Okra

[Pan]

Thanks for your contribution, Shiewie. But what is kalamansi?

[Monica Bhide]

My favorite vegetable. OKRA.Yum. I even have my little one addicted to it! I prepare it four different ways and each method makes it taste quite different

1. You can slit the okra and stuff it with a spice mix of turmeric, red chilie powder, coriander powder, Indian garam masala and a bit of salt. Then these stuffed pieces are gently stir fried in oil along with thinly sliced onions and ginger. If you like green chiles like me, then stuff a few of those and add them as well

2. Cut the okra up into bite size pieces and deep fry it. Then add it to a whipped yogurt -- sprikle with salt, red chili powder and a pinch of roasted pounded cumin for a gorgeous side

3. Okra seasoned with tangy spices like dry mango powder, pomegrante powder and then deep fried is just heavenly. I make this and use it as a bed to serve vodka drenched shrimp

4. Finally the day to day okra -- cut it into bite size pieces and saute along with onions, green chilies and ginger. Add turmeric, salt, red chili powder, coriander powder and a bit of Indian garam masala..

and there you have it... Okra YUMMMYYYYYY

[Mayhaw Man]

1. You can slit the okra and stuff it with a spice mix of turmeric, red chilie powder, coriander powder, Indian garam masala and a bit of salt. Then these stuffed pieces are gently stir fried in oil along with thinly sliced onions and ginger. If you like green chiles like me, then stuff a few of those and add them as well

Monica,

Are the pods seeded? Or do you just stuff on top of them?

[Monica Bhide]

I remove the top and then slit them

[Pan]

Monica, is the pomegranate powder you refer to aka anardana?

[Monica Bhide]

Yes it is. I just pound the dried seeds and use them.. you can also buy the powder

[Pan]

I just checked at Dowel, my local Bangladeshi store in the East Village, and didn't see any. I'll check the next time I'm at Kalustyan's. But my folks do have anardana and a spice grinder, so I guess they'd have no trouble grinding the seeds. I never realized people did that.

[ludja]

Made a nice okra and corn soup recently--with fresh local corn and (unfortunately)frozen okra.... tasted very nice though.

The okra adds nice body to the soup and the corn stays fresh and a little crunchy. Reheats well and keeps for a few days too.

The recipe was out of Damon Lee Fowler's New Southern Kitchen ($$ for egullet if you order thru this egull-amazon link).

Simple as can be and a great summer vegetable soup. I'm already thinking of trying other variations with the addition of tomato, carrot, etc.

Just saute some onion in butter; then add chopped okra and minced fresh sage and cook until some of the okra juices start to appear and the okra is bright green. Add a mix of 1/2 chicken stock and 1/2 water and cook for 10-15 min. Then add corn cut fresh off the cob (plus the corn milk from the cobs). Add s&p and some red pepper and cook for another 10-15 min.

This is one of the nicest summer soups I've made; guests were happy with it too; even okra newbies.

Funny note: As I was ladling the soup into the bowls one of my Scotttish friends said, oh neat, there is cheese in the soup... I said it was thickening from the okra juice... tried to avoid the term "slime" as I thought it might be offputting...

[Mayhaw Man]

Thanks for bringing up this thread and The Okra Growers of North America thank you for thinking of Okra. Misunderstood Okra would be on more tables if the faint hearted chefs of the world would just give the versatile pod a chance.

I like frozen okra. While it is not as good as fresh small pods, it is just fine for soups and gumbos.

And as far as the slime question, you are right about using another term. The OGNA should make that one of their top priorities as they make their plans for world domination.

[Jaymes]

And as far as the slime question, you are right about using another term...

Mucus?

[Mayhaw Man]

Think of it as "viscous caviar"

[ludja]

I like frozen okra. While it is not as good as fresh small pods, it is just fine for soups and gumbos.

It did seem to work very well. (i.e. frozen okra in the soup). Thanks for the tip.

Surprisingly, a few of my good local retail green markets here (in No Cal) did not have fresh okra in mid-August! Some of my farmer's markets have it but the timing didn't work out for me when I needed it.

There are also a bunch of Indian markets around here so I could have probably found it there...

Anybody else cooking up any nice okra dishes right now?

[Ocean_islands]

Okra is awesome. Breading and frying it is such a shame, though. And bacon grease seems uncalled for except in the darkest of memories of childhood, better left to the past.

Olive oil works great for me.

This reminds me I have some frozen okra in the freezer that I threw in there as I was going out of town, since I didn't have time to cook it. Never did anything with frozen okra so now I'll try something with it.

Edited August 25, 2004 by Ocean_islands (log)

[Mayhaw Man]

And bacon grease seems uncalled for except in the darkest of memories of childhood, better left to the past.

Bacon Grease should never be left in the past. I leave mine in the pantry above my stove.

[Squeat Mungry]

And bacon grease seems uncalled for except in the darkest of memories of childhood, better left to the past.

