Okra

Pickling 101

portlandia-pickles-300x167Not to sound like the hipsters on “Portlandia” (“We can pickle that!“), you really can pickle just about any kind of vegetable (or fruit!) that you can find at the farmers’ market in the summertime.

To make a pickle, you need brine. Brine is the magic ingredient that turns plain cucumbers into a delicious pickle.

A very basic brine is just a solution made of equal parts vinegar and water, mixed with kosher salt. This brine gets poured over the vegetables and, in what seems like magic, but is actually science, transforms the vegetables into pickles. While you can certainly eat your homemade pickles right away, they get even better after they’ve had some time to soak in the brine.

Keep the ratios the same, and you can make more or less brine to suit the amount of pickles you want to make. You can also swap out the cider vinegar for rice vinegar, white wine vinegar, or another vinegar to suit your taste.

INGREDIENTS – feel free to customize the ingredient list with your favorite vegetables and spices!
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Okra — We Can Pickle That!

Whether you grow your own, or you pick it up at the grocery store or Farmers’ market, okra is one of those vegetables that cooks (outside the South, where it’s a summertime staple) are not sure whether they like.

A member of the mallow plant family, okra is the edible pod part of the plant. (see photo)

Okra_PlantSo, why, you ask, are so many cooks unsure whether they like okra? Well, it’s such a weird vegetable.

For starters, the vegetable is fuzzy on the outside, like a kiwi fruit. Next, the insides of the plant are mucilaginous (aka sort of slimy), resulting in the characteristic “goo” when the seed pods are cooked.

The mucilage is actually pretty good for you: okra contains a usable form of soluble fiber when sliced open, and can be useful for thickening up a soup or stew or traditional gumbo. Keep the okra pods intact, and use shorter cooking times to minimize the “goo factor.” (Or offset the effect with a little acidity — tomatoes, vinegar, or lemon juice).

But perhaps the best (and easiest) thing you can do with okra is to make it into pickles. Here’s what you need to do:

INGREDIENTS

Fresh Okra (about 1/2 lb per pint jar)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced lengthwise
1 Thai Chile or other dried hot pepper (you choose the degree of spiciness)
1/2 tsp Dill Seed
1 Cup Vinegar (I like the heat of Jalapeno White Balsamic Vinegar, but distilled white, cider, or any White Balsamic Vinegar will do)
1 Cup water
2 tsp Kosher Salt

Pint canning jar and banded lid

Pickled_okra_ingredients_1STEPS

Lay the jar on its side, and pack as much of the okra, garlic, Thai chile and dill seeds into the jar as will fit. Stand the jar upright.

In a small saucepan, combine vinegar, water, and salt. Quickly bring to a boil over high heat. Remove pan from burner and ladle hot pickling solution into the pint jar, leaving 1/2 inch of “headspace” at the top.

Close lid tightly on jar, and process in a boiling water bath where the hot water covers the top of the jar (plus 1 inch) for 15 minutes. Remove jar from water bath and allow to cool before storing in a cool, dry place.

Pickled_okra_in_jar_2Wait at least three weeks (or up to six months) for vegetables to pickle and flavors to deepen.

Makes one pint, but is easily scaled for  bumper crops of okra.

 

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Southern-Style Vegetables

INGREDIENTS

2 slices bacon, chopped
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1 – 10 oz package, chopped frozen okra
1 – 14 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
1 – 16 oz package frozen corn
1 Tbsp File Powder
sea salt
ground black pepper

STEPS

In a large, heavy cast iron skillet, brown the chopped bacon on the stove, over medium-high heat. When bacon is mostly cooked (about 10 min?), add diced onion and chopped okra and continue to cook, stirring continuously with a heavy wooden spoon or spatula.

When bacon is fully cooked and onion is browned and translucent, add diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium, and simmer for about 20 min. Add frozen corn, return to a simmer, and cook another 10 minutes.

Add File Powder and season to taste with salt and pepper just before serving.

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All About Gumbo

A favorite example of the meeting of French Acadian [‘Cajun‘], Native American and West African cultures in New Orleans, is Gumbo.

Gumbo is a stew that probably originated in southern Louisiana in the 1700s. It consists of flavorful stock, meat or shellfish, a thickener, and seasoning vegetables, which can include celery, bell peppers, and onions. Gumbo is often categorized by the type of thickener used: the African vegetable okra, the Choctaw spice filé powder, or a roux, the French base made of flour and fat.

The dish likely gets its name from the West African Bantu word for okra (ki ngombo), or the Choctaw Indian word for the sassafrass leaf, file (kombo). Either way, gumbo is a rich dish with broad cultural origins: The dish combines French, Spanish, German, West African, and Choctaw ingredients and culinary practices.

For post-Mardi Gras extra credit: When Catholics were expected to abstain from eating meat during Lent, a meatless kind of gumbo, known as gumbo z’herbes (literally “gumbo with herbs”), was traditionally served. This variety combined cooked greens like turnips, mustard greens, and spinach in place of the meat and seafood in the recipe. The greens were cooked and strained and made a thick, green liquid base for the gumbo to which spices and vegetables were added. As Lenten restrictions have waned, the dishes’ popularity has as well.

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Lentil Coconut Soup

INGREDIENTS

1 fresh onion, coarsely chopped
1 Tbsp fresh minced garlic
3 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil, such as Arbequina or Picual
1 Tbsp fresh minced ginger
salt and pepper
2 tsp Ground Turmeric
1 tsp Ground Cumin
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
1/4 Cup shredded coconut [preferably unsweetened]
1 cup sliced okra [frozen is okay]
1 medium zucchini, sliced
1 cup dried lentils
1 quart vegetable stock [or chicken stock, if you don’t care about keeping the soup vegan/vegetarian]
1 15oz can coconut milk
1 dozen fresh basil leaves, sliced into ribbons [optional]

STEPS

Heat olive oil in a heavy saucepan on medium-high heat. Add onion and saute for 5 minutes, until soft. Reduce heat a little, and add garlic and ginger, saute for another 5 minutes, being sure not to let ginger or garlic over-brown. Sprinkle with salt and fresh-ground pepper. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for another 10 minutes, until contents of pan are translucent and/or brown.

Turn heat to medium-high and add turmeric and cumin to the pan, stirring to coat the onion, garlic and ginger. Add canned tomato, shredded coconut, okra, zucchini, and lentils. Stir in vegetable stock and coconut milk, and bring mixture to a boil. Turn pan down to a barely-bubbling simmer. Put lid askew on pan, so cover partially but let some steam out.

Let soup simmer for about 40 minutes, until lentils are soft. Add water or stock if soup needs more liquid.

Ladle soup into bowls. Slice fresh basil leaves into ribbons, and sprinkle across surface of soup and serve.

This is a good make-ahead dish, and/or keeps in the fridge and reheats well.

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