La Platicona Habla: Tastes, Passions and Pursuits

I hate to admit it, but there is a vegetable out there that, to this date, I cannot say that I love with all the fervor I have for other green things. I have avoided cooking okra for some time now. The Baking Fool hates okra (even as a vegetarian), and so I never attempted to cook it for her. But on my most recent trip to Sunflower Market (so much cheaper than Whole Foods), I was sucked in by the pretty presentation of okra in little black boxes so I had to try it - just to see - just to make sure I didn't despise it as much as I imagined.

I decided to try a quick and light sautee of chopped okra in olive oil and spiced with curry powder to go neatly over a bed of Near East Mediterranean Couscous. While the smell was amazing, it was the texture of this oddball vegetable that really made my face green. I long dismissed Baking Fool's comments that okra was slimey and mushy as exaggerations stemming from bad experiences eating okra out of a can or in soup.

Boy was I wrong. First, let me just note that of the 8 cookbooks I own, not a single one had any reference to okra, much less an entire recipe devoted to it. So what is it with this okra that makes people avoid it? Here is my theory: texture. I had the most fresh and crisp okra you could imagine, but the seeds have a thick almost alien like coating of slime on them that makes the vegetable an odd juxtoposition of firm outside and oatmeal-like inside (I loathe cooked oatmeal). Making the texture even more repulsive was that the outer part of the vegetable is covered in tiny hairs it seems that make eating the okra akin to sucking on a hairy eyeball. So while the flavor would have been wonderful, the creeping slime of the okra seeds and hairy flesh ruined my so-called virgin okra experience.

I've given okra a really bad rap so far, so let me give you some facts about okra from Wikipedia: "Abelmoschus esculentus, commonly known as okra or lady's finger, is a flowering plant valued for its edible green fruits. The name okra is of West African origin . . . It was introduced to the United States via the African slave trade route, and is an annual crop in the southern states." It continues: "[Okra] is cultivated throughout the tropical and warm temperate regions of the world for its fibrous fruits containing round, white seeds. The fruits are harvested when immature and eaten as a vegetable."

Now I know most of you are not dependent on your texture taste buds to determine good flavor, so I will say, (so as not to offend the vegetable family generally) that you should give this simple recipe a whirl if you have some couscous lying around your cupboard.

You will need:

- 2 cloves of crushed garlic
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 c washed and chopped okra - stems removed
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- Coucous (I use instant from Near East, found in grocer's aisle by rice)

Step one: Rinse the okra, remove stems, and slice.

Step Two: In a saute pan over medium-high heat, add olive oil and garlic. Toast garlic until just slightly brown. Add okra and curry powder. Toss in pan cooking for about 4-6 minutes.

Step Three: Prepare couscous according to directions on the box. Serve okra over bed of cous cous and try not to wince when you eat!

Labels: curry, fried, okra

Recently celebrating my sister's graduation from college, I had the pleasure of playing assistant to the BBQ chef, my brother-in-law Joel. He is the master of Mexican grilling and put on a mean display of carne asada, corn tortillas, grilled green onions, and of course sides of salsa roja, refried beans, and rice. His technique is flawless, and thanks to the local Mexican butcher - "carniceria" - by the name of Leonela, we had enough meat for 60 people.

Here are some of my observations of the grilling techniques that stuck in mind the most.

The Grill - my father fabricated an excellent grill that can feed a party of 200 rather quickly. It was made from an old barrel and conducts a lot of heat. To prepare the grill, Joel scrubbed at it for a while with soap and water. He then put it over the heat and rubbed it down with a couple of limes. He then took a white onion, cut in half, and rubbed the grill end to end. After this process, the grill was ready for meat.

The Meat - at Leonela's, we ordered about 20 lbs of meat. The cuts we used were Ranchera flap meat and Diesmilla chuck roll. Ranchera is a very lean and very thin piece of meat while the Diesmilla has more fat, but is likewise sliced very thin. Both of these meats came in large rolls of butcher paper with a sack of marinade made from fresh squeezed limes, red chile powder, garlic, salt, onions, bell peppers and jalapenos. I poured the marinade on the meat and let it soak in for a while before Joel threw it on the grill. He began with the Diesmilla because of the high fat content.

