Okra 2017

[gdaddybill]

I was recently going through my okra photo file and was amazed at the number of varieties I have photographed through the years. Equally amazing is how few of them are still readily available.

This years' crop includes the following-Aunt Hettie's Red, Candle Fire, Jambalya, Sparkler, Lady Finger, Bill's Thick and Bill's Skinny. They're all good and the red ones turn greenish brown when cooked. I tried some as refrigerator pickles this year and haven't tasted them yet (the red sloughed off leaving some mostly white), but mostly we eat our okra fried. It's cut in I/2 to 3/4 inch pieces (smaller pieces get overwhelmed by the Seasoned Fish Fry corn meal breading) with diced tomato (it gets breaded too and it brings some tomato zing to the table). We crack an egg in the bowl and stir it thoroughly with the okra/tomato, then a handful at a time we shake it up in a plastic bag with the breading-trying to leave it somewhat separated and then spread it out on a plate. Hot peanut oil in a fry pan is waiting by the time we get it breaded...then it's cooked golden brown in batches. Deep frying is fine but we have a difficult time making use of the oil so we just go with about 1/4 inch of oil in a regular fry pan. This requires a little more turning but the end product is still delicious--especially with a little shake of Creole Seasoning salt. Sometimes we eat the first batches before we get to the table.