ways to cook okra in your repertoire or you'll tire of it.  I pick a colander full every day.  Everyday picking is a must or your okra will get too big and "woody" and will be inedible.

The three varieties we have are shown below.  On the left is Clemson Spineless Okra.  In the middle you'll see Burgundy Okra.  On the right we see Beck's Big Okra.

One of the favorite ways that we like to cook it is Oven Fried Okra.  First thing we do is cut up the fresh okra into bite size pieces.  The recipe (we found on the Internet) calls for 4 cups of cut up okra.  To be honest, I think our family has graduated to doubling the recipe as we gobble up four cups mighty fast!

We preheat the oven to 425 degrees and put 3-4 tablespoons of coconut oil on a baking sheet.  We place the baking sheet in the oven and let it warm up.

To make the 'batter,' we combine 4 tablespoons of cornmeal, 6 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese.  We put it all in a bowl, but you might also use a ziploc bag or paperbag. 

In a separate bowl we beat two eggs and toss the cut up okra into the beaten eggs until they are coated.  Then we toss into the cornmeal mix until the okra is coated fully with the batter.

We arrange on the baking pan with the heated coconut oil in one layer and bake for 15-20 minutes, turning once during baking at the halfway point.  Continue baking until they are golden brown.

This is a family-pleasing meal.  Take my word for it.  There will be no leftovers!

Oven "Fried" Okra! Mmmm...

We have a row of okra that are planted from saved seed.  Most of it is Clemson spineless, but there were evidently a a few Burgundy okra seeds mixed in there as well.  With the warm temperatures and intermittent rains, they have been loaded in blooms and you can almost watch them grow they grow so fast!  Each afternoon, I go out to the garden and lift my shirt up and use it as a 'bucket' of sorts to hold the okra I pick.  I never take the time to count them, but it is a nice little 'mess' of okra every day.

Now, we eat okra as a side dish quite often and we fix it in several different ways. We enjoy it, but I ran across a recipe that we wanted to try from the Gotreaux Farms Newsletter.  The Gotreaux's are a farm family that we've blogged about a couple years ago HERE.

We love fried okra, but fried okra makes a big mess.  Eating a bunch of fried foods is probably not the healthiest thing in the world for you.  But this recipe is for Crunchy Oven-Fried Okra (from Love Life and Good Food).  You'll need:

4 cups fresh okra
4 Tablespoons cornmeal
6 Tablespoons Panko Breadcrumbs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 Tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs beaten
3-4 Tablespoons coconut oil

First I cut up the okra and preheat the oven to 425F:

Then I assemble my ingredients and combine the cornmeal, Panko breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese into a gallon-sized ziploc bag.  I also crack two nice country fresh eggs in a bowl.

Tricia put the coconut oil on a stoneware baking sheet and puts it in the oven to melt a little while we finish prepping.

A little at a time she mixes the cut up okra in the beaten egg until they are all coated well.

A little at a time, add the egg-coated okra to the ziploc bag and shake until coated evenly.

Add the coated okra to the baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes, turning after about 10 minutes. At the end, turn the oven to broil to give the okra a nice golden brown color.

When the kitchen timer goes off, you can remove from the oven.  Looks nice, doesn't it?

I would say to allow to cool before eating, but honestly, quite a few get sampled right of the baking sheet before we ever serve them on our plates.  We really enjoy this recipe and think you will too!