That avatar is most unusual... is the dog wired to the TV? Lol. He or she has the position down pat.

Thanks Carolyn,
I'm with the gumbo thing too, where it adds some colour and texture, but I remember the okra slugs in a veggie curry I made way back and they kind of didn't go down that well. But I'm willing to give it another go... strange as you folks don't seem as hot-to-trot on eggplants which are a far more versatile and delicious thing to grow, IMHO ;)

Sorry for not adding anything too helpful on the subject. I'll shutup now and learn :)

Grub, I usually buy okra bagged and frozen. When adding to gumbo, I make sure it's still frozen when I chop it.
Never noticed the 'slime factor' until I grew that one measley pod and blanched it. Couldn't pick the bloody thing out of the ice bath!
If there's ever a successful crop in my yard, it'll be frozen before use.

Note to self: Next kids party: Bobbing for Okra.

I was wondering if anyone has tried this with okra - trim off the stem ends and stuff with cheese then wrap with cornmeal or cracker meal then bake or fry in olive oil.

[url]http://student.maxwell.syr.edu/irsa/cookbook/stuffedokra.html[/url]

Hey Worth1 thanks for the link:) I guess prepare the okra as they say then add cheese then roll in cornmeal or crackermal then bake or fry:)

The texture of okra is something to be savoured.
I never tried okra until I went to Japan and was introduced to other foods with the same [b][size=6]mucilaginous texture[/size][/b])
yamaimo or nagaimo (sticky potato)
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v309/dokutaaguriin/03-19032.jpg[/img]

Once you grind it up it oxidizes very quickly.
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v309/dokutaaguriin/top.jpg[/img]

Moroheya (an Egyptian leafy green vegetable that produces the same texture)
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v309/dokutaaguriin/thum_1151963997.jpg[/img]
AND, of course, the king of this kind of texture nattou fermented soyabeans- If you can stand the smell of vegimite then you can eat this, :lol: :lol:
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v309/dokutaaguriin/pn100010l.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v309/dokutaaguriin/.jpg[/img]
We sometimes mix any of the above vegetables with our nattou.
Nattou is packed full of vitamins (esp. those B ones we vegetarians need, eh Jen.) and the more you mix it up the better and tastier it becomes.
Everyone should go beyond Okra and explore the wonderful world of food mucilaginy (is this really a word) !!!
PS The problem I found growing it was the cool evening temperatures inhibited proper polination and the aphids had a field day with my plant.

OK, I can eat anything, but that bottom photo has my gag reflex activated....

I wish I could remember what variety Okra I grew in the past... My first husband insisted I add it to my garden and I direct seeded in early June and almost had a bumper crop...I was in the other corner of the state and it was a great year for growing everything...I made dilled Okra with mine ,as I had been warned not to heat it...
Twenty-two years later I am growing it again this year...Emerald....I wish I had known about the Victory seeds varieties though, they sound interesting...

Jeanne

Aack! Me too! LOL.
Compliments to the chef for having the nerve to serve that without a blindfold! :wink:

Oh my gosh! I had the same reaction to that last picture. :shock: I guess I have no sense of adventure when it comes to okra. We had fried okra last night, the kind you buy frozen in a bag. Where is spring? I can plant mine around May 1.

OH UGH ACK ACK HURK GROAN!!! Natto and nagaimo, especially as tororo (or however it is spelled) gack, that stuff is awful. To compare it to okra, okra is dry and powdery compared to that stuff. I grew up with natto and nagaimo, I will not willfully sit at a table where that stuff is being served. Now, fried okra, and better yet, okra in gumbo, totally fine with it.

landarc, I was hoping you would comment about your experience growing up with those Japanese delicacies. tororojiro mmmm good.

I figured the last picture of nattou would get a few interesting reactions! On the Food Network, "Cook's Tour" when Anthony Bourdin went to Japan he too had a severe gag reaction. "musologenous" is the word (sp) he used.
Mind you not all Japanese eat nattou. Generally speaking those in Osaka area aren't real fans of it.

lol I must be to southern...I just thought it looked like stewed okra with some field peas...didn't look all that bad...cut up some raw valdalia...

Well, I confess that have never knowingly tasted okra. I'm growing it, greens and some hot peppers at the behest of some friends of mine with roots in Afro-Caribbean culture. Plus I'm curious.

Now, I have to say that I do know okra is not universally loved. But the snail trail ref...

In my pre-veghead youth (under 12), I was an escargot fancier. Not sure if my gag reflexes might have kicked in on the slime front since then. Ah, well. Like with most veg (Brussel Sprouts come immediately to mind) proper cooking and presentation are a must.

Jeff, healthy veghead or no, that pic did NOT win me over. :lol:

And thanks, Carolyn, for being patient with this posting!

Jennifer, reminded of her very proper English grandfather who had a penchant for Marmite, Vegemite and Limburger (sp?) cheese. Thankfully, not together. And my grandmother who served the beef tongue that was the final straw turning me to veggie ways.

Funny how food has such memories attached.

Okay, here's a simple, tasty way to eat okra and tomatoes. Blanch the okra--it will be quite tender but still firm. Slice a ripe tomate. Take a bite of okra, then a bite of tomato. The acidity of the tomato helps with the slim factor (which really isn't too bad with blanced okra to start with).

Fusion, you said you used a chain saw to cut down your 15 ft okar. A couple of years ago, my husband started out with a shovel to remove the okra plants at the end of the season. No go. Got the car out and tried to pull the okra out. Rope just slipped off. Finally got the tractor out and used the front end loader to knock them out of the ground. Yikes. :shock:

lol thank goodness I'm growing dwarf and in buckets!