Oh! You Cook!

This is the okra I served with my Baked Chicken and Peaches and Cornbread the other day.  Before you make a face (I see you starting to), consider making this version.   The sauce almost hides the ...  uh ... different taste.  No, seriously, I like the stuff!

Granted my hubby and YoungerSon wouldn't touch it, but many other people in many other families have eaten curried okra and didn't die.  OK, so a raving review this isn't.  But broccoli and string beans can get boring at times, and since I'm doin' the cookin' I gets to decide on the side dish. So there.

If you happen to have stone-ground mustard with horseradish, use it instead.  The dish will be more delish and complex.















Curried Okra
Serves 4-6

1 bag (16 ozs.) frozen okra
1 tsp. prepared stone-ground brown mustard
1 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. crushed pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. curry powder

In a covered 2-quart baking dish, microcook the frozen okra on high for 3 minutes (the okra …

This recipe is based on one from Eating Well.  It's uses only 2 tablespoons of oil, so it's healthier than my "company version" which uses a whole stick o'butter.  I thought this version was a bit dry, however youngerSon and Hubby went to town on it.

Since I was serving the cornbread with chicken, the buttermilk had to go.  One of my vegan cookbooks recommended mixing vinegar into soy milk as a substitute so I tried it here.  Works beautifully!

You can cut a few calories from the final result by using cooking spray to grease the pan, but margarine makes for a crunchier crust, IMHO.   The baking pan is heated before adding the batter to give the cornbread an even crispier crust.

Cornbread
Makes 9 servings

Margarine for coating baking pan
1 1/4 cups soy milk
2 Tbs. white vinegar
1 1/4 cups cornmeal
3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
3 Tbl. granulated sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 large egg
2 Tbs. vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 375F.…

I spend much of the early afternoon schlepping around 40 pound bags o'topsoil and planting cannas and zinnias in the front of my house.  For some reason, my back hurt afterward.  So dinner had to be rather easy to put together and not have directions that included standing for any length of time.

I vaguely remembered that last month the local newspaper had a recipe for chicken with fresh peaches and basil.  Except I didn't have the fresh peaches called for.  And I used up the frozen basil.  Luckily some parsley was still in the freezer.  And a can of peach halves was taking up space in the pantry.  So that, plus a few other changes, and voila!  I created my own new recipe!

Next to the frozen parsley was frozen okra, so I grabbed that and made it, Indian-spice style.  I'll post that recipe in a day or two.

And while digging through my recipe file for the okra recipe I rediscovered one of my cornbread recipes!  Woo-hoo, a southern feast!  The cornbread recipe will get posted af…