Pickled Okra

Good morning, and welcome back to Ridin Out the Recession…in Miz Judi’s Kitchen.

We posted back in March a recipe for pickled okra, and last night Deb and I tried it out for the first time. The reasoning was simple…we hadn’t grown any okra the last couple of years. Well, it’s coming in now, so we’ll have plenty to pickle for a little while yet.

We have one concern though, and that’s the amount of rain we had this past weekend. 8-1/2 inches we know of. Our gauge overflowed with 5 inches in it, so we have no idea of how much we actually got. Places near us had 11 inches and some even a little better than that.

So, unless we’re pretty lucky, the garden may actually drown. I was picking some okra Sunday, and at the end of the rows I could set the bucket down and…it would float. But, we’ve missed any more of the rain, although we were expected to have two more days of it, but so far, SUNSHINE…YES!

If this continues, we may salvage most of it. We’re hoping this to be the case.

Getting back to the okra, honestly, most all the homemade pickled okra recipes I’ve tried, I didn’t particularly like. Don’t ask me why, but those dern store bought pickled okra have been hard to beat. I believe the brand Deb gets me is “Texas Pete.”

We’d asked about some pickled okra recipes on the site, and my Aunt Ann supplied us with one. This lady has cooked, canned, and put up most of her life, and I’m here to tell you, ole Aunt Ann can put some GOOD groceries on the table.

So, if Aunt Ann says that this recipe is in fact “a good un,” then I just believe I’ll take her word for it. Things she’s cooked in the past and said, “I don’t think that turned out just right,” I thought were great. Matter of fact, if they’d of been any better, I’m not sure I could have stood it!

I tried for years to get Aunt Ann to “adopt me,” into her family, and honestly I thought I had her warming up to the idea, but each time Uncle Harold would step in and say, “Now Ann, how in the world do you think we’ll be able to feed that boy! Look at him for goodness sake.”

Anyway, last night we put up 6 pints. It’s simple to do, and these get put up pretty quickly. The recipe makes 5 pints, so, as usual, I had to “wing the last pint,” a little of this, and a little of that. It looks as if they turned out good.

Aunt Ann’s Pickled Okra:

• 2 pounds tender, small, fresh okra
• 5 pods hot red pepper
• 5 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 quart white vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 6 tablespoons salt
• 1 tablespoon celery seed

Wash okra and pack in 5 hot sterilized pint jars. Put one pepper pod and 1 garlic clove in each jar.

Bring remaining ingredients to boil. Pour over okra and seal. Let stand 8 weeks before using.
Serve chilled.

Note: If pepper pods are not available, use 1/4 teaspoon crushed, dried, hot red pepper for each jar.

Yield : 5 pints

It looks nice, doesn’t it? The drawback is an 8 week wait to eat according to the recipe. I talked to Aunt Ann last night and she said they never waited that long.

The reasoning was when she was making a lot of this her kids were still at home. She said they’d come through the house, most times with a buddy or two, and they’d “hit the pickled okra” once they found out it was there. She also said that she didn’t wait but two to three days herself most times.

We’ll probably keep one jar out to try in a few days, but the remainder we’ll put in the pantry and let em sit! After the eight weeks are up, I’ll give you an update!

I talked about the rainfall we’d had earlier. We videoed the water in the pastures and the garden and if you like, take a peek. It’s gone for the most part now, but good night, we were under water there for a day or two. Like I said, check it out!

That was something, huh?

You guys have a great day, and God Bless you and yours! Deb says to keep a smile on your face, and one in your heart!

Dub and Deb