Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Smothered Okra Success

Remember the smothered okra I had at DeJaVu? I tried it at home. I searched for recipes and ended up winging it, but I did consult a recipe from Emeril Lagasse. I started by making a half-batch of his Essence spice blend. I made a mess on the table, but it reminded me of making a sand art jar when I was a kid. I loved those, you filled in your jar with layers of colored sand. And yes, I got myself a label maker when I started buying in bulk. I’m a nerd like that.

DSC_0068 Essence: paprika, salt, garlic powder, black pepper, onion powder, cayenne, oregano, and thyme

I didn’t follow the recipe for the smothered okra exactly because I didn’t consult the recipe prior to shopping. I made this with chopped onion and garlic, which I cooked for a few minutes in olive oil while I prepared my tomatoes and okra.

I used two large tomatoes and cut them into large pieces, and I cut my okra into thirds. I’m really glad I used fresh tomatoes over canned, even though I was worried at first whether this would work. But fret not, you can stew fresh tomatoes! I didn’t buy a lot of okra since Alex doesn’t like it. In fact, he refused to try the okra in this dish and ate some tomatoes while carefully avoiding the okra!

I added my tomatoes, okra, and a cup of vegetable broth and cooked for a long time, along with a healthy dose of the Emeril’s Essence seasoning. I let this cook for close to two hours. The tomatoes no longer resembled fresh tomatoes, but were indeed like the stewed tomatoes I’ve had oftentimes from a can. The okra wasn’t slimy after all this cooking, either, and the heat from the cayenne really kicked in. I enjoyed this very much. It’s fine that I ate every bit of it, and Alex doesn’t believe what he was missing.

DSC_0084 Summer veggie plate: mashed sweet potatoes, summer squash, green beans, smothered okra, and cornbread

3 comments:

  1. I'm not as bad as Alex, I can eat it, but I'm not an Okra fan either.

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  2. Looks and sounds yummy. That is so funny about Alex. He sounds just like my husband except for Tony likes okra(only fried), however there are plenty of other things that he will NOT touch and will pick out...lol

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  3. That looks just like Deja Vu's ... or maybe even better! I have a smothered okra recipe going in my cookbook that was also inspired by Deja Vu's smothered okra. :-) I never had smothered okra growing up because my parents only like fried okra. But I love it prepared this way!

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