Southern fried okra

Taken today, in front of my okra plants. I cropped the bottom of the picture out so you wouldn't see my weeds. Seriously!

We love fried okra, cooked the way my mom taught me: Slice the okra, dip in egg, then roll in a mixture of half flour, half corn meal. I could never understand, though, why all the coating doesn't stay on the little wheels of okra. When we eat out and fried okra is served, it's got crispy coating all around it. What was I doing wrong? So I went searching on Google and found a recipe that lets the coating stay on the okra. The only differences between this and my old method are the addition of baking powder and the instructions to leave the okra in the egg/milk mixture for at least ten minutes. So I don't know which factor made the difference, but I've followed this recipe twice, and it worked, both times.

Southern Fried Okra

1 pound fresh okra

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup buttermilk

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup cornmeal

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper to taste

Vegetable oil

1. Wash and slice okra; pat dry with paper towels.
2. Combine eggs and buttermilk; add okra, and let stand for 10 minutes.
3. Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and pepper.
4. Drain okra, small portions at a time, using a slotted spoon.
5. Dredge okra, small portions at a time, in flour mixture.
6. Pour oil to depth of 2 to 3-inches in a Dutch oven of deep-fat fryer and heat to 375*F (190*C). Fry okra until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and serve immediately.

I don't use buttermilk, by the way; I use plain milk. And I use a skillet rather than a deep fryer, but with plenty of oil. And I like to add some Cajun seasoning to the flour/cornmeal mix.

I found this on cooksrecipe.com.