When okra is in season , you might begin to dread the consuming passel of tender green pods that can be produced from even the small garden plot of land . What can you do with this bounteous but time - sore harvest that lasts only a couple days ? From freezing to pickling , there are plenty of feasible result to get your gumbo out of the refrigerator and help you preserve it to revel throughout the year .
1 . Frozen OkraFreezing your okra plant is one of the most effective and successful long - term storage methods , assuming you have the Deepfreeze outer space or a spare deep freezer . Before freezing your okra , lap the pods , reduce any excess stem , and discard any old or excessively large pods . Keep an centre out for pod with age - related damage , including soft spot or browned discolouration . The dear rooted okra comes from using the fresh Hibiscus esculentus potential .
Working in mountain , parboil the okra plant pod in a large covered gage of boiling water for three to four minute , depending on the size of the pods . Immediately transfer the blanched pod into an ice bath to barricade the cooking process , and keep them there for about five minute or until the pods are cold throughout . Once cool , remove the lady’s-finger and drainage . Finally rank the pods in a plastic freezer purse and compress out as much air as potential .
pronounce the bag of okra with the current date and position in your deep freezer . Frozen gumbo will wield peak novelty for seven to eight months in a conventional deep-freeze and slightly longer in a deep freeze .
2 . Okra ChipsOkra can be dry as a tasty snack or for use in soups or swither . just wash your okra seedpod , pat them dry and burn your okra into rounds of an even thickness . pose the gumbo slices in your dehydrator so that they ’re not overlapping or overcrowded . Set the dehydrator to a temperature around 140 arcdegree F , and heat energy until completely dried and brittle . The accurate amount of time look on your local mood , the thickness of your slicing and variety of okra used .
If you are plan to make the dried Hibiscus esculentus slices for a snacking , consider seasoning the slices before dehydrating . Get originative : Okra chips work well with a range of flavors from Cajun blends and spicy pepper commixture to a diversity of Asiatic influence flavors . Okra dried forsoups and stewsdoes not demand to be season ; just add the lady’s-finger instantly to the heap and permit them lightly rehydrate while the soup simmers .
3 . icebox Okra PicklesPerhaps the most common okra plant storage techniques are traditionalpressure canningandpickling . While these methods are very successful at preserve your okra , they unfortunately require a significant amount time in the kitchen . If you lust pickled okra but do n’t want to invest the time and exertion , you should consider icebox pickled okra . While not ledge - stable , the refrigerator pickle proficiency offers a wide-eyed and fast method to make flavorful pickled okra powerful at menage with few piece of special equipment , aside from a few canning jolt and your icebox .
A basic refrigerator muddle recipe will have you wash and trim your okra , pack it into cleanmason jars , and then summate season agents , 1 cup of salt saltwater and 1 cupful whitened vinegar . ( you could look for more elaborated refrigerator okra mess educational activity and recipes online . ) Armed with the canonic formula , you’re able to change thing up by swapping out blanched vinegar for more flavorful Malus pumila cyder or champagne vinegar . or else you could change the seasoning to make breadstuff - and - butter okra or spicy okra have refreshful jalapeños slice right from your garden .
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