Getting rid of slime!

  Pondering what to plant in the garden this spring, I found a bag of okra seeds.  Yes!  I have not planted these in the past few years merely because of space restrictions in my garden.  This year, however, I had plenty of room to grow the plants.  This was perfect since my freezer was quite devoid of chopped okra and how in the world can I make gumbo without it?  So I planted three rows of okra seeds in the garden. Well, this is one of those plants that lives on indefinitely it seems. Seriously, okra plants will produce until a freeze comes along and kills them.  So, I pick okra.

  I am one of those folks that actually likes the taste of okra.  I cannot say the same about the slime, though.  Other than when coating and frying the things, I always found the slime not to my liking.   Several years ago, Mark's sweet Aunt Sylvia taught me how to fix that problem.  It was an easy fix since I was basically doing all the right stuff minus one step. "Wash your okra and let it dry before chopping it.  Then saute it in just a bit of olive oil.  After it gets almost done, stick a lid on it and let it simmer for about ten minutes.  Then (and here is the step I omitted!) add a couple of chopped up tomatoes to the skillet. That will cut the slime and make all the difference in the world."  She was right.  It does make all the difference in the world AND adds a good bit of flavor. 

  Well, now that I have lots of okra, I have decided to take that slime elimination bit one step further. Darling Daughter, Elizabeth brought me some dehydrated okra pods last summer.  Oh, my goodness! They were so much better than any chips!   This...would be my next culinary adventure!  I had to learn to make such a divine and healthy treat!  So the dehydrator came out of its hiding spot and I played with spices.  After twelve hours in the machine, the okra pods were crunchy.  I had succeeded in replicating the snack that Elizabeth had brought.  These were tasty!  (Although, I think I will make the next batch with a bit less salt.)

*I will write down the recipe with the next batch and show the steps!  Look for this in the "Cooking on the Bayou" page.  Coming soon!)