Okay, you're going to laugh maybe; but here's my family's method for cooking okra. We never want it boiled, etc. Always fried -- but in the oven. No mess all over the top of the stove.
Slice the okra in thin slices. Coat well with cornmeal, salt and pepper. I put the cornmeal over the okra in a bowl and stir it to coat it. Put the okra in an iron skillet, place a couple tablespoons of Crisco on top (it will melt in the oven). Place in a 450 oven. Remove it occasionally and stir. I use a small spatula and just "turn it" gently. I don't really know how long to tell you to cook it -- until it gets as brown as you want it. When it's almost brown enough, I put a couple pats of butter on it and continue to cook just a little more.
If you have lots of fresh okra from your garden, you can do this, cook it until it's just short of being as brown as you want it. Cool it, put it in freezer bags and freeze. When you want to have it during those winter months, just thaw the bag of okra, put it back in the iron skillet in the oven and finish cooking. Just like fresh.
We also use the leftover fried okra in soup. No slime.
Sorry for the long post. This is the way my mother and grandmothers cooked okra. I was an adult before I realized some folks actually fried okra on top of the stove (LOL). I led such a sheltered Southern life!
Wow, now I'm hungry!