Okra - Only 2 Ways

OKRA-Pickled

1 Large bowl of fresh picked Okra

3 cups water

3 cups white vinegar

1/3 cup canning salt

2 tbsp. fresh ill

6-8 cloves garlic

6-8 hot peppers

Prepare the canning jars, wash the okra.  Bring vinegar, water and salt to a boil.  Divide dill among the jars and place one clove of garlic and one hot pepper in each jar.  Pack okra into the jars. Pour boiling water over okra to cover.  Seal jars according to manufacturing instructions and boil in hot water bath for processing 25 minutes.  (Adjust salt/vinegar/water proportion accordingly to how much okra you are using).

OKRA-Fried

1 lb. (or so) small okra pods (10-15)

1 cup cornmeal

¼ cup all-purpose flour

1 egg, beaten

¼ cup milk

1 tsp. Texas Pete hot sauce

Salt & Pepper

Cooking oil

Slice okra pods into bite size pieces. The smaller the pod, the sweeter the taste. Combine milk and egg and hot sauce. Place pods in mixture. Stir to cover all and let stand for 15 minutes.

Heat up oil in deep fryer or large skillet. Dredge okra pods through cornmeal mixture and deep fry for 5-8 minutes, flipping often to brown. Serve with your favorite condiment.

Food for thought: 

Preserving in the Kitchen

The air is hot and humid and the scent

of strawberries fills the kitchen.

Summertime and jalapenos,

green peppers, cucumbers,

and ripe cherry tomatoes fall off the vine.

Fresh plump figs droop on the branches

waiting to be picked.

The kitchen today is hot and steamy

with the old canning pot bubbling away.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining…yet.

First we whip up a specialty batch

Of strawberry fig preserves

(be sure to stir that pot often, honey).

There’s nothing better on a homemade

grilled biscuit than fresh preserves.

Follow up with a batch of mustard pickles

– a very secret recipe,

oh and just for shits and giggles

throw that Okra in one of those jars,

no point in letting them go to waste.

Garlic and fresh basil

with diced onions and oregano

simmered all day long

cooks up a delicious tomato sauce.

Twenty-six jars preserved and

my chores are done for today.

Tomorrow is a brand new adventure.

Thirty ears of corn await metamorphosis into

Old Time Corn Relish once those ears get husked.

Tonight I’m going outside in the heat

and pretend to be a kid again.

I’ll find a rock and wrap it

in a white handkerchief and

toss it up in the darkened sky

and wait for bats to come diving after it.

Just so I can laugh at the thought

of doing nothing,

or something close to nothing.

Welcome to the 2018 A-Z Blogging challenge.  This will be my fourth year. Every year I take on the challenge with hopes of disciplining myself to keep writing throughout the year as much, if not more than just through the monthly challenge. (It certainly is a challenge.)  Some years are better than others.  Some I just lose track of time.  This year I have decided to put my favorite hobbies together. A recipe that is tried and true as well as some thoughtful insight.  Please note some of these recipes have been shared before, however they have gone through years of testing and this is the perfected recipe.  I really hope one of my recipes or “Food for Thought” inspires you to do something great.  Enjoy the read and the photos, try the recipe, share your thoughts or comments, and most of all, have FUN with the challenge this month!

Cheers,