All It Takes Is One Okra

   Okra is one of those vegetables that people down here must have.  We use it a lot. If you want a good, ole Southern dish, you pretty much had better like the stuff.  I can take it or leave it...except in gumbo.  You gotta have okra in gumbo or it just ain't gumbo.  So, we put a lot of okra in the freezer for off-season cooking.  That is just what was happening in the kitchen a couple of days ago.  Mark graciously chopped about a half bushel of the pods and readied them for the freezer while I canned tomatoes.  The whole time all of this activity was taking place in my tiny kitchen, Bat (the resident cat) lounged on the floor.  I have gotten accustomed to doing the "cat step dance" as I work.  It takes fancy footwork to avoid stumbling over this huge fellow!

 At some point, Mark dropped an okra and Bat pounced.  Perhaps he thought it was a lizard or frog, I am not sure, but either way, he claimed it.  There was no going back.  It was his.  After he batted it around for a while it became obvious that I needed to do something about his attacks.  He was becoming oblivious to my needing the floor.  A simple fix was to thread the okra pod onto a piece of string and dangle it from a chair.  There, he could battle the menacing okra but still stay somewhat out from underfoot.  This made life a lot easier for me as I knew where he was at all times...attacking that rogue okra!

 Bat is two years old but is still a kitten at heart.  When he is outside, he can run off a lot of energy but, on rainy days, he has to be entertained.  To my way of thinking, if a vegetable can be a play toy that will keep a cat out of the way, I am willing to sacrifice one!  That single okra kept the cat amused for over an hour giving us time to finish our canning.  It is no wonder folks down here love okra so much!  

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!)

So Pretty!

  A few years ago, I told Son that I wanted to move a wild okra plant from one place to another.  These things are notoriously prickly and digging one was going to be quite a chore.  He assured me that he would do it and, true to his word, he did.  My wild okra plant is now just beyond the grape arbor and has grown to be a small bush instead of the spindly plant.  It bloomed profusely this year as have the cultivated okra plants in the garden.  It seems that both types really love this muggy, rainy weather we have been having for the past few months.  

  Thinking about the wild okra and its gorgeous blossoms, I had to start pondering about the origin of the plant.  It seems that this is quite unsettled with several places laying claim to the plant.  Africa, South Asia and Ethiopia all say the plant hails from their region.  Some say it was brought to islands in the Caribbean and then to the Americas. Whichever place saw the first plant, we should thank them!  The much maligned plant and its edible seed pod is actually almost a wonder plant.  (Yes, even the wild plants make edible pods.  They are just smaller and tougher than the cultivated types.) The entire plant is edible with the leaves sometimes used in salads.  

  It seems that eating okra can help heal the body in quite a number of ways.  The slimy pod is a great fiber source which is good for the stomach and intestines.  It can be used as an intestinal cleansing agent and as a possible cure for acid reflux.  The same slimy properties seem to help heal ulcers and other intestinal abrasions.  Okra curbs the absorption of sugars which helps to stabilize blood sugars. A decoction made from the leaves can help with respiratory problems such as pneumonia.  The gooey, slimy mucous can even be used to help scalp and hair problems!

  Now I am not professing that you should run out on the side of the road and harvest any wild okra you may see.  That, my friends, may just get you in a bit of trouble with property owners.  Perhaps you should grow some cultivated type okra in your gardens and leave the wild ones just as they are.  It is nice to see their beautiful blooms and, also, nice to steer clear of their prickly leaves and stalks!