Okra and Hot Peppers

This will be the first week for hot peppers and I think most people know at least something about them. In order to determine how many to use in a recipe, prior to chopping them up and adding to a recipe, slice the pepper(s) and then touch the cut edge with your finger and taste it - be prepared for the heat to come on - but, some types have just a mild heat and taste is more fruity than hot. Like sweet peppers, they store well in plastic in the fridge. They also freeze fine. Just put them in a plastic bag or container whole and place in freezer.

Okra is an item we have only seen a few times so far this year. Okra is probably best known in this country as the essential ingredient in Gumbo, and in fact, one early name for Okra was gumbo. Okra does not keep well, so use it within a week. It does well being quickly blanched and frozen or cook it and enjoy or freeze. There are several seasonal recipes on this site, including Roasted potato and okra salad, Easy Indian-style okra stew, Okra and green beans and Louisiana shrimp gumbo - the later is a much lighter version of the better known gumbo recipes that begin with a dark rue. The bolded recipes above can be clicked on to get right to the recipes.

The intriguingly beautiful and reproductively important okra blossom on 5 foot tall and growing plants will eventually produce the edible portion of the plant, an elongated green fruit with numerous seeds.