The Onions - I've seen Joel do onions two ways now. He usually takes white onions, peels them, and cuts a cross into each of them. He then squeezes lime juice and a dash of salt on the onion before wrapping it in foil and placing it on the charcoals to cook for 20 minutes. This time, he procured a batch of bulb onions (basically green onions that are mature) and cooked them directly on the grill with lime and salt. He reminded me that in Mexico, people usually eat the white part of bulb onions and not the green parts like in the United States. The result was a sweet hand-held side that could be placed with a slice of meat inside a hot grilled tortilla with salsa. Mmmmm.

Putting it all together: You should always eat your carne asada with a corn tortilla and salsa. The beans and rice are an added luxury that made this BBQ even tastier.

I love breads and cakes made with olive oil rather than butter - the moisture content is much higher, and in a dry high altitude climate, that really makes a difference. As usual, I pulled this recipe out from one of my beloved cookbooks by Lidia Bastianich, but of course I've left some things out that don't like. The recipe, it says, was really taken from one of her cooking students' grandmother. Whoever that lady was - this recipe is delicious. The best part, is you can make this without a mixer.

You will need:

- 1 c olive oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1 2/3 c sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla

- 2 c flour
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda

- 2 c shredded zucchini
- zest of one lemon

Step One: Preheat oven to 325 degrees, and prepare a loaf pan by greasing and flouring it.

Step Two: In a separate bowl, sift flour, cinammon, salt, and baking soda.

Step Three: In the main bowl, using either a whisk or mixer, whip eggs and olive oil until mixture is a frothy light yellow color. If using a whisk, slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking the eggs. Add sugar slowly and continue to mix.

Step Four: Using a wooden spoon or spatula, slowly add the sifted dry ingredients to the egg mixture. When fully incorporated, mix in the zucchini and lemon zest.

Step Five: Pour batter into the loaf pan. The batter will almost fill the entire pan, but don't worry, it won't spill over. Bake this loaf for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool. Eat to your heart's content.

You may choose to jazz up this vegetable bread with some walnuts or golden raisins. The result of this bread is a moist spongy texture that will last for about one week.

Labels: dessert, lemon, spices, zucchini

Butter fish - or black forrest cod or something like that - is my most recent overpriced purchase from WholeCheck (Whole Foods to you folks who just buy your eggs there). The fish monger told me that this fish would satisfy my request: a fish that isn't overpowering, has more flavor than tilapia, and a texture that melts in your mouth. It surely did all those things, and more.

As you can see from the picture, the fish is rather small and is sold with the skin on one side, but the bones removed. I was told that this fish has the highest concentration of Omega-3 Fatty Acids, is low in fat - despite its heavenly texture like a stick of butter - and most important, is in season and isn't farm raised.

I took my two fishes and literally two loaves home and made a very simple dinner of calabasas (squash) and fish, paired with pan toasted garlic bread. I've posted this blog to help you gauge cooking times in light of the fact that my boyfriend prefers a medium to medium-well fish, and I prefer medium rare.

You will need:

- Lemon (fresh)
- Sea salt & pepper
- garlic (fresh)
- olive oil

Step One: Rinse the fish under cold water and pat dry with a paper towel. Sprinkle sea salt and fresh ground pepper over the top.

Step Two: In a saute pan over medium heat, add 2 tbsp of olive oil, 2 crushed garlic cloves, and cook until garlic is a little toasty brown.

Step Three: Add the butter fish, skin side down, and cook for 4 minutes for medium-rare, and 7 minutes for medium cooked fish. Squeeze one half lemon over raw side.

Step Four: Flip and cook the meat side down for 3 minutes, (MR), and 5 minutes (M). The fish I bought was not too thick, so cooking time can vary.

Serve with a simple salad or side of veggies.

Labels: fish