Okra!

I love okra so much.  I love the seeds, the slime, the crunch, the taste.  I would marry it!  And I'm especially loving of all it's variations and applications, pickled, thickening agent in gumbo and last but not least FRIED!  Today I picked my first two lovely okra from my garden and ran upstairs snatching one lovely green tomato from my neighbor's plant :) and started lunch...I'll double the recipe for you.
4 okra, 1/2 inch slices
2 green tomato sliced
1 1/2 cup canola
2 egg yolks mixed with touch of buttermilk, cream or milk
1/2 cup flour mixed with 1/2 cup of corn flour
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
cracked pepper to taste
cayenne to taste
garlic powder to taste
I set up two plates-one for the flour and one for the flour mixture with the spices and salt included, a bowl for the egg mixture and a wide pan with at least 1 to 2 inch tall walls for with the oil.  I also lay out paper towels on a sheet tray for the fried yummies to release some of those oils...Heat the oil to 350.  In the meantime dip items to be fried in flour, then coat in egg mixture, then coat with flour/spice mixture...Fry several pieces at a time to keep temperature consistent, too many pieces will drop it down and too high a flame and too little pieces at a time with get the oil too hot and you don't want it to smoke or burn...
If I'm frying big patches I use several trays with paper towels and use the oven as a warmer.  I also try not to layer the fried items on top of one another so they don't get soggy...
I didn't feel like making a sauce from scratch so I took some condiments from the fridge and went wild...Mayo, siracha, and chopped parsley did the trick.
That's it.  Lots of the farmers at the markets have okra right now so don't pass it up because there is even more to do with it that what I've mentioned.

17 Courses and Counting!

When I began my Underground Dining my intention was a ten course tasting menu but it never quite made it to ten, it was always a solid twelve.   Then as time went on it grew to 14, 15...And as menu 3 hit I began to get those "staple," "money" dishes that guests raved about like shrimp noodle scampi, the mushroom tea course, and white truffle Yukon gold potato pierogi and I haven't been able to part with them.  The summer menu is currently 17 courses and this month of August there may even be 18 on the occasional lucky night.  I have a new fun plating technique which is in the works and lands right on the guest's hand that I hope to incorporate as one of the first courses when One Sister becomes above ground at Elizabeth Restaurant.  Remember that name, cause that will be her!