Tomato Powder

[frdlturner]

you can take the tomato powder and add it to your pasta dough and make tomato pasta

[kilroyscarnival]

Ah, tomato powder! They sell it (and other interesting powders, like a beautiful pumpkin, at the Spice and Tea Exchange in Winter Park, and I presume they do at other locations of the rather select little franchise.

America's Test Kitchen keeps reminding us that tomato paste and mushrooms bring out the beefy flavor in beef. I bet tomato powder worked gently into ground beef, and maybe some dried porcini mushroom powder (I keep some powdered, easier to use on the fly than reconstituting dry mushroom bits which can be rubbery) would be a knockout. And wouldn't add water to the burger.

[coronabarb]

Tomato powder would be lovely. I really need to make some.

[Tracydr]

What a great idea for skins! To think I fed them all to the chickens!
For those huge, fibrous, okra, will they work? What do you use powdered okra for? I'm always getting just a few okra at a time because I never grow enough. This year, I'm determined to grow a big enough crop to actually do a batch of pickles or grill a meal.

[ContainerTed]

Tracy, we've been making okra powder and diced-dried okra (sort of like dried onion bits) for a few years now. We use it as an additive to all kinds of stuff like biscuits, soups, stews, and such, and sometimes just for presentation as a garnish. This past Thanksgiving, I added some to the mashed potatoes on my plate and suddenly everyone wanted to do the same.

For those who make the powders and use them as a garnish, I use an old country trick my momma taught me. Put it in a salt shaker and add in a few grains of rice. The rice absorbs the moisture and also helps to break up any clumps that try to form.

[coronabarb]

That a good idea, Ted. I think veggie powders would add great flavor to just about everything.

[Tracydr]

Ted, can you use those giant, good for nothing okra? Also, any other ideas for using okra powder? I can grow a lot of okra in the summer here but I'm the only one who will eat it, unless I somehow hide it in the food.

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by Tracydr

Ted, can you use those giant, good for nothing okra? Also, any other ideas for using okra powder? I can grow a lot of okra in the summer here but I'm the only one who will eat it, unless I somehow hide it in the food.

I know you asked Ted but Okra is easy if you are willing to hide it. Just pick it young and slice it thin. Then take the thin slices and throw them in the blender. You end up with a salsa like sticky mess. Next step is add something to it that is also going in whatever you are making. For example add salsa if you are making something with salsa. Add tomatoes if you are making sauce, chili, spaghetti, vegetable soup. Add it to rue if making cajun food. The list is endless. Then blend the whole thing and add it to the other ingredients. I even have added it to fruit smoothies. The trick is to hide it and just use a couple. And NEVER use those big ol tough things ever. If you feel you just have to use the big tough things, split them open, take out the seeds and grind the seeds only. Throw away the husks into the compost bin.

After a while they may actually miss the richness okra adds to food when you don't use it.

[ContainerTed]

BTW, I want my Clemson Spineless okra to be about 2 to 6 inches long and about 3/4 of an inch in diameter. When I harvest the okra, there are always a few that are not as tender as most are. Anything that has a "crunch" or seems tough goes to the dehydrator. We usually split them to speed up the drying process. The only ones we package and freeze are the ones that the knife passes thru quickly and smoothly.

Scott (above) is right. Hide the okra in ordinary dishes. Put some small pieces into the stuffing on turkey days and most can't tell the difference between the okra and celery. Try to get them to eat it fried. I use the same breading for fried okra that I use for fish fillets and onion rings. Make sure that you add an extra bit of salt. Like fish, okra needs salt to really nail down its great taste when fried. I use almost everywhere that I would use celery in soups and stews and even a few pieces in the chilli. Put a large helping into the cornbread. Yesterday, I baked a loaf of bread that had both Okra flakes and tomato powder in it. It lasted about 2 hours and was totally consumed.

The other thing you might try is to add some sweetener to it. Sweet food always tastes better the first time you try it. Later, when they've decided it's good, you can reduce the sweetener. Make fried okra and fried onion rings at the same time and serve them on the same plate intermixed (not separate piles). Float some Okra flakes on top of tomato soup and call it a garnish. It even adds a pleasant background taste to Meatloaf and Hamburgers.

Experiment. Try different things yourself in small batches. I'm about to make a batch of sausage, and will be putting some in a small batch as a test to see what it tastes like. My grandparents used it as a thickening agent in lots of dishes. Try some flakes in your favorite recipe for Chow Chow.