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Post by fourteenmilecreek on Jan 24, 2015 22:02:48 GMT -6
So many people send me truly unique okra recipes, or request out of the ordinary okra recipes, that I thought it would be nice to create an okra recipe thread; where okra loving folks like you can chime in! So, here it is.... Send us your best ones!
RECIPE #1
FRIED OKRA & BLUE CHEESE SALAD
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon (or to taste) cayenne pepper
1 pound tender okra pods, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 cups fresh corn kernels (cut from about 3 ears of corn)
3 small yellow squash, chopped
1 medium zucchini, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1-12-ounce bag cherry tomatoes, halved (2 cups)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 green onions, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste
8 cups iceberg lettuce, torn
blue cheese, to garnish
light ranch dressing, to taste
PREPARATION:
Mix cornmeal and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne in small bowl. Add okra and toss lightly to coat. Pour okra into sieve and shake off excess cornmeal.
Heat 4 tablespoons oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add okra and sauté until coating is golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 6 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer okra to paper towels to drain; sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Wipe out skillet. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in same skillet over medium heat. Add corn, squash, and garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Add tomatoes; cover and cook until squash is crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.
Mix in okra, cilantro, and green onions. Remove from heat. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and more cayenne, if desired.
Prepare four salad bowls each with 2 cups torn iceberg lettuce; top with okra mixture. Garnish with blue cheese and toss with light ranch dressing. Serve immediately and enjoy!
!!! AWESOME !!!
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Mom's Pickled Okra Ricipe
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Post by Mom's Pickled Okra Ricipe on Jan 24, 2015 22:14:14 GMT -6
Mom's Pickled okra: 1/2 tsp dill seed 1 hot, skinny, red pepper 2 cloves garlic About 12 to 14 okra pods per pint jar. BRINE: 1 quart white vinegar 1 cup water 1 tablespoon less than 1/2 cup kosher salt boil water, vinegar, and salt, until salt dissolves. (This will be the brine). Add garlic cloves to the boiling brine after salt has dissolved, to sterilize garlic from its previous contact with garden soil. Sterilize wide mouth pint jars in casserole dish in 250 degree oven for 10 minutes, set aside, let cool until safe to handle, but still very hot. Place jar rings, and flats in pan of boiling water for 5 minutes, until sterilized. Place 3" inch okra pods in each wide mouth pint jar, stem side up, until loosely packed. Place hot pepper in jar, stem side up. fish out two sterilized garlic cloves per each pint jar, place on top of okra. spoon dill seeds over okra. Ladle boiling brine over okra placed in jars, while still in casserole dish (in case of jar breakage) leaving 1/2" inch head space. Wipe mouth of each jar clean of any spillage, place sterilized flat on each jar. Screw each ring on tightly. Let jars sit quietly, with no breeze, until the flats "SNAP" a seal. When cooled to room temperature, place in refrigerator, and keep refrigerated so okra will retain crispness. Refrigerated jars will keep for one year. let okra pickle for six weeks. Serve cold. Read more: seedsavingnetwork.proboards.com/thread/15/heavy-hitter-okra?page=6#ixzz3PnqeVRCC
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Post by Luckyduck on Jan 26, 2015 19:31:07 GMT -6
Here's something different for you guys to try! This recipe is GREAT!!!
Crisp Okra Fries with Herb Aioli: 1 pound fresh okra 2 extra large eggs 1 cup yellow cornmeal 1/2 teaspoon salt (more or less, to taste) 1/2 teaspoon black pepper canola oil for frying Cut okra lengthwise (NOT CROSSWISE) you want long, and slender slices, so you can dip the crispy okra fries.
In a bowl crack eggs and beat them. In another bowl, add the cornmeal, salt and pepper. Dredge okra first in the egg, and then in the cornmeal. Shake off any excess cornmeal. Fill a dutch oven about 1/3 way up with canola oil. Heat oil over medium high heat until it’s hot. You can test it by adding a piece of okra and if it sizzles, it’s ready. Add the okra in batches, don’t overcrowd the pan. Fry until the okra is brown on all sides, about 5-6 minutes. Remove okra from pan and let it drain on paper towels. Add more salt, if you’d like.
GARDEN HERB AIOLI: 1/2 cup fat free Greek yogurt 1/4 cup real mayo (like Hellman’s) 2 cloves of garlic grated with a microplane (don’t chop it or you’ll bite into raw garlic) juice of one whole lemon salt and pepper to taste 1 tablespoon fresh herbs (basil, sage, mint, chives, and parsley, or whatever you have) Just mix it up with a whisk or a fork until combined. Refrigerate, or set aside for about an hour, while the flavor of the herbs permeate the sauce.
NOW, POUR THE DIP INTO A SMALL BOWL... SIT DOWN WITH YOUR FAVORITE DRINK... AND ENJOY DIPPING YOUR CRISPY OKRA FRIES!
