Knoxville, TN fried OKRA

My Mom and I just bought a 1/2 bushel yesterday. I am going to fry some, stew some and freeze the rest. You can slice it onto a cookie sheet and put into the freezer for an hour or so and then pour into your freezer bags and it doesn't stick together. Then when you need some for soup or whatever, it is ready

Just cut some okra yesterday to fry up tonight -- YUM!!

Fried Okra is wonderful. Most of the time I cut the Okra, roll it in a mixture of egg and oil, move it over to some flour and cornmeal with some pepper and salt and then fry it in some oil until pretty brown.

Okra is one of the Sundacer's finer parts of the meal.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Fried okra was a staple in my house as a kid. But it was never on my plate. I tried it once and that was enough. Whether this is good or bad, I had parents that never forced me to eat things I didn't like. They didn't make me special meals or anything so sometimes I ate light. There's lots of food I never touched as a child that I now love, but okra has never made it.

My daughter who will soon be 6 loves fried okra. A small restaurant here in Smithville, TN called Neo's serves it during lunch quite often and she can't eat enough. It really pleased my mother this summer when she got to cook fresh fried okra for her granddaughter.

quote:

Originally posted by emsmom

You can slice it onto a cookie sheet and put into the freezer for an hour or so and then pour into your freezer bags and it doesn't stick together. Then when you need some for soup or whatever, it is ready

I hadn't thought of doing that. Do I need to parboil it before slicing?

I love fried okra, pickled okra, boiled okra, chocolate covered okra.....just kidding about the chocolate.

I only use fresh stone ground cornmeal from the Mennonites. That gives the okra a popcorn-y taste when fried.

Here is a recipe you might enjoy.

3 cups sliced okra
2 cups sliced yellow squash
1 cup diced fresh tomatos
1 lb Wamplers pork sausage (you can use whatever brand you like)
1/2 lb sharp cheddar cheese
9 inch iron skillet and cover
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
Fry the sausage to where some of it is still pink. Chop it up in the pan and spread evenly over bottom. Add all vegetables then spoon soup over the top.
Put in 350* oven for 25 minutes and then take out and add cheese. Put back in oven for 10 more minutes and then it is ready.

This sounds like a really weird combination.... But D*&N! It's good!!!!

You know, you can do Okra many ways. You can boil it, fry it, microwave it, bake it but the best way the Sundancer has found is to roll it in corn meal with some salt and pepper and fry it in oil till it is brown and enjoy it.

In the Sundancer's opinion, it is wonderful and enjoy with your libation.

Paul E. Smith

We grew the standard "Clemson Spineless" variety this year. Jan uses it in lots of dishes. A little Okra goes a long way with me, but it does add a lot to the things she prepares.
Next year I will find some of the Burgandy variety. It grows into a beautiful purple/burgandy flower and pod that cooks up green much like the same varieties of beans do.

I'm not a big fan of fried okra. I tolerate it at best. But I really love it in gumbo or jumbalaya. It's just awesome then, IMO.

carl reitz

No, you don't need to cook it at all. Just slice the raw okra on a cookie sheet and freeze it. Sorry, I didn't answer sooner. We left on Vacation they day you posted this question and I must have missed it when I returned

quote:

Originally posted by Rick F.

quote:

Originally posted by emsmom

You can slice it onto a cookie sheet and put into the freezer for an hour or so and then pour into your freezer bags and it doesn't stick together. Then when you need some for soup or whatever, it is ready

I hadn't thought of doing that. Do I need to parboil it before slicing?

quote:

Originally posted by carlton pierre

I'm not a big fan of fried okra. I tolerate it at best. But I really love it in gumbo or jumbalaya. It's just awesome then, IMO.

carl reitz

Carlton, you have been in Tennessee now for several years and you should have become acclimated by now. You really have to become better friends with fried okra. This is not the heavily breaded version that you get at restaurants. It is simply oiled, rolled in cornmeal and browned.

Great by itself, with libation or with dinner.

I hope you enjoy grits and collards.

You cannot live in Tennessee without enjoying fried Okra

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Fried okra is one of my favorite veggies, My mom uses cornmeal, salt and pepper and a fairly small amount of oil. I tend to not like the type that has more of a crust. Fried okra, fried squash, green beans, new potatoes, peas with chow chow, turnip greens with pepper sauce and cornbread......one of my all time favorite meals.

I love fried okra. it's almost a snack around our house.

and speechpeach, you just described one of my favorite summertime meals. all fresh veggies. whatever's in your garden or at the produce market. you just left out a couple of things -- tomatoes and cantelope. something about those juices mixing with the cornmeal on your plate at the end. oh, and some hamsteak for my son. he refers to this meal as Sunday Dinner -regardless of the day of the week.

quote:

Originally posted by speechpeach

Fried okra is one of my favorite veggies, My mom uses cornmeal, salt and pepper and a fairly small amount of oil. I tend to not like the type that has more of a crust. Fried okra, fried squash, green beans, new potatoes, peas with chow chow, turnip greens with pepper sauce and cornbread......one of my all time favorite meals.

I live on an island off the coast of Honduras and fresh veggies are often limited; things like okra and turnip green are extremely rare. Surprisingly, I just picked up a bag of very fresh and very young mixed collard and mustard greens at a market here. I've only had limited experience cooking greens and that was with mature stuff that required long cooking. I'm guessing that these very young greens will cook up a lot quicker. True? I have in mind steaming them before finishing them in a fry pan with a little bacon and sauteed onion.

