Okra - Poor Maligned Veggie.

Will everyone who considers okra inedible please say "aye"? Now, how many of you have actually tried it? Ha! I thought so. Many of you have just been put off by by what you've heard - mushy, stringy, slimy. I have even heard an indelicate person use a slang word for that which is produced by a runny nose.

Del and I grew up eating okra. Mother either fried it or made it with tomatoes. She also made okra pickles with dill. By the time I came into the family, Mrs. Williams put it in soup or stewed it. She usually put whole pods on top of her butter beans, but she always took them out and served them in a separate dish because Mr. Williams didn't like the way okra made the beans taste. Or he did if he knew they had been cooked together. Just one of the little secrets cooks keep from their families.

Both our families grew okra and used it fresh. I buy it frozen, and usually keep both the sliced, but unbreaded, and the whole pods in the freezer. When David, Tracy and Rosa come, I usually fry it, but I also use it in soup and stew whole pods or cook them on butter beans.

Here are the ways I learned to cook okra. If you try them and still aren't converted, you might want to grow a few plants anyway, because dried okra pods are beautiful in arrangements. When picking fresh okra, you might want to wear long sleeves and gardening gloves, because it is an itchy plant.

Fried Okra (Serves 6)

1 lb. frozen sliced okra
1/2 cup white stone ground corn meal
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
healthy shake of ground red pepper
Oil to barely cover bottom of iron frying pan or other pan large enough to to hold okra in a single layer (You know your frying pans. Some may require more oil than mine do,)

Remove okra from freezer to refrigerator to partially thaw. When ready to cook, put into paper bag with meal and seasonings. Shake, shake, shake.

Put enough oil into frying pan to cover bottom of pan. It will be shiny but not of any depth. Turn onto medium high heat. Check temperature by putting a tiny pinch of meal into pan. If it sizzles, shake bag again and pour everything into the pan. Spread okra into single layer, if possible. Cook on medium heat, turning as it begins to brown. Much of the meal will fall off the okra, but that is to be expected. Continue to cook, turning frequently, until the meal is brown. You may need to turn the heat down if it browns too quickly. You want the okra to be tender and the meal brown, not burned. Taste from time to time to check texture.

Note: This will not look at all like the okra you get in Cracker Barrel and such, but the green taste of the okra comes through and it is not greasy.

Boiled Okra

Fresh or frozen okra pods, partially thawed, if frozen

Salted and peppered water to barely cover


Depending upon size of okra pods, allow 3-4 per person. Simmer, covered, for 5 -10 minutes. The okra is done when the tip of a paring knife pierces it easily. Start testing for doneness after 5 minutes. You want it to be tender but not cooked to death. Do not let it come to a full boilor cook it too long, and do be sure to gently turn it instead of stirring because the pods will break and the result will be slimy and mushy. I'm okay with that, but I expect that for the uninitiated, it would be rather like eating a raw oyster, without risking Hep whichever letter. Because of my work and our travels, I've had my shots, but here are not enough shots in the world to persuade me to eat one of those, so I can't say for sure. Apply some kind of heat, however, and it's a whole other story. But I digress.

Note: You can also lay the pods on top of your fresh/frozen butter beans (baby limas), but be sure to check often because they will cook much quicker than the beans. To be fair to Mr. Williams, the flavor of the beans will be slightly changed.


Stewed okra

Mother didn't write down a recipe for stewed okra, so this is a method based on my memory of what she did, substituting store bought/short cut ingredients.

1 can stewed tomatoes
1 cup frozen sliced okra
1/4 cup frozen corn (my addition)
salt and pepper
hot sauce

Combine tomatoes and okra and simmer for 3-5 minutes. Check after 3 minutes for tender/crisp texture. Add corn and simmer for 2 minutes. Add salt to taste and a good bit of black pepper. You can also add some garlic powder and onion powder if you like. Add a couple of big shakes of hot sauce or allow each person to add it at the table.

Okra in Soup

Add either okra slices or pods to soup during the last 10 minutes of cooking. I prefer slices because they are more forgiving of over cooking and freeze well if you make a big batch of soup.

Dilled okra

I haven't made pickles or canned anything else since I used to help Mother, so I don't know the modern rules for safety, and would hesitate to tell anyone how to proceed, except to the grocery store. Up Nawth, you may have to go to a fancy store, but I used to buy them in Ohio without difficulty.

Welcome 2012!

Del and I had a fun time ringing in the New Year at our favorite hangout in Carrollton, listening to Bluegrass and drinking from Mason jars - not the new fangled "upscale" pseudo redneck wine glasses made of jars glued to candle sticks that my niece and nephew gave me as a joke, I think. These were plain pint Mason jars as used by real rednecks. They don't fill them with wine, of course, but the pour is rather substantial. Note to self: One is enough for me, even when I'm a passenger.

David, Tracy and Rosa came for lunch after church on Sunday. We were always traveling back to Ohio on New Year's, so this was the first time Tracy and Rosa were subjected to Robinson Rules for Jan. 1. It's the only time I can think of when I consider it appropriate to invite friends and family to dinner, serve them foods I know they don't care for and bully them into eating them.

Our New Year's Day must haves are hog jaw, collards or turnip salad and black eyed peas. Because I knew those might be received with bounded enthusiasm, I also made a pork loin and fried okra and offered some of the chicken muddle I made on Saturday. David, Del and I enjoyed the peas, and I enjoyed the greens. Tracy and Rosa each ate one pea and one piece of greens. Everyone ate a piece of hog jaw, probably because I called it bacon. Rose dissected hers to remove every scrap of fat, and David asked me later what it really was. He probably thought bacon was too simple to be a superstition. Plus, he probably remembers that I told him liver was cowboy steak. It worked until Del came home unexpectedly and spilled the beans.

Fortunately, the okra and the chicken muddle saved us from breaking out the peanut butter. Nobody loves okra or chicken muddle like our Rosa.

The recipe for chicken muddle can be found at

http://bettyslithuanianadventure.blogspot.com/

My fried okra, made with frozen grocery store okra, is not as good as the home grown made by my mother and Tracy's mother, but it is pretty good.

Fried Okra Recipe

1 bag frozen, cut up unbreaded okra, semi thawed
1/2 cup white, plain stone ground corn meal
salt and pepper
oil to just cover bottom of large heavy frying pan (iron is best)

Open okra bag and pour in the meal, salt and pepper. Hold bag closed and shake, shake shake. Let sit while heating the oil until it sizzles when a piece of okra is dropped into pan. Give the bag of okra a good shake and pour in enough to cover the bottom of the pan with a single layer of okra. It's fine to crowd the pan and to pour in the loose meal. Let cook on medium heat until the bottom is brown. Then turn the okra and allow to brown on the other side. Once that happens, start to stir so that the okra will cook evenly all over without burning. Some of the browned meal will separate from the okra, but it will be delicious. We like it really brown and crunchy.

Note: Okra cooked this way will not look at all like the deep fried okra served in some restaurants, but it really allows the flavor of the okra to come through.