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Post by fourteenmilecreek on Jan 27, 2015 17:21:49 GMT -6
ANOTHER PICKLED OKRA RECIPE OR TWO Recipe #1 2 POUNDS FRESH OKRA - 3" INCHES LONG 5 HOT RED PEPPERS 5 CLOVES GARLIC 1 QUART WHITE VINEGAR 1/2 CUP WATER 8 TABLESPOONS PICKLING SALT 1 TABLESPOON CELERY SEED pack okra, alternating the okra facing up / facing down, in 5 sterilized pint jars, together with 1 pepper, and 1 garlic clove per jar. Mix remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Pour over okra and seal. Let stand three weeks before serving, for optimal crispness. RECIPE #2 1 POUND TENDER OKRA PODS 2" TO 3" INCHES LONG 1/2 SMALL HABANERO OR OTHER HOT PEPPER 1 SMALL ONION SLICED THIN 2 CLOVES GARLIC SLICED THIN 1 CUP WATER 3 CUPS WHITE VINEGAR 1 TABLESPOON PICKLING SPICE 2 TABLESPOONS PICKLING SALT Pack okra pods in sterilized jars, alternating stem up / stem down place remaining ingredients in non reactive pan and bring them to a boil. Pour over okra, seal jars, and let sit for 3 weeks, before opening. Read more: seedsavingnetwork.proboards.com/thread/15/heavy-hitter-okra?page=7#ixzz3Q4Ci4BQt
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Post by glen on Jan 31, 2015 20:37:34 GMT -6
In a most recent survey in my neighborhood, they have explained to me at least that okra is not edible. They call it nyahoo and let all the pods dry out and roast it and grind the sedes to make coffee. Or, they just feed the chickens with the seed. Has anyone tried making coffee from the sedes and if so, how is it? And, do you have a récipe for using the sedes in this way? I was very surprised to hear that the people here believe that okra is not edible here in Panama. But, on the other hand I have never tried making coffee with it either. Also, has anyone tried using the leaves as a Green? And, if so I am curious how you use it. I have read that the leaves are very nutricious but I have never tried that either. Never know, someday I may need to eat em.
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Post by fourteenmilecreek on Feb 6, 2015 18:23:00 GMT -6
Glen,
Back when I ran the prison garden crew, inmates used okra leaves to get softer blankets...
When entering the prison system, every person was issued one, itchy, wool blanket. If a person claimed to be allergic to wool, then the Nurse from Medical, would tape a piece of itchy wool blanket to that person's back. At the end of the day; if there was a rash developing under the piece of wool, the nurse would issue a soft acrylic blanket instead.
Because of this, inmates would often sneak out to the 2 acre okra patch and swipe a prickly okra leaf, then have a buddy slip it in under their wool. At the end of the day, they would pull out the okra leaf and report to Medical with a nice, healthy, rash developing on their back; right under the wool that was taped to them all day. The next morning, they would have a nice, soft, acrylic blanket to snuggle up to instead.
That's reason number 21 why you should be eating okra.
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Post by fourteenmilecreek on Apr 13, 2015 16:56:49 GMT -6
Does anyone have a good, baked okra recipe?
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Post by Heavy Hitter Okra on Jan 13, 2016 6:00:59 GMT -6
Okra and Corn with Tomatoes
Serve this Carolina favorite over a bowl of long-grain rice with a piece of hot cornbread. The okra should be young, not longer than 2 inches. Vine ripened tomatoes and fresh bell peppers add to the richness of this dish.
2 tablespoons each butter and canola oil 1 large onion, thinly sliced into rounds 2 bay leaves 1/2 teaspoon each thyme, red pepper flakes and basil 1 green bell pepper, seeded and finely diced 3 large fresh ripe, tomatoes blanched, peeled, and chopped 4 ears corn, remove kernels, about 2 cups (may use frozen or canned whole kernel, drained) 2 cups small okra pods, left whole or 1/4-inch-thick rounds 1/2 cup water or chicken stock 3/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper In a 10 inch iron skillet or heavy pan, heat olive oil and add onions, bay leaves, thyme, basil, and red pepper flakes. Sauté, and stir until onions are limp add bell pepper and continue cooking until onions are translucent. Add tomatoes, okra, water, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low, and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add corn and cook 5 minutes longer. Taste, adjust seasoning if needed. Serve hot.
Makes 6 servings.
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Post by Heavy Hitter Okra on Mar 3, 2016 7:49:33 GMT -6
This recipe for fried okra came to Oklahoma, by way of the Trail of Tears after 9 of the 13 groups of Cherokees had crossed the Mississippi River up in Missouri, in the harsh Winter of 1838-1939. This is where my relatives migrated from as later on, the Civil War gradually pushed them Southward to Indian territory.
