a piece of home
I embarked on a new "farm wife" adventure today.A local farmer who always has the best fresh vegetables at the farmer's market started growing okra for another Arkansan in town (it's a small world!). So when he brought me almost four pounds of okra the day before yesterday, I started dreaming about home. Fried okra, pickled okra, gumbo, okra and grits. The possibilities are endless! Most Midwesterners don't know what okra is or refuse to find out. I say - their loss!
So I decided that I needed to pickle this okra right away. It's the best way to eat it, in my humble opinion.
Most of the okra that was given to me was pretty large, and I think I'm going to save that to freeze for gumbo or soup. I picked out the smallest pods and put the rest in the fridge for later. I quickly figured out that I couldn't actually can it because I didn't have a stock pot big enough to boil the jars in so they would seal properly. So i just proceeded with boiling brine, putting spices and okra in the jars, and putting on lids. I attempted to boil them in the largest pot I had for a few minutes, but only two of the jars sealed. Now is a good time to mention that I'm currently working on an M.S. in food safety, so it's fair to say I've heard enough horror stories about botulism that the jars will stay in the refrigerator.
So in two weeks, after the okra has cured and if I deem it worthy, I may share the recipe. Until then, wish me luck.
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