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Post by heavyhitterokra on Sept 14, 2019 23:09:55 GMT -6
Bon,
That goulash sounds really good!
I went out to the garden and harvested an entire row of 1" inch or shorter, okra pods today, and then pickled them.
We use them sort of like green olives, to make Muffuletta. I also use them for pizza toppings. The tiny, baby, pickled okra pods are really good on pizza, sort of like pickled banana peppers. They are small enough that biting one whole, doesn't overpower your dish.
I'll bet they would also be good, battered and deep fried.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Sept 19, 2019 21:17:17 GMT -6
Awesome, Bon! That makes me happy to hear that someone is enjoying the last vestiges of this season of harvest.
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Post by rdback on Oct 4, 2019 21:13:33 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. Very informative! Really enjoyed reading this post. Thank you for sharing!
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Nov 25, 2019 19:27:39 GMT -6
Mary Stewart's Okra and Tomato Recipe Taken from an article posted on the Stewart's Zeebest Thread, by rdback, page 1. 11/23/19 (Great article, Rick) thanks, for sharing.
Okra and Tomatoes
“This has been a summer mainstay as long as we have had a garden, which has been forever. Some add browned beef, but I never have. It is good served over rice or just as a side vegetable. Searing the cut okra in hot fat at the start takes away some of the slickness and makes it more palatable. The amounts are really variable, so feel free to deviate.” 4 cups sliced fresh okra
¼ cup oil (or bacon fat) 1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped bell peppers, red, green or mixed
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
2 8-ounce cans tomato sauce or 1 can tomato paste (or 2 cups peeled, chopped tomato)
1 cup water
Heat the oil in a heavy pot or skillet; add okra, stirring to sear the cut edges. Don’t let it burn. Add onions and sauté till limp, then add garlic and pepper and simmer about 5 minutes, stirring to prevent burning. Then add the tomato sauce or paste, thinning with water to have it a bit on the “soupy” side. Add the seasonings and simmer about 15 minutes, stirring now and then until the okra is tender but not falling apart. Yield: 8 servings
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Sept 2, 2020 19:50:25 GMT -6
Okra Pizza Time Again! I finally nailed down the cook time on my garden pizza. I buy an Extra Large Sausage, or Pepperoni Pizza from Walmart, for $6.64 or else an Extra Large 5 Cheese Pizza for $5.64 then, I take it home and doctor it up with an extra 12 ounces of mozzarella cheese, a few artichoke hearts, some fresh, sliced tomatoes from the garden, fresh bell peppers, fresh onion, and fresh, sliced, baby okra, or else sliced, pickled okra that I made from baby okra from the garden.I preheat the oven to 375 degrees, place the pizza directly in the center of the rack and bake it for 17 to 19 minutes, and viola! Hot Garden Pizza, straight out of the oven, and way better than anything from Simple Simon's or Pizza Hut!
I can never seem to get a picture of it before someone slices it.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Sept 20, 2020 19:20:03 GMT -6
That sounds really good, Bon. Thanks, for the new idea!
I'm glad to hear you've been enjoying your okra. That, along with tomatoes from the garden is what really defines what I think of as "Summer".
We've been snacking on dehydrated okra, tomatoes, and onions out here; sort of a savory, homemade, trail mix. To make it, I sliced tomatoes thinly, cut okra into 3/4" inch pieces, sliced a small, yellow onion into thin sections, and seasoned them as if I were going to fry them all together. Then, instead of frying them, I dehydrated them until crispy, kind of like potato chips.
This afternoon, we've been lounging around out in the yard, enjoying the cooler weather and munching on our okra/tomato mix, along with some leftover smoked chicken, while watching the deer play with the dogs and watching our little banty rooster chasing down winged grasshoppers.