Bacon Grease should never be left in the past. I leave mine in the pantry above my stove.

In my family it was traditionally left ON the stove in a wide-mouth jar, at hand for the random okra emergency, and myriad other circumstances that would call for its ready availability.

[Mayhaw Man]

In my family it was traditionally left ON the stove in a wide-mouth jar, at hand for the random okra emergency, and myriad other circumstances that would call for its ready availability.

Planning and readiness are important, both in matters of civil safety and bacon grease. I commend your family for their clear and thoughtful planning.

[Ocean_islands]

Don't get me wrong, I love bacon and its grease. But anyway, how long does the grease last in your pantry before it goes rancid?

Edited August 25, 2004 by Ocean_islands (log)

[Mayhaw Man]

It's never happened. I never have enough. Ever. I am constantly in a low supply-high demand situation. I think it is because my wife seems to have some issues with saving the grease, some health concern or another that is not clear to me at this point (although she says that it will be VERY clear when I am in the ambulance on the way to this place.) And I don't want to go there because they don't have any bacon anywhere. It's not a fun place. No smokes, no drinks, no bacon. What are they thinking about?

All bacon grease jokes aside, I rarely eat fried okra at home. We eat the stuff a couple of times a week but almost always in another dish. Okra and Tomatoes is a major summer staple. Okra and Corn of of the Cob is a major hit around here as well. And when we do fry it I use peanut oil. I like to fry it quickly and that means the grease needs to be roughly 375F in order to do the job correctly and many oils are close to the burning point at that temp. Cottonseed oil works well too.

[NulloModo]

My father had a perpetual bacon grease can on top of the stove when I was younger. Every time he would fry up some bacon or ham the dripping would get filtered in, and every now and again he would scoop some out and use it to cook various things, so it was a constant in constant out situation, and as far as I know, he never had a problem with anything going bad.

I thought it was kind of gross as a kid, but now I realize that that must have been his secret to cooking the perfect fried eggs (all nice and brown and bubbly on top, isn't everything better cooked in bacon grease?).

[foolcontrol]

Does anyone have any experience with Chinese Okra?

I was at Hong Kong in Houston and had two chinese women pick out some for me. I have never eaten them before. I was just wondering the best way to prepare them.

[Ocean_islands]

I don't mean to harp on this or anything, but why not keep the bacon grease in the refrigerator? It would seem to be a minimum precaution. After all, you keep the bacon in the refrigerator, so why not the grease?

[Mayhaw Man]

While many of us were hiding in the interiors of our houses away from windows and flying objects, at least on Louisiana man had his priorities straight

from the Times Picayune Hurricane Special Section:

As last minute evacuees headed out of St Charles Parish on US 90, AJ Frickey was parked roadside in Paradis, tailgate down, with a sign out proclaiming okra for sale.

Frickey lives on a 50 ft. houseboat in Bayou Gauche. His son, Keith, said the 71 year old had left the boat only reluctantly to stay with his children in Paradis,  and even then insisted on making the trip worth his while.

He said, "I'm going to go pick okra. People are going to be looking for it on their way out of town," Frickey said.

Few people were buying Wednesday morning, however, and after a while Frickey packed up and headed to his son't house.

This is the kind of clear thinking individual that makes up the population of our great state and I am proud to say that he lives here.

[patti]

My favorite is plain old Okra and Tomatoes (O and T around the M. household).

Sautee one medium yellow onion in BACON GREASE

When the onions are just starting to go soft throw in 1 lb. of okra and 4 or 5 cloves of garlic (resist yelling BAM! at this point)

Add 2 large ripe tomatoes and about 1/2 cup chicken stock

Cover and simmer for about twenty minutes.

Call your friends and sit down to a delicious okra feast.

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When the time and/or inclination to make gumbo isn't there, I sometimes add shrimp to okra and tomatoes and serve it over rice. Quite tasty, I must say. I also insist that it be seasoned with enough heat to give it plenty of kick.

Add me to the list of folks who love okra w/ or w/out the slime. Mmm, okra.

I keep my crock jar of bacon grease in the fridge, although Mama and the grandmas did not.

[Carrot Top]

While many of us were hiding in the interiors of our houses away from windows and flying objects, at least on Louisiana man had his priorities straight

from the Times Picayune Hurricane Special Section:

This is the kind of clear thinking individual that makes up the population of our great state and I am proud to say that he lives here.

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He sounds like a good, hardworking individual that knows opportunity when it presents itself.

I know many people who would not want to be caught in a hurricane without a paper bag of okra clutched in their hand.

It is the only thing that can save us....isn't it, Mayhaw Man...

[curlywurlyfi]

cut off the stems and sauté whole with tomatoes (preferably fresh) until crisp tender.

I do this, then add lots of garlic, some cumin and some dried red chilli flakes or a squeeze of harissa, and then chop lots of fresh mint or parsley over. great with chicken breast chunks sauteed in honey, paprika + lemon juice.