Okra (is not my friend)
May 25, 2007
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!
Chile Rellenos
March 27, 2006
Chile comes in many varieties called Capsicum. Chile is native to the Americas and was first cultivated in Mexico over 5000 years ago. Chile is really a hollow fruit that encloses seeds coated with the chemical capsaicin that escapes into the inner wall of the chile and gives the chile its heat. The amount of capsaicin increases when that chile is grown in hot places with little water (like New Mexico), and decreases when the chile turn from green to red. Capsaisin suprisingly does not create ulcers, but rather, has many health benefits for the body, including increasing our metabolism, decreasing appetite preventing overeating, and inducing our body to sweat, causing us to burn more calories. So eat up!
The poblano peppers used for this dish are large, dark green peppers that require some intensive preparation. I propose that you prep them the night before you eat them so that you won't slave for hours over this dish. You can also put some beans in the crock pot the night before too (see blog post 10/18/05) and then "refry" the beans the day you want to eat this dish.
You will need: 2 c of shredded jack cheese; 4 poblano peppers; toothpicks; 3 eggs; medium skillet (castiron is best) and 3/4 c of vegetable oil for frying.
Step One: Turn the oven on broil. Place your peppers on a cookie sheet and put them in the oven. Cook these for 4 minutes, turn the peppers so each side is cooked. The skin will blister and turn black. Remove from the oven after each side is cooked and place immediately into a grocery bag or bowl and cover with saran wrap. Cover the bag or the bowl with a dish towel to retain the heat.
Step Two: After 10 minutes, remove the chile and peel the skins off. Gently make a long slit in the chile and remove the seeds.
Step Three: Stuff each pepper with cheese and close the slit by threading a toothpick into the chile. Refridgerate until you are ready to cook these.
When you are ready to cook these, start here:
Step One: Separate the yolks from the whites of the eggs. Place the whites in a mixing bowl and whip or beat on high with a mixer. When the whites stiffen, then fold in the yolks. This is the "batter" for the rellenos.
Step Two: In a castiron skillet or medium skillet, place vegetable oil in pan and warm over medium heat.
Step Three: Dip the stuffed peppers into the egg mixture using your hands. Remove and immediately place in frying pan with hot oil. Cook on each side for 4 minutes or until egg mixture turns golden brown. Place each cooked pepper on a paper towel to drain off excess oil before serving.
Step Four: Serve the rellenos (stuffed peppers) with a side of refried beans. You can use the beans you cooked in the crock pot (see blog post 10/18/05) and simply place them in a skillet with 3 tbslp of hot vegetable oil. Let the liquid cook off and mash. Add salt to taste and serve.
Labels: cheese, eggs, fried, pasilla peppers
