How many of my readers have an abundance of a certain vegetable in their garden? Take okra for example. This is one vegetable that does well in our Pickle Patch and it seems all the gardens in the community garden. Fellow gardeners are trying to give it away as there is too much of it. So, in the next few posts I will share what we do with too much okra.
First recipe, that we tried last year and like, is spicy pickled okra.
Spicy Pickled Okra
Equipment
- Water bath canner
- Canning jar lifter tongs
- Wide mouth funnel
- Magnetic lid lifter
- 8 1-pint canning jars
- 8 each of canning lids and rings
Ingredients
- 7 Pounds of fresh Okra pods small, about 3 inches long or long enough to fit in a pint jar with enough head room
- 2 cups white vinegar
- 6 cups water
- 1/3 cup pickling salt
- 24 cloves of garlic 3 per pint
- Dill seed 1 teaspoon per pint
- Dill weed 1 teaspoon per pint
- 40 whole peppercorns 5 per pint
- 8 hot peppers 1 per pint pint
- 1 teaspoons Ball brand pickle crisp granules 1/8 teaspoon per jar
Instructions
- Wash jars, lids, and rings in hot soapy water and rinse well. Sterilize the 8 pint canning jars in boiling water for at least 10 minutes. Do not boil the lids. Please follow the instructions for sterilizing that comes with your jars or lids or visit a canning website like Ball.
- Wash okra. Trim stems of okra, I like using my kitchen scissors.
- In a large pot, combine the vinegar, water and pickling salt and bring the brine to a rapid boil.
- In each jar, place 3 cloves of garlic (or more to suit your taste), 1 teaspoon dill seed, 1 teaspoon dill weed, 1 hot pepper (jalapeno I slice in rings. For others, I slice long way in two) 1/8 teaspoon Pickle Crisp granules, 5 whole peppercorns, then enough okra to fill the jar and be packed tight.
- Fill jars with hot brine while leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. Wipe off rim of any residue. Place lid on and then ring. Tighten only finger-tip tight. Do not over-tighten them, or it might not seal properly.
- Process sealed jars in a boiling water bath. Process pint jars for 15 minutes. Start timing when water starts boiling again.
Notes
- One thing you need to be careful is not to slice the pod open or force it to burst when inserting in the pint jar, as it could cause the brine liquid to go down and not cover the okra fully.
- If you have fresh dried dill seed heads and sprigs use these in place of dried dill seed and dried dill weed.
- Jarred Garlic that is chopped can be used instead of fresh. 1/2 teaspoon equals one garlic clove.
- When pickling okra, I also made dill pickles, as both were ready at the same time from my garden. So, I made a little more brine. Any leftover brine, I put in quart jars and refrigerated to be used in a few days with another batch.
- If you don't like spice, leave out the hot peppers.
Everyday Living
So, if you are like me and have an abundance of okra in your garden and don’t know what to do with it, try pickling it. This is one yummy way to use up your okra and will make nice gifts for family and friends.
I love sharing my everyday living recipes from the Pickle Patch as they are just a hop skip and jump away to being the next of our family heirloom recipes. What we do today will be what our children, grandchildren, and other generations will maybe carry on.
Next everyday living post will be dried okra!
