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smothered-okra recipe



Date:    Mon, 20 Jun 94 14:55:48 CDT
 From:    maoh@phyast.nhn.uoknor.edu (Maureen O'Halloran)
 
 From Paul Prudhomme's _A Fork in the Road_
 
 _Smothered Okra, Eggplant and Tomato_
 
 SEASONING MIX
 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
 1 teaspoon salt (omit if use  canned tomatoes with salt)
 1 teaspoon dried mustard
 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper (or use all black)
 1/2 teaspoon dill weed
 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (red pepper)
 ****
 2 cups chopped onion, in all
 1 cup chopped green bell pepper (or red bell pepper)
 2 cups chopped okra, in all
 1 medium eggplant, peeled --- 1 cup  finely diced, 		
 	remaining medium diced.
 3 cups fresh tomatoes chopped, or 2 cans diced tomatoes
 1/2 cup tomato sauce (omit if using canned tomatoes which 
 		already have lots of juice)
 1 cup apple juice
 *** 
 1) Mix spices in a small bowl.  
 2) Combine 1 cup of chopped onion, 1 cup finely chopped eggplant, 1
 cup of okra (I put in a food processor and pulse to chop finely)
 3) Heat non-stick skillet or pot over high heat about 4 minutes. Add
 chopped vegetables, bell pepper and seasoning mix, stir and cook for
 about 5 minutes. Vegetables should stick to bottom of pan, then you
 unstick and stir them so that they carmelize (brown) a little but
 don't burn.
 4) Stir in 1 cup of apple juice, stir to unstick from bottom, add 1
 cup of tomatoes.  Cook, stirring occasionally until most of liquid
 evaporates, about 20 minutes.
 5) Add remaining onions, okra, eggplant and tomatoes (tomato
 sauce if used).  Scrape to clear bottom and cook 10 minutes or more
 until eggplant is cooked.
 
 Notes --- This is from Paul Prudhomme's Fork in the Road.  I used to
 be warry of okra, but in Oklahoma in the heat of August it's about the
 only vegetable that still grows (even the tomatoes stop setting fruit
 when it gets too hot).  I also used frozen okra.  I like
 the okra in this recipe.  When well cooked, the gumminess goes away
 and its serves as a thickener to the dish.  If you're warry of okra,
 you might want to reduce the total amount to 1 cup and let the
 eggplant and tomotoes dominate.  Prudhomme always uses onion powder
 and garlic powder in his spice mixes, which I used to think was
 redundant when using real onions, but it actually imparts a different
 flavor.  He places great emphasis on cooking the vegetables a long
 time in a non-stick skillet and letting them brown a little to
 carmelize and develop the flavors, and it does pay to be patient.  The
 original recipe had a total of 2 1/2 cups of apple juice, but that
 seemed like too much to me and I already had plenty of liquid from the
 canned tomatoes.
 kwvegan vegan