_Serves 4

Buy more okra than you think you will need. It disappears immediately off the plate and often times, it will never make it to the table.

Place okra slices in a large colander and rinse with water.  Let the okra drain until just damp.

1 lb fresh okra, sliced crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces, about 1 1/2 cups vegetable or peanut oil 1 cup, finely ground yellow cornmeal,  salt to taste, freshly ground black pepper, to taste ground red (cayenne) pepper or garlic to taste.

In a cast iron skillet or high-sided frying pan, add enough vegetable oil to reach about 1/4-inch up the side of the pan.  Heat to 350 degrees over medium-high heat.

In a brown paper bag or large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, salt, pepper, and cayenne or garlic.  Toss half of the okra slices in the cornmeal mixture to coat.  Place the dredged okra slices in a small strainer and shake gently to remove any extra cornmeal.

Add the okra to the frying pan.  Fry for about two minutes, then use a spoon and gently turn over the okra slices.  Fry for another one to two minutes or until the okra is golden brown.  Do not stir the okra while it is frying as a spoon will knock off the cornmeal coating.  Remove the okra from the pan using a slotted spoon and place the okra on a paper towel-lined plate.  Sprinkle with salt and serve immediately.

Enjoy Grandma's fart free okra!

It happens every time, after frying a bunch of okra, I immediately burn the roof of my mouth. Fried okra is desirable, confronted with glistening  hot oil on a paper towel and the smell, I lose all self-control. Despite being too hot to touch let alone eat, I eat one after another. You can feel the little seed pop in your mouth, captured in the toasted green casing. My obsession with fried okra can be traced back to my Grandparents. My Grandpa always had a garden in Florida and kept the seeds from the overground okra that became woody and hard. Grandpa started a new garden the next year with left over seeds.

As a child, a plate of fried okra sat on the kitchen table almost every time we visited our grandparents, and we eat it as if it was candy. Today in my home, I’ve explored okra more closely. I’ve thickened gumbos with okra, broiled the pods with a little olive oil and salt and pepper, and sauteed them in butter. I put the okra on a skewer, with a little olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper and place on the grill. On the grill is one of my favorite. Yet while, all these preparations grant good-tasting okra, none of them compares to fried okra. Okra is in our garden almost every year. So far, is a bumper crop and one of our favorite veggie's for delicious summertime food, fresh out of the garden, just like Grandma.

Y'all come back now!

The story about the fart free fried okra, is in the book, "A Different Sandbox."