A mother-daughter conversation on food and cooking (mostly)
I needed to use some problematic okra from the garden--some was old and pretty tough, and some was young and tender, and there wasn't very much of either. I started out with
Paula Deen's gumbo recipe, and made a few modifications, as usual. I used chicken thighs instead of breasts. I used butter instead of margarine and cut down on the fat amounts a bit. Also, I didn't have 5 bouillon cubes (!) so I used two chicken ones.
I sliced the elderly okra and threw it in when the recipe suggested. Then I steamed the baby okra separately and garnished each bowl with a few of those. It was so pretty, and gave the okra its due.
Mark arrived for a visit last night, and I made gumbo. Seriously, a food that contains sausage, shellfish, and
okra -- could there be anything holier? The recipe was a hybrid of several Prudhomme recipes -- spice mixture from one, okra instructions from another, andouille amounts from a third. I made the stock from several batches of shrimp shells saved up in the freezer and toasted in a dry hot pan before being simmered for about an hour. I added garden tomatoes as well. And we happened to have some leftover smoked chicken, which rounded everything out.
It was the kind of chopping- and stirring-intensive meal perfect for three people standing around in the kitchen drinking too much. We moved from gin and tonics to Yuengling to pinot noir to scotch, and this morning we all feel it more than a little. Fortunately there is gumbo for breakfast.
