Still Getting Stuff

[JimWWhite]

Jim, believe it or not, I've never had Okra! The only thing I know about it is that's it's slimy. I don't eat raw oysters because of that reason. Is it always slimy even after cooking? Does it taste like cactus? I make a good cactus salsa but it's canned cactus. Don't know if that makes a difference.

Mary

Nope. Nothing like cactus. Now I understand that a lot of people won't eat okra because they think its slimy. It is if you boil or steam it, like in soups, etc. But fried okra is something else. Properly fried and seasoned okra is a bit of charred Heaven to a Southern Boy. Some fried okra, pinto beans and a chunk of cornbread and we're halfway there already. You can get it in restaurants here in the south like the Golden Corral or Ryan's etc. where they have a food bar but they deep fry their okra. Each piece if separate. Good but not my Mama's. My suggestion is go to the store and buy some pre-breaded okra and heat up a heavy cast iron skillet with about a 1/4-inch of peanut or other high temp cooking oil. When the oil is hot drop in about half the okra and turn it gently until it's golden with a little bit of charring on the edges. Remove from the skillet, salt and pepper on paper towels to drain the excess oil (This little bit of info was added just in case my Doctor reads this...) Cook the remainder the same way. Serve it with chicken or whatever with a sliced tomato. Oh Boy!!!

 

[ninnymary]

Jim, is the pre-breaded okra in the refrigerator or freezer section?

Mary

 

[JimWWhite]

Jim, is the pre-breaded okra in the refrigerator or freezer section?

Mary

In the freezer section. You should be able to find it in bags. If not then use the unbreaded type, let it thaw, and toss it in a bowl with a half cup of corn meal and the same amount of flour. Salt and pepper to taste and throw it on the skillet.

Uh, oh. I just saw that you are from the San Francisco area. You may have a hard time finding it out there but maybe not. I don't think you'll find it in any of the gourmet markets down on the Embarcadero.

 

[ninnymary]

Thanks Jim, I have a groupon for a soul food place. I'll definitely try their fried okra. If I like it, they may be able to tell me where I can find a pre-breaded kind. It will be easier to make.

Mary

 

[baymule]

Jim, you can also dehydrate okra. it makes a crunchy snack! Sooooooooo yummy!

 

[vfem]

It has been awesomely mild here in NC! We're still pulling in peppers, tomatoes and green beans.... plus our fall greens and peas are coming in.

My summer squash is giving out though, so I'll probably toss those to the chickens.

A pretty successful year if I don't say so myself!

 

[JimWWhite]

Jim, you can also dehydrate okra. it makes a crunchy snack! Sooooooooo yummy!

Bay, I've heard about dehydrated okra but I've never had it. Would you season it before putting it in the dehydrator? I bet it would be pretty good.

 

[JimWWhite]

It has been awesomely mild here in NC! We're still pulling in peppers, tomatoes and green beans.... plus our fall greens and peas are coming in.

My summer squash is giving out though, so I'll probably toss those to the chickens.

A pretty successful year if I don't say so myself!

Yeah, I think we had a pretty good year too. I've got some romaine lettuce in now that I'm about to start taking. And there's a whole box of collards just waiting for the first good hard freeze. I know I said it before but we took the last of our collards out on Valentine's day of this year and it was really, really good. And we had a lot of below 25* nights too here in central NC this past winter. When we get back from vacation this week I'm hoping to take up the sweet potatoes. I planted an entire 10x4 box of Beauregard Sweet Potato slips back in the spring and the vines have been very vigorous. I had to take my weed wacker to those that were spilling over from the box just so I could get my push mower through the garden all summer. They'd come right back though. Can't wait to see what's hiding in that box. A couple of years ago Teresa found four or five store-bought sweet potatoes that were rotting in the pantry and just threw them out in an unused box in the garden and covered them up. That fall we took out almost sixty pounds of really sweet and really large sweet potatoes. We had baked sweet potatoes all winter long plus a few sweet potato pies at Thanksgiving and Christmas. The best!!!

 

[baymule]

Jim, you can also dehydrate okra. it makes a crunchy snack! Sooooooooo yummy!

Bay, I've heard about dehydrated okra but I've never had it. Would you season it before putting it in the dehydrator? I bet it would be pretty good.

I tried garlic powder, season salt and plain salt. Plain salt was the winner, I think because it melted into the okra and the other seasonings fell off. And i dehydrated some with no seasonings and it was good too. Put into soups, it is less slimy and it is as soft as fresh okra.

 

[seedcorn]

Jim, believe it or not, I've never had Okra! The only thing I know about it is that's it's slimy. I don't eat raw oysters because of that reason. Is it always slimy even after cooking? Does it taste like cactus? I make a good cactus salsa but it's canned cactus. Don't know if that makes a difference.

Mary

Nope. Nothing like cactus. Now I understand that a lot of people won't eat okra because they think its slimy. It is if you boil or steam it, like in soups, etc. But fried okra is something else. Properly fried and seasoned okra is a bit of charred Heaven to a Southern Boy. Some fried okra, pinto beans and a chunk of cornbread and we're halfway there already. You can get it in restaurants here in the south like the Golden Corral or Ryan's etc. where they have a food bar but they deep fry their okra. Each piece if separate. Good but not my Mama's. My suggestion is go to the store and buy some pre-breaded okra and heat up a heavy cast iron skillet with about a 1/4-inch of peanut or other high temp cooking oil. When the oil is hot drop in about half the okra and turn it gently until it's golden with a little bit of charring on the edges. Remove from the skillet, salt and pepper on paper towels to drain the excess oil (This little bit of info was added just in case my Doctor reads this...) Cook the remainder the same way. Serve it with chicken or whatever with a sliced tomato. Oh Boy!!!

Garden gone and you make me hungry talking about okra beans and corn bread. Shame on you.