Swamp Venom Fried Okra

RhumAndJerk

Last night the menu for dinner was sirloin steaks, sweet corn and fried okra. The steaks were egged in the normal manner with some rub that I am trying to use up. The real stand-out though was the Fried Okra.[p]First, we washed and trimmed the ends off the okra, then dredged the whole okra in flour mixed with S&P, next egg, and then breadcrumbs seasoned with Swamp Venom. We fried these gems up in a cast iron skillet.[p]Let me tell you, this was a match made in heaven.[p]Enjoy,
RhumAndJerk[p]

BobS

RhumAndJerk,
I love okra, but really have no experience preparing it. When you say "fry" are you talking about a 1/4" or so of oil in the pan or frying in lots of oil and dipping them out?

RhumAndJerk

BobS,
We use the first option, 1/4 inch of oil in the bottom of the pan. We have been frying zucchini like this all summer and could do green tomatoes also.[p]Hope this helps,
RhumAndJerk

BobS

RhumAndJerk,
Thanks for the information. I am going to give it a try as soon as I can find some okra. We just see it once in a while down here in Mexico.[p]Thanks also for posting the recipe for Grilled Marinated Pork Loin Chops With Habanero Cherry Sauce! That is really an outstanding recipe.[p]

Unknown

BobS,[p]The breaded and fried sound good. I'm going to try that. Another method I've been doing lately is to simply trim the stems a little if needed, wash and dry well, toss them in a pan with diced garlic, drizzle well with olive oil, salt to taste and roast in the egg at 400-500, stirring them around occasionally for even cooking, until they've got good roast marks and are tender. Takes 15 minutes, give or take a few. Grab them by the stem and take a bite. Just leave the stem.

BobS

scole,
That sounds like another "must try". Sure wish I could find some okra right now.....[p]

AZRP

RhumAndJerk,
I've always cut them into 1/4" lengths and fried them, when you do them whole, are they crispy? -RP

RhumAndJerk

AZRP,
I was starting to cut the okra into rounds and my wife stopped me and said to leave them whole. So I did.
We had a big container of okra and she figured that it would simply take forever to fry all of that okra if we cut into little rounds.[p]The end result was in fact crispy, but not in the way that you would expect. Normally one would expect a crunch from the breading and then a soft inside. By leaving them whole, the interior was less cook which meant that okra it self was also crispy, so you ended up with a double crunch and okra retained a pleasant sweetness. I give my wife credit for this one as this was the first time she had ever made fried okra.[p]Hope this helps,
RhumAndJerk[p]

gman

How much oil can you get away with using in the BGE? Is the main danger the spillover? [p]I had been just using my BGE as a smoker/baker/griller. ...but it sounds like I could put a thin layer of oil in an iron skill and maybe have some smokey fried pork chops.

RhumAndJerk

G-man,
Just to clarify, I cooked this on the stovetop. I do not advocate frying anything on the BGE. I think that it is HUGE safety hazard to mix boiling oil and BGE. Heck, I have even given up frying turkeys because of the danger.[p]As for the Pork chops, cut them thick and sear at a high temperature like steak. I simply double the dwell time. That is a real treat.[p]Hope this helps,
RhumAndJerk