You also mentioned "chow-chow." We have something here that the islanders (many of whom have connections with folks in the southern US) call "cho-cho." If "Hulk" made a fist just as someone lopped his hand off at the wrist, well, that's kinda what it looks like. I think they're called merlitons in the Louisiana area. Do these all sound like the same thing and, if so, I'd like to know about any particularly interesting ways of preparing it. We usually just steam it, often mixed with carrots, and serve it with a bit of butter -- or boil it in water with some orange added. -Tom

Cunamara: The Sundancer cooks greens very frequently and we have winter greeens growing in the garden at this very moment. I personally like to cook them in water adding onions, garlic and ham hocks. I cook them several hours until they are tender and I serve them with Tennessee fried cornbread. That is a meal within itself.

Incidentally, Tennessee fried cornbread is the most delicious bread I have ever had.

Mamaw Smith who is my neighbor cooks greens every spring as a spring tonic. I personally do not need them that way but they sure are good.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

quote:

Originally posted by Sundancer7

Cunamara: The Sundancer cooks greens very frequently and we have winter greeens growing in the garden at this very moment. I personally like to cook them in water adding onions, garlic and ham hocks. I cook them several hours until they are tender and I serve them with Tennessee fried cornbread. That is a meal within itself.

Incidentally, Tennessee fried cornbread is the most delicious bread I have ever had.

Mamaw Smith who is my neighbor cooks greens every spring as a spring tonic. I personally do not need them that way but they sure are good.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Paul, so how 'bout these very young greens I got. They look a bit like those "baby" greens the supermarkets now have for salads. Do you think they're going to cook up a lot quicker? Given these scarcity of this stuff here, this is a bit of a one shot thing and I don't want to see them ready 1-1/2 hours before the smoked pork chops and corn bread I'll be fixing. -Tom

quote:

Originally posted by Sundancer7

quote:

Originally posted by carlton pierre

I'm not a big fan of fried okra. I tolerate it at best. But I really love it in gumbo or jumbalaya. It's just awesome then, IMO.

carl reitz

Carlton, you have been in Tennessee now for several years and you should have become acclimated by now. You really have to become better friends with fried okra. This is not the heavily breaded version that you get at restaurants. It is simply oiled, rolled in cornmeal and browned.

Great by itself, with libation or with dinner.

I hope you enjoy grits and collards.

You cannot live in Tennessee without enjoying fried Okra

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

I aplologize for not responding sooner, I just now saw this. You're right, I've lived here long enough, 12 years, to have become a fried okra fan. It took me 10 years to get into grits and I love them. Best collards I ever had was at an Ethiopian restaurant. MY wife has 2 pans of okra ready to fry, just havew not gotten around to it.
This is interesting because I'm trying to thinkof the foods that define Tennessee. Any thoughts?

Carlton:, I grew up on East Tennessee food. Besides fresh stuff out of the garden, we had East Tennessee fried cornbread several times a week, pinto beans flavored with pork, real country ham cured by grandpa Smith. Tomatoes every day during the summer, okra and green beans out of the garden, early potatoes, small potatoes and huge potatoes and potatoes every other way particularly fried. Grandpa Smith also cured his bacon and we had free range egg that were definately organic. They had the run of their farm and grandma had to keep a contant watch for where their nest was. Guinea eggs and canned pork chops.

Grandpa Smith supplied us with real stone meal that was ground slow, flour from the mill for baking needs from their own corn and wheat.

On and On and On.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

quote:

Originally posted by cunamara

quote:

Originally posted by Sundancer7

Cunamara: The Sundancer cooks greens very frequently and we have winter greeens growing in the garden at this very moment. I personally like to cook them in water adding onions, garlic and ham hocks. I cook them several hours until they are tender and I serve them with Tennessee fried cornbread. That is a meal within itself.

Incidentally, Tennessee fried cornbread is the most delicious bread I have ever had.

Mamaw Smith who is my neighbor cooks greens every spring as a spring tonic. I personally do not need them that way but they sure are good.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Paul, so how 'bout these very young greens I got. They look a bit like those "baby" greens the supermarkets now have for salads. Do you think they're going to cook up a lot quicker? Given these scarcity of this stuff here, this is a bit of a one shot thing and I don't want to see them ready 1-1/2 hours before the smoked pork chops and corn bread I'll be fixing. -Tom

My advice is shooting from the hip but I would think the cooking time would bedefined by how tender they get. Probably around a hour and a half. My cornbread takes about 45 minutes to bake. You will have to use your own judgement.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

I love fried okra. And okra gumbo as someone else mentioned earlier. I went to a private college in FL and we had a lot of students from all over the country. I worked in the cafeteria. Try to explain to someone who has never even heard of it what okra is. The best I could up with "It's a southern vegetable, you gotta try it."

Love, love, love okra (and I'm a Northerner!) I actually bake it rather than fry it here at home. Slice it, shake it up in a bag with seasoned cornmeal, put on cookie sheet that has been sprayed with Pam, AND I spray the okra as well so that it gets crispy. I think this tastes great -- maybe not as great as deep-fried -- and it's fairly healthy, too. I could happily eat it every day!

Luby's makes relly good friend okra. I was in line once and the guy next to me had them pour cheeswe sauce that was for the broccoli all over his fried okra. I tried it and it was wonderful!

If you really want to fry okra with some zest, add a little white pepper to the pan.

We planted Okra in the garden today and it will be at least 60 days before we can begin harvesting. We enjoy cutting them off when they are small. About 3-4 inches. We cut them into small slices and fry them coated with cornmeal in canola with a little of bacon grease added. Salt and pepper and settle down and enjoy.

Okra is a appetizer within itself. Delicious.


Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN