A little bit country… September 12, 2007

I was raised in Texas by some seriously country folks ya’ll, so don’t be surprised if you see down-home-cookin’ pop up on here from time to time.  It won’t happen that often because those recipes usually include gravy, butter, deep frying and the occasional scoop of lard. 

But today’s entry satisfies my love of one uber-country dish (fried okra) and my desire to keep my arteries clean and clear.  I adapted this from a Cooking Light recipe I found on their website MyRecipes.com.  Surprised?  Yeah, I didn’t think so.

Anyway, this turned out really well.  I’m not saying it can stand up to traditional fried okra or that you’d even begin to mistake this for the real deal.  But when I’m craving something from my Momma’s kitchen and don’t want all the grease, this is a great substitution.

Oven-Fried Okra
(Adapted from Cooking Light)

1 lb. of fresh okra
Skim milk
1 1/2 c. of cornmeal
S&P to taste
Cooking Spray

Heat oven to 450.  Coat pan with cooking spray.  While the oven is heating up, put your empty pan in to start heating up too. 

Cut up the okra and put in a wide (but not necessarily deep) bowl.  Cover okra with skim milk and let stand about 5 minutes.  Put cornmeal, salt & pepper in a large zip-lock bag.  Drain okra and put in bag.  Toss to coat. 

Put breaded okra in the heated pan and spray generously with cooking spray.  Cook for 20 minutes.  Turn/stir the okra, spray lightly with cooking spray and continue cooking for 20 more minutes.  Remove from oven and lightly salt.

*The crust in this dish was almost perfect.  I think next time I’ll try it with 1 c. cornmeal and 1/2 c. flour.*