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