Pickled Okra

Hey Y’all.  I thought I’d share with you another  bit of southern deliciousness today – Pickled Okra! I was asked by one of my best friends , if I could pickle Okra for her.  So this weekend, it was okra pickling.

Now when you pickle okra, if your like me, you’ll go through every single okra pod to find just the right ones.  You have to make sure they are young and the right size to fit inside your jars.  I don’t like any marks, bruises or breaks.  So I spent yesterday morning at the farmers market going through the fresh okra that they had.  I can not tell you how much I love the farmers markets.  I drive about 10 miles to the one I like, and I come home with about $30 worth of fruits and veggies.  I actually went to our neighborhood grocery yesterday after getting back to get some pickling seasonings.  I went through and figured up that the same things I bought earlier at the farmers market would have cost me about $57 dollars there.  Come on folks, a savings of $27 dollars and it’s all fresh and preservative free.  This is a no brainer.

Start by preparing the jars, rings and lids according to standard canning procedure. (Basically bring all to a boil for about 10 minutes)

Before you can anything, Go to the National Center for Home Canning at: https://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/publications_usda.html

Always follow the guidelines set forth by the National Center for Home Canning at the above link.  Do NOT just go by what I may say in my recipes or videos as it could be wrong and cause health issues.  I try my best to make sure everything is followed correctly for your safety, but you need to protect yourself and always follow the National Center for Home Canning guidelines whenever you can food yourself.

My recipe makes six pints.

Makes 6 pints:

4 pounds small, tender okra pods

6 cloves garlic, peeled

6 tsp. canning salt

3 tsp. dill seed

3 tsp. mustard seed

1 1/2 tsp. whole peppercorns

3 cups white vinegar

3 cups water

Wash the okra in cold water. Trim the cut ends only if necessary. As you can see, I took off most of the stem.

I have all my spices and seasonings ready to go.

Now you can put in to the sterile jars, as many pods of okra as possible packed with the tips pointing up and down randomly.

To each jar add 1 teaspoon of canning salt, 1 whole garlic clove, 1/2 teaspoon of dill seed , 1/2 teaspoon mustard seed and 1/4 teaspoon of whole peppercorns.

Now pack the jars as fully as possible with additional okra, tips down, fitting the pods in tightly but taking care not to crush the okra.

Bring the vinegar and water to a boil. Fill jars with the vinegar/water mixture to within 1/4 inch of the rim.

Place the lids and rings on the jars and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Remove the jars from the canner and allow them to cool completely. You will notice the difference in color after they come out of the canner. The okra will have taken on a beautiful more olive green color.

Let the pickles sit for about a month to achieve the best flavor.

Enjoy!