I made fresh okra for the first time in my life yesterday....and it was surprisingly good.
For years, I would read through okra recipes, but the paragraph always, ALWAYS included the word SLIMY. I even avoid adding this critical ingredient to my New Orleans gumbo for fear of ruining a perfect dish. But a few weeks ago we had an appetizer at Todd English's BlueZoo: grilled shrimp, grits, okra & cherry tomatoes with a garlic butter sauce. Holy Moly, that was good. And the okra was delicious...and, hold on...NOT SLIMY. What a revelation!
So, inspiried by Todd, I bought fresh okra at the oriental grocery store and then promptly forgot about them. They resurfaced under the kale bag last night and had the look of imminent demise, so I prepared them using Mark's recipe. It was a last minute decision so I had to use canned diced tomatoes, very drained. To keep it cooking longer, I added a bit of chicken broth and in lieu of the chives, tossed in a large sprinkling of "Sunny Paris" seasoning (chives, shallots, marjoram, etc). I cut them on the diagonal and for some reason, that made me feel very professional, culinary-wise.
(Note: It does not take much to make me happy.)
Yum.
Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum. And this was without the shrimp OR the grits OR the garlic butter sauce.
Most important, there was NO SLIME.
Thanks to you, Mark, I am no longer an Okra Virgin.
(I'm not sure how you feel about that, but try to be happy for me.)
http://www.eatdotat.com/swap/forum/index.php?action=display&forumid=1&msgid=151065
For years, I would read through okra recipes, but the paragraph always, ALWAYS included the word SLIMY. I even avoid adding this critical ingredient to my New Orleans gumbo for fear of ruining a perfect dish. But a few weeks ago we had an appetizer at Todd English's BlueZoo: grilled shrimp, grits, okra & cherry tomatoes with a garlic butter sauce. Holy Moly, that was good. And the okra was delicious...and, hold on...NOT SLIMY. What a revelation!
So, inspiried by Todd, I bought fresh okra at the oriental grocery store and then promptly forgot about them. They resurfaced under the kale bag last night and had the look of imminent demise, so I prepared them using Mark's recipe. It was a last minute decision so I had to use canned diced tomatoes, very drained. To keep it cooking longer, I added a bit of chicken broth and in lieu of the chives, tossed in a large sprinkling of "Sunny Paris" seasoning (chives, shallots, marjoram, etc). I cut them on the diagonal and for some reason, that made me feel very professional, culinary-wise.
(Note: It does not take much to make me happy.)
Yum.
Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum. And this was without the shrimp OR the grits OR the garlic butter sauce.
Most important, there was NO SLIME.
Thanks to you, Mark, I am no longer an Okra Virgin.
(I'm not sure how you feel about that, but try to be happy for me.)
http://www.eatdotat.com/swap/forum/index.php?action=display&forumid=1&msgid=151065