Due to the Cherokees' necessity to re-learn cooking, using new plants available to them in their new location; many of them learned to fry okra, through their association with enslaved blacks which they now readily identified with, due to their persecution during that same era. Fredrick Douglas wrote during that time that an enslaved Black person was rationed each month with one bushel of ground cornmeal and 8 pounds of pork, or the equivalent in fish. So, as you might imagine, cornmeal was used extensively in Southern cooking out of shear necessity.
While growing up as a child, my Grandma still cooked hoe cakes for us out in the field. This was done by mixing corn meal, flour, and salt, then packing this mixture around a spoonful of cold hog lard to be carried in a cotton draw string bag. She would bring this with her in her apron pocket, out to the fields to be mixed with water in a tin can, and cooked over an open fire on the blade of a hoe. We ate this during breaks from garden work between breakfast and lunch. The cakes were often blackened on one side, due to the primitive cooking method used, but none finer fare would be found anywhere, when working outside all day in the hot sun.
Later in life, I employed this method of snacking in the fields as I ran prison work gangs on the North Farm, up and down the Arkansas River, near Jess Dunn Prison, in Taft, Oklahoma. I was assigned the task of building a water treatment facility for the prison, as head Electrical Corrections Trade Supervisor. In this capacity, I spent the whole of days and weeks in the fields in remote locations, with inmates who were often found on horse back. The inmates there were constantly clearing timber by hand, along the River, to make room for the State's extensive herds of cattle. When the River would get up out of its banks from time to time, fish would get trapped in the tractor ruts and tree stump holes along the banks, where inmates would gig them with pitch forks used to toss brush into the fires they burned while clearing timber. There they would clean the fish with an ax, then cook it on the fire with salt, wrapped in aluminum foil that I kept in the truck for cooking out like this. (We were miles from anywhere, and did pretty much whatever we felt like the situation called for). Cooking fish on a pitch fork, over a brush fire, and pouring hoe cakes along the River helped to motivate the men, and made our work days pass by more peacefully.
Not all okra was fried with cornmeal in the mid 1800s. Much of the okra raised during that time was allowed to go to seed, and then the seeds were roasted until dark brown, crushed, and used as a coffee substitute; but the young, tender pods were more often fried, as this presented a better texture than when the okra was boiled. In Winter, okra was eaten as a dried additive to soups, or eaten raw, right from the storage containers, along with dried pumpkin rings, and dried corn. I've eaten it this way many times. Grandma would mix the dried stock into a paste, and let it re-hydrate a little with some salt added, then fry it all together as a February vegetable dish.
Here is the soul food version of fried okra as learned from the Blacks in Cherokee Nation... These measures are only Approximate, because Grandma never measured anything. She had given birth to thirteen children in her life, and cooked by throwing things into the mixing bowls by the handful.
About 2 to 2 - 1/2 lbs. okra cut into 3/4 inch sections About 2 cups cornmeal About 2 Tbsp. flour About 2 tsp. each salt, pepper, cayenne
Some Buttermilk
Coat okra with some buttermilk, Mix cornmeal, flour, and seasonings, then toss okra in the dredge. Lift and drop the okra repeatedly if necessary.
When well coated with dredge, fry over high heat of a wood stove in fresh rendered hog lard until okra is lightly browned.
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Post by Heavy Hitter Okra on Mar 14, 2016 1:11:52 GMT -6
(This is a Justin Wilson recipe)
Cajun Fried Stuffed Okra
20 fresh young okra, sliced in half lengthwise and seeded 1 quart oil for deep frying
STUFFING:
1 cup corn flour 1 cup plain bread crumbs 1 tsp onion powder 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper 2 Tbsp chopped parsley 2 tsp salt 2 large eggs beaten 1/2 cup white wine 1 cup crabmeat, carefully picked free of shells
DREDGE:
2 cups corn flour 1tsp salt Ground cayenne pepper to taste
DRENCH:
1 large egg beaten 1/2 cup white wine Salt to taste Louisiana Hot Sauce to taste
In a large mixing bowl, make the stuffing by mixing the corn flour, bread crumbs, onion and garlic powder, pepper,parsley and salt.
In a smaller bowl mix eggs and wine then pour into the flour mixture.
Add crabmeat and mix well.
Refrigerate for two hours or unti stiff and the stuff the okra halves and pat down to make firm.
Mix the corn flour salt and pepper in flat pan to make a dredge.
Make a drench by combining the egg, wine, salt and hotsauce in a small bowl.
Preheat oil to 375. Put one okra at a time into the drench and then roll in the dredge, making sure to coat all sides. Fry in batches for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Drain in paper towels and serve immediately.
Notation : I make these and freeze them to take out and fry as I need them.
