Okra

[ga.prime]

Tomatoes and okra perfectly compliment purple hulls, creme 40's, sadandys, black eyes, pink eyes, crowders, butterbeans...

One more thing, putting a few whole pods of okra into the peas for the last 15 or 20 minutes of cooking time to be savored along with the peas is a highlight of the growing season. This is mandatory if you're not serving tomatoes and okra alongside.

 

[alisonb]

All this talk of cooking okra......nobodys said a word about the pleasures of pickin it.... :cry2:

I could somehow imagine the experience being similar to picking baby marrows?

It's peculiar that okra isn't common in SA seeing as okra was imported to this country from Africa. What's your weather going to be like the next 3 months? You need hot weather to grow it.

I think it came from much higher up in Africa than where we are, Africa is really big ;-) . You do get it here but it is just not that popular, perhaps we don't know how to prepare it properly (I speak for myself . We are just going into winter here, we have had a couple of frosts already so no warm weather suitable for planting in my area until at least Oct. I am definitely going to plant some.

I tried the frying method earlier today, what sticky little buggers they are :shock: . Anyway they browned up nicely and were tasty (perhaps a little oily even after draining well) but different. I will cook them again. My next batch will be the tomato mix tomorrow, that should be good.

Does anyone eat them raw?

 

[dun]

All this talk of cooking okra......nobodys said a word about the pleasures of pickin it.... :cry2:

I could somehow imagine the experience being similar to picking baby marrows?

It's peculiar that okra isn't common in SA seeing as okra was imported to this country from Africa. What's your weather going to be like the next 3 months? You need hot weather to grow it.

I think it came from much higher up in Africa than where we are, Africa is really big ;-) . You do get it here but it is just not that popular, perhaps we don't know how to prepare it properly (I speak for myself . We are just going into winter here, we have had a couple of frosts already so no warm weather suitable for planting in my area until at least Oct. I am definitely going to plant some.

I tried the frying method earlier today, what sticky little buggers they are :shock: . Anyway they browned up nicely and were tasty (perhaps a little oily even after draining well) but different. I will cook them again. My next batch will be the tomato mix tomorrow, that should be good.

Does anyone eat them raw?

Biggest complaint people seem to have about okra is it being slimy. I just figured they didn;t cook it right.

 

[LRTX1]

All this talk of cooking okra......nobodys said a word about the pleasures of pickin it.... :cry2:

I could somehow imagine the experience being similar to picking baby marrows?

It's more like rolling around in insulation......naked

It affects a lot of folks that way. I spent most summers cutting okra. We would plant about a 1/2 acre, I would cut 1/2 one day and the other 1/2 the next day. I don't know when the itching stopped but it doesnt affect me at all now. It would eat me up as a kid.

 

[Jogeephus]

Doesn't bother me either.

 

[Wewild]

I don't get itchy either. I cut most of the lower limbs off to gain easy access to the pods. I kinda leave them with a Marine haircut.

 

[alisonb]

It's more like rolling around in insulation......naked

Fibre glass :shock: I may have to reconsider the planting aspect of this slimey little veggie.

I have come to the conclusion that you either love or hate Okra. When I started this experiment I must say it did not impress me at all, now I consider it as quite unique. I mean, where do you come across a veggie that has it's own thickening qualities in this form? That must be the 'gum' in the Gumbo.
My boyfriend and I really had fun in the kitchen last night, I'll give you a bit of a run down -

We soaked some 1/4" cut okra in salt water for 1/2hr, as it started gelling we popped it into a bag of cornmeal and then into cornmeal+flour (as Wewild suggested) and then deep fried it. The batter stuck on well. It would seem that as soon as the Okra comes into contact with salt or water it starts to release it's gel.

We then sliced a couple of pods in half (lengthways), poured some olive oil over it and added salt + pepper. Popped it under the grill until crispy and then squeezed some lemon juice over them.

Then we steamed some 1/2" slices, added butter, salt+pepper and lemon juice again. I remember learning in HS that if you add lemon juice (acid) to fish it breaks down the gelatine and thus speeds up the cooking process so I thought if I add lemon to the Okra it may stop gelling it works.

Lastly, we fried up a mix of okra, red onion, garlic, ginger, brinjal, pepper, tomato and cumin seeds. This was really good.

I think I need a rest from Okra for now :shock: will continue next weekend with a soup for our chilly weather .

 

[JSCATTLE]

I like it fried. Boiled with rotel tomatoes .pickled And boiled and put in chicken and sausage gumbo.it seem s the hotter it is the faster it grows .mine is coming up now .when we put it up we cut it up roll it in flour put it in the oven at 175 degrees for 10 min then after it cools put it in the freezer on the cookie sheet . after frozen into gallon freezer bags .like was mentioned before.

 

[Wewild]

I like it fried. Boiled with rotel tomatoes .pickled And boiled and put in chicken and sausage gumbo.it seem s the hotter it is the faster it grows .mine is coming up now .when we put it up we cut it up roll it in flour put it in the oven at 175 degrees for 10 min then after it cools put it in the freezer on the cookie sheet . after frozen into gallon freezer bags .like was mentioned before.

Do you fry it after getting it out of the freezer? How does putting it in the oven help? I could see where it might work like parboiling to stop enzyme action. I may have to try that. Even though ours lasted through the winter, it may seem to lose it freshness near about now. Not sure though. It was still good.

 

[ga.prime]

My mom used to microwave cut up okra a minute or two until it started getting slimy then freeze it. It was good for frying after taking out of the freezer.

 

[JSCATTLE]

I like it fried. Boiled with rotel tomatoes .pickled And boiled and put in chicken and sausage gumbo.it seem s the hotter it is the faster it grows .mine is coming up now .when we put it up we cut it up roll it in flour put it in the oven at 175 degrees for 10 min then after it cools put it in the freezer on the cookie sheet . after frozen into gallon freezer bags .like was mentioned before.

Do you fry it after getting it out of the freezer? How does putting it in the oven help? I could see where it might work like parboiling to stop enzyme action. I may have to try that. Even though ours lasted through the winter, it may seem to lose it freshness near about now. Not sure though. It was still good.

Yes we fry it afterwards . It just seals it and kills the enzymes . By putting the corn meal. And flour on it before its frozen just eliminates a mess later also makes it faster because you don't have to thaw it to fry it .

 

[Wewild]

Yes we fry it afterwards . It just seals it and kills the enzymes . By putting the corn meal. And flour on it before its frozen just eliminates a mess later also makes it faster because you don't have to thaw it to fry it .

We do everything except put it in the oven. I may try that and see if it keeps longer without a losing flavor. You ever done squash this way?