We have plenty of okra growing in our garden….
My favorite way to eat it okra is raw, freshly picked off the vine. Before the okra appears, its bush produces gorgeous flowers. The bees love them, and our okra rows are a popular hangout in our garden.
Scallop squash, also known as patty pan squash, is another vegetable I like. It’s a summer squash that has a lovely scalloped edge. I use them in a lot of recipes, but today I chose to include them in the fried dish I made.
We don’t eat too much fried foods in our house, since we prefer baked, stir fry, or raw dishes. But once in a while, fried food is acceptable for us.
Recently Suituapui wrote about a meal he prepared with his wok… I commented about the much loved wok I’d used constantly but had set aside since we purchased a smooth top stove years ago. I was afraid my wok would damage the stoves surface.
All this time I thought it had been stashed away in our shed. But, last week I discovered my hand-hammered wok, when I opened up one of my rarely used kitchen drawers.
Of course I was pleased when I found out, it was perfectly fine on our smooth top stove. It was like reuniting with a long lost old friend. You see… I’ve had this wok for over twenty years. Back then, most of my meals were cooked with this wok, I really love it. In fact, I brought it to the university I attended, and cooked many meals on it for myself and friends.
Today, it did a great job of preparing the simple but delicious dish of fried okra and scallop squash. Because of some of our garden herbs and additional seasonings that I used, my daughter thought the fried scallop squash was actually chicken fingers. I’d made a honey ginger sauce for dipping, and it complimented the fried okra and scallop squash nicely. And to drink, there was peach berry smoothie I made earlier today. I’ll try to post pictures of that within the next few days.
I’ve been craving fried okra ever since Amanda, of Monkeys are My Friends, blogged about fried okra on her site. Mission accomplished, craving satisfied!
Your fritters look great. Yummmm!!!!! My…my…your wok is a priceless antique, well-seasoned. Bet everything cooked in it will taste good.
suituapui recently posted..First night…
Hi @suituapui, My wok has been getting a workout since I stumbled across it last week. For some reason I thought I couldn’t use it on a smooth stove. I’m so glad I was wrong.
And you’re right, the wok is well seasoned. It took a long time to get it that way. I still have my cast iron skillets. I definitely can’t use them on my smooth top stove, but during the cooler months I use them on our wood stove. I’ve had my cast iron skillets and dutch oven for about twenty-five years.
Aynaria recently posted..And I think to myself, what a wonderful world
I have never been a big fan of okra. I didn’t like either of my parents’ fried okra or stewed with tomatoes (the latter of which still prompts my gag reflex). None of my aunts nor my Granny fried okra that I could stand to eat. But, my cousin Elsie and my mother-in-law could each fry okra that I liked. I just didn’t find that out until I was in my early 20’s. lol
I haven’t yet met a squash I didn’t like…especially fried. 😉
DragonLady recently posted..I embarrass my kids
As a child, and well into my twenties, I used to dislike okra @DragonLady, That all changed when I started dating a man from India, he prepared it dry.
I was fascinated… both he and his mom showed me a variety of recipes that used dry okra. And although I much prefer eating it raw, if I cook it, I prepare it dry since the mucous free version doesn’t trigger the gag reflex.
When I worked out of the home, one of my co-workers would visibly shudder when I mentioned okra. : ) I did prepare a dry version for her in a dish, and after much coaxing she tried it. The dish smelled great, so I lured her in by the smell. She found out that she liked okra, if it was “dry”. While making the above dish, I thought of her. 🙂
Aynaria recently posted..Something simple; Vegetable Fried Rice
[…] vegetables came from our garden, and since I rediscovered my wok, I prepared it in that. For some reason, my stir fry always seemed to taste better in there. My […]