Here is a link that might be useful: Hickery Holler Farm
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Post by Heavy Hitter Okra on Mar 24, 2016 20:28:27 GMT -6
I'm getting everything ready for Easter dinner, so I won't have to be grilling and smoking all this meat out in the rain. I've got 30 pounds of pork ribs, and Boston Butt Roasts, in the smoker slow cooking for about 6 hours, before I refrigerate and wrap and it, to be finished in the oven on Easter morning.
My Brother just now sent me an awesome potato salad recipe that he used at his Daughter's wedding party. It has nothing to do with okra, but was too good not to pass on.
James' Potato Salad Recipe:
12 to 14 small red potatoes boiled with the skins still on.
1/2 cup of Ranch Dressing
1/2 cup of Sour Cream
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup white Jack cheese
1 Pound cooked crispy, crumbled Bacon
1/2 cup chopped celery stalk
1 small onion finely chopped
2 hard boiled eggs chopped
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Dash of crushed red pepper
Salt and Pepper to taste
Boil the potatoes until done, let them cool enough to handle, chop into 1/2" to 1/4" inch pieces, mix together with other ingredients, chill, and serve.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jul 26, 2016 7:57:02 GMT -6
Last night I picked about a pound of tiny okra pods only an inch or so long, I drizzled them in olive oil, salted them, and put them on a homemade pizza with homegrown sliced tomatoes, diced garden bell peppers, diced red onion, and homegrown pork sausage, plus some sliced mushrooms, pickled diced jalapeno, sliced artichoke hearts, sliced black olives, and lots of grated mozzarella cheese that I bought from the store.
I think I might have invented a new dish?
It was a 16" inch pizza, so I cooked it 20 minutes on 375, then an additional 3 minutes on 400. I think the extra juice from using real tomatoes made it need to cook the extra 3 minutes. It turned out great! And very satisfying. I was surprised at how filling it was. Usually a slice of pizza is just kind of a snack. A couple slices of this was a full meal. We definitely had left overs for lunch.
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Post by Heavy Hitter Okra on Aug 4, 2016 10:48:00 GMT -6
MARGARET'S OKRA & TOMATO
4 - CUPS OKRA
2 - 15 OUNCE CANS OF DICED TOMATOES (OR ONE QUART HOME CANNED TOMATOES)
1 MEDIUM DICED YELLOW ONION
1 CAN ROTEL
3 TBS SOY SAUCE
2 tsp LOUISIANA HOT SAUCE
1 CLOVE GARLIC, MINCED
1/2 POUND BACON FRIED CRISP
2 TBS PARSLEY FLAKES
1 tsp LEMON JUICE
1 - 4 OZ CAN MUSHROOMS (DRAINED) OR 1/2 CUP FRESH MUSHROOMS SLICED
2 TBS PICANTE SAUCE
7 OZ CAN TOMATO SAUCE
PREPARATION: Fry bacon until crisp, remove to a paper towel to drain (reserve the hot skillet grease for saute.
Saute onion, and minced garlic clove, until clear. Remove to thick bottomed soup pot.
Saute 4 cups of freshly sliced okra in what is left of the bacon grease until de-slimed, or until, only slightly browned. Remove okra to soup pot.
Add remaining ingredients to soup pot in the order they are listed. Bring to a light boil, stirring frequently. Turn flame down to simmer, and cook until sauce begins to thicken, stirring only occasionally. At this point, crumble fried bacon into the soup pot, stir, and continue to thicken until desired consistency for serving over rice.
This pares well with hickory smoked pork ribs, and Chardonnay wine.
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Post by Okie in Altus on Oct 6, 2016 19:40:53 GMT -6
Ron, I've seen you mention dehydrated okra. Do you eat it like that or use it in soups and such? How do you make it? I cut, seasoned and started dehydrating some up today and it isn't going favorably so far.
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Post by heavy hitter okra on Oct 7, 2016 20:53:18 GMT -6
Okie in Altus,
To make dehydrated okra, just slice small, high quality, tender pods, about 1/2" an inch to 3/4" of an inch thick, (because okra shrinks considerably when dried) then salt and pepper it, just as if you were going to fry it. Maybe add a little garlic powder, if you like that sort of thing. Experiment with different flavors, using seasoned salt, etc., kind of like you would with popcorn.
Spread these sliced pieces out on a dehydrator rack and set the temperature to 125 degrees, for 24 hours, or until the okra slices are light and crispy, similar to that of potato chips. (This is not possible to accomplish on a rainy day) the humidity needs to be relatively low in order to achieve the desired results.
After the okra is dried so well, that it shatters in your mouth from the crispy tenderness of a well-done batch, place it in clean, dry, fruit jars, and vacuum seal them until Winter.
They make excellent snacks for eating while watching movies, or at Holiday gatherings, or while playing board games, or whatever... Or yu can use them to thicken stews and soups.
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