Fried okra with green tomatoes is one of my favorite summer foods!
One of the joys of summer is being able to walk out to the garden and literally “pick” what you want for supper! We have found that okra grows easily here in the south and we make sure we plant plenty of it. We like to use okra in gumbos and stewed with cherry tomatoes, but my favorite way to cook it is covered in cornmeal and fried.
My mom makes the best fried okra, period. Growning up fried okra was considered a treat! I learned how to make it by simply watching her cook. Its simple and there really is no recipe… but I tried to put some measurements down as a guideline and starting point. Feel free to experiment and adjust measurements… that’s the fun of cooking!
Sunshine loves for me to cook fried green tomatoes in the summertime… so I had the idea of combining the okra and green tomatoes and cooking them together. The result was two thumbs up and we’ve been eating them together like this for years!
2 cups of sliced okra pods
1 green tomato
1 cup cornmeal
4 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
salt
pepper
Start by picking (or buying) a mess of okra and green tomato(s). Wash the okra and the green tomato in cool water.
Slice the green tomato up into bite size pieces. Most people like to slice green tomatoes for frying and we do too, but for this dish we cut into bite size to match the okra. Next, cap the okra and slice into 1/2″ pieces.
Next, pre-heat a skillet on medium high and add oil. While the skillet is pre-heating, put your cornmeal and sugar into a ziplock bag. Add the okra and green tomato and shake to make sure all is well coated.
Make sure the oil is good and hot, but not smoking before adding okra and tomatoes. Once the skillet is ready, add okra and green tomatoes and fried until golden brown. I have found it best to stir and turn the vegetables only a few of times to prevent knocking off the cornmeal.
Once golden brown, remove the okra and green tomato and let drain on a plate with several layers of paper towels. As soon as you remove it from the oil give it a shake of salt and pepper to taste.
Enjoy!
post by Peter, pictures by Sunshine
