the new taco

When you cook like I do - with an experimental approach - recipes usually take a while to perfect. But once perfected, they’re heavenly. However, sometimes I’ll happen upon an uncommonly fortunate experiment in the kitchen that's mind-blowingly good. I’m going to be honest, this recipe was a bit of both... let me explain...

Okay, this is where it went wrong: the jumbo size of that okra! We didn’t know it yet and were taking this bigger-is-better approach to our vegetables in the garden so we picked these way too late!

 Result: okra so tough you could use it as a screwdriver. Lesson learned. 

Well, technically we hadn’t learned the lesson at this point, but assuming you’re using standard sized okra this recipe is sure to rock your socks off! I would imagine that if you wanted to skip the first steps, you could even use the frozen, pre-diced kind of okra. 

If you’re using fresh okra, dice then up then soak in vinegar for about half an hour. It sounds weird, but this step adds SO much flavor! While they’re soaking, beat 2 eggs, a few tablespoons of heavy whipping cream, and few shakes of seasoning salt together.

Drain okra, then coat then in your egg mixture.

Next, add breadcrumbs to a gallon sized ziplock. Spoon the okra in, and toss until they’re coated.

Then spread up out onto a cookie sheet (no pan-greasing necessary) and bake at 375 for about 30-40 minutes. 

Now for the “salsa”... I didn’t document this part so well, but it I’d try and explain what I did the best I can. This salsa is essentially just corn, peppers, and a few extras for flavor. So, pretty simple!

This is what I diced up:

3 ears of corn

5 pepperoncini peppers

1 green bell pepper

1 red bell pepper

Then I added a sea salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and a few dashes of hot sauce. Once you’ve stirred all that together, refrigerate that spicy goodness while you work on the crescendo of your masterpiece: The tortilla. 

Of course, you could just buy those at the store, but if you have an iron skillet and some flour then you have no reason to ever purchase a “flour tortilla” again. If you’ve never made them before, I highly recommend this video: 

These are SO GOOD! Husband doesn’t even like okra and he loved these. As in, ate the leftovers and requested them again. (And that was with my way-too-big-and-tough baked okra!)

Also worth noting: We added a little drizzle of homemade buttermilk ranch to balance out all that spicy. It was a-mazing!