uncommon ways to cook common foods

[cal1956]

this thread could also be called " cooking methods that are fading away" most all of the vegatables we eat today are pretty much the same as it was 100s of years ago whats changed is the way we cook it with many of the old ways fading into history
take Okra for example : today we think of okra as being breaded and deep fried , but did you know there is an old time way to cook it that makes it taste completely different , i have lived in Colorado for the past 22 years but i am from the deep south and grew up eating okra that bears no resemblence to the breaded and deep fried okra most of you know today .
the way it was prepared was like this : with the okra cut into thin round slices add 3-4 tablespoons of vegatable oil to a cast iron skillet , spread the cut okra evenly on the skillet , set the heat to med-high add salt and let it simmer , as it cooks the water in the okra will begin cooking out and the okra will become slimy you must stir often and it will become less and less slimy then it will begin to change color going from green to dark brown and near the end of cooking will start looking somewhat black and start getting fairly dry then just as you think its going to burn add a small handful of corn meal to the now very dark okra , now is when you turn off the heat and stir in the corn meal . its now ready to serve !!! whats going to suprise you is that the okra is NOT slimy and has a definite sweet taste unlike any okra you have ever tasted before . this is a very old school way of cooking okra that is fading into the past . last year a friend from Oregon was visiting and i mentioned this way of cooking okra , she said she wasn't normally an okra eater but it intriged her and the next evening we invited her for supper and cooked it for her , she sat down at the table ,looked at it then took a small bite , then another , a smile came across her face as she begain to really dig into the okra , she went from someone that didn't much care for okra before , to loving the stuff ha ha so much so that she asked me to teach her how to cook it , which i did the following day
this is just one example of an old cooking method that has fallen out of favor in these modern times .
i am sure you have some examples of your own

 

[noboundaries]

Great story!

I grew up on the West Coast, then spent 10 years in the South and Southwest. Never had okra until living there. Loved it. Had it many ways; fried, and in soups and stews. My Texas wife fried it quite differently than they did in the deep South, but it was still fantastic.

I haven't seen it stocked by grocers in my Cali area in years. Might have to go on a veggie hunt.

 

[1MoreFord]

My mom always made fried okra by salting it and then coating it in self rising cornmeal mix rather than breading it. Shake off the excess and fry it in a skillet in a minimal amount of oil. Turned out similar to the OP's version.

 

[FenHoglore]

My mom always made fried okra by salting it and then coating it in self rising cornmeal mix rather than breading it. Shake off the excess and fry it in a skillet in a minimal amount of oil. Turned out similar to the OP's version.

That is how I make it... use any breading / batter... but hard to beat a good cornmeal mix. I do the same with yellow / zucchini squash.

 

[Hockeydudde]

I'm def going to try C cal1956 method of okra. I love okra, excited to have a new way to try cooking it.

My grandma told me a few weeks ago about her aunt's fried chicken. Don't know if it counts as lost, but I've never seen it in a cook book or Internet recipe.

My grandma grew up in Denton, Tx. Would have been the 30's and 40's. She said her aunt made the best fried chicken in the family. She breaded the chicken and fried it hot into it was browned. She then turned it all the way to low, covered with a lid, and left for about an hour. When it was time to serve, she turned the heat back up and removed the lid to crisp the breading.
My grandma said the meat was always tender and juicy, even the white meat.

I have yet to try this method because we don't have a lidded pan big enough to cook a whole chicken in one batch, but I'm in the market for a large used Dutch oven with a lid.

 

[Gonna Smoke]

When I was growing up, okra was usually cooked one of 2 ways. Either as you've posted or in a pot of beans, such as butterbeans or blackeye peas, or soups which is when they'll be slimy. I like them both ways, but my wife doesn't like them slimy. Now we eat most of our fresh vegetables, including okra, roasted with just a little bit of salt and some black pepper.

Something I don't do, but my grandmother and mother added sugar to almost everything...