After lunch, came nap time on a lazy, Sunday afternoon. (Everyone was sleepy, except for "Chick-Chick" he was too busy chasing grasshoppers to slow down for a nap.)Thank you, God, for the peace you give us.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Mar 21, 2021 16:15:24 GMT -6
This may be a repeat of something linked earlier in the thread, but I didn’t see it when I looked through. One of our family’s favorite ways to prepare okra is “Bhindi Masala.” You can search any variety of recipes online using that term, but here’s the simple, no measure method. Heat some cooking oil in a sauté pan. Add fresh chopped okra and a diced sweet onion. Cook until the vegetables are turning golden on the edges. Then add a (tea)spoonful of garam masala powder (recipes can be found for this spice blend, but we are fortunate to find it in our grocery store so I don’t always make it). Sauté till the spices become more aromatic and add diced tomatoes. I personally enjoy using cherry tomatoes, in part because that’s what keeps on producing in the heat of Texas summers, in part because their texture suits a dry sauté well. Heat till tomatoes are hot, and that’s it. Some people might add a sprinkle of lemon juice. This dish is one of the reasons that I am planning to plant Heavy Hitter okra this summer. We have little space to garden, like a variety of plants, and we want more okra. This batch was a side dish we made in the last month or so because our cilantro needed harvesting, and that motivated us to make a chicken curry. Bhindi Masala and Naan were good sides. It was made with store-bought frozen okra (I thaw it before beginning to sauté) and store-bought tomatoes. It was still tasty, but I long for my fresh summer vegetables.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Mar 22, 2021 19:34:36 GMT -6
I just edited my earlier post to clarify that the garam masala is a dry spice blend, a powder, not a simmering sauce. I occasionally have seen jars of Masala simmering sauces in stores to use for cooking chicken or lamb, so I thought I had better clarify since my original post did not specify. Here’s a link to a website I’ve sometimes used for Indian recipes. She gives a (long) description of garam masala and explains what individual spices to grind to make a homemade blend. twosleevers.com/home-made-garam-masala-recipe/
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Mar 24, 2021 11:06:15 GMT -6
chrysanthemum,
Oh, Wow! That was a good website you referred us to for making Garam Masala, from scratch. I enjoyed reading through that. Currently, I am unable to taste or smell, so it was kind of torture, but it was also like a sighted person explaining a beautiful painting to a blind person, (wonderful!)
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Post by chrysanthemum on Mar 30, 2021 8:37:03 GMT -6
I’m sorry to hear about the current lack of taste or smell, heavyhitterokra. That must make it quite a challenge to cook. I have a good friend from my old church in Virginia who was born without any sense of smell (which naturally affected her taste, but she could taste somewhat). I remember her coming to a rental house we had moved into that had been left in pretty bad shape by previous tenants. I was having some physical problems at the time, and her immediate response was to serve by finding the grossest place to clean saying that the Lord had given her a special gift to be able to clean such places with no gag response whatsoever. I thought that was a wonderful way to look at a difficult providence.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Mar 31, 2021 16:14:35 GMT -6
Sometimes, not being able to smell or taste ends up being a good thing. I am spreading two tons of chicken litter by hand today. I feel very fortunate that I cannot smell it!
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Post by hedgeapple on Jun 6, 2021 8:59:57 GMT -6
This is the pickled okra recipe I've always used. It is from a community cookbook from Benton, AR.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jun 8, 2021 20:47:26 GMT -6
Thanks, Hedgeapple.
I'm looking forward to trying that one this summer! We make lots of pickled okra around here.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Jun 10, 2021 6:42:59 GMT -6
I’m very familiar with the idea of cooking up a “mess” of greens. I think, however, that this is the first time that I have ever seen the term written in a cookbook. It seems odd right there with all the other specific quantities and instructions involving quart jars, as I understand “mess” to be a variable quantity depending on the size of the harvest or meal. How do you all use the term?
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Post by hedgeapple on Jun 10, 2021 8:34:42 GMT -6
I’m very familiar with the idea of cooking up a “mess” of greens. I think, however, that this is the first time that I have ever seen the term written in a cookbook. It seems odd right there with all the other specific quantities and instructions involving quart jars, as I understand “mess” to be a variable quantity depending on the size of the harvest or meal. How do you all use the term? Fascinating! I've never thought of "mess" as a unit of measurement, but apparently it can be: blindpigandtheacorn.com/how-big-is-a-mess/When I pickle okra it is usually in large batches and I just put enough in each jar to fill it without crushing the pods.
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