RECIPE: Smothered okra

[lina]

This is a rehash of a recipe I posted on WikiCookbooks a while back. It's good as a side dish, served over rice, or as a base for gumbo. We usually make this in large batches and freeze most of it into 2-4 qt portions, which can be used as a base for one's next gumbo (seafood or greens).

Ingredients

• 1 Lb okra, washed and sliced into 1/4 - 1/2 inch wide pieces


• 4-5 medium tomatoes, diced


• 1/2 medium-large yellow onion, diced


• 2-3 stalks celery, sliced or diced


• 1 green bell pepper, diced


• 2-3 cloves garlic, sliced or diced


• butter (1 stick/113 g)


• Salt, pepper, etc. to taste

1. Saute onion, celery, and bell pepper in butter until soft over medium heat, adding garlic to saute shortly before the onion is soft.


2. Add okra and tomatoes. Stir a few times to incorporate. If the mixture seems a bit dry, add a small amount of water.


3. Simmer over medium heat until the okra is no longer sticky and stringy. (The okra will change to a darker green color.)


4. Serve over rice or use in your next gumbo.

Comments

Sounds so good...

[ladyseishou.livejournal.com]

... I love okra but have never experimented much with it. I've done something similar with summer squash but never thought about making extra and freezing it. When you freeze the smothered okra, would you say that you could still serve it as a side dish (not a lot of change in texture) or is it really better to cook up as a gumbo after thawing?

Re: Sounds so good...

[lina]

Oh, it works as a side as well. After cooking, the okra will be somewhat mushy (because you have to cook it through to remove the stickiness), so freezing and defrosting won't affect it much. (My mother is of the opinion that it tastes better the second day, and I sometimes agree. She'd also add a bay leaf or two at the same time as the okra, but I prefer it plain.)

There are so many great ways to eat okra! Aside from this (my preferred method) and frying it, pickling it as one would any other vegetable works quite well, curried with potatoes (again over rice), stir-fried with chilies and shrimps (or chicken or tofu). It works nicely with squash, too.

[delphi]

Do you know, I've never actually had okra before in my life? This recipe gives me a good excuse to rectify that!

[lina]

=O

Don't let the stickiness turn you off! (Even the stickiness is great once you get used to it.)