Good Gumbo Recipe That Has Okra

Here are a few links

http://southernfood.about.com/library/weekly/aa081401b.htm

http://www.africhef.com/Okra-Recipes.html

http://southernfood.about.com/library/weekly/aa081401a.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tv0sp_buZaw

Please let me know how it goes - I LOVE Okra!

A.

What I do when I start making gumbo, jambalaya, & etoffee (all 3 of which have RABID followers)... is to start googling. There are whole sites devoted to those 3 dishes. The first two always have the "holy trinity" (onions, celery, & green peppers)... but everything else is up for grabs. Anyhow... I find 5 or 6 recipes I like the sound of... and then I mix them up together. So say one has sage but another has crawdads... and I like the sound of both: mine will end up with sage and crawdads. My gumbos, jambalayas, and etoffees never come out the same, and they're always killer because I steal very very freely. The only way to ruin a gumbo is by cooking it too hot (so the starches burn to the bottom of the pot creating a coffee flavor)... but you can literally stone soup a gumbo or jambalaya with ANYTHING. In fact, my personal fav of all of the Gs & Js I've made was actually 1/2G and 1/2J.

They're all about having fun and "throwin what ya fine in de pot" and letting the magic happen. As long as you've got the holy trinity... you're golden.

I was never really "big" into the slime that is okra ;) until I found and altered a gumbo recipe to my liking. It was originally from a cancer prevention cookbook, but like I said, I altered it a bit, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE this recipe. It has a flavor similar to Campbell's Gumbo soup, but is so much more hearty, filling, and delicious. (I don't do canned soup usually, unless it's to throw into another recipe...) I could eat this meals at a time. It makes enough to do that too, so cut it in half if you're not feeding too many. It's kind of a long recipe, but hopefully you'll love it to, so bear with me...
2 large chicken breasts
8+ cups of water (do more if you don't want a thick result at the end)
4 tsp. chicken bouillon
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (more if you like more spicy)
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp. dried sage
1 tsp thyme
2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp pepper
1 can tomato sauce (or I have used a quart bottle of home bottled tomatoes instead, I think)
1 med. onion, chopped
2 cups okra, sliced (can use frozen)
1 1/2 stalks celery, sliced
2 cups corn (frozen, canned, etc.)
1 large bell pepper, chopped
2 med. tomatoes, chopped
3 TBS butter
3 TBS flour
1 1/2- 2 cups cooked rice
If necessary, cook the rice while you follow the remaining instructions. Boil the chicken in water in a large pot until cooked through. While it is cooking, add the spices, bouillon, garlic, salt, and pepper. Remove chicken when it is cooked. Add tomato sauce to the water left in the pot. Wash and chop/slice the vegetables and add all to the pot except tomatoes. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and return to the pot. If you have time, simmer the ingredients for as long as you can. It just blends the flavors better. However, in a rush, I have just moved on to the next steps as long as the veggies are cooked. Add the tomatoes about 5-10 min. before serving the soup to keep their shape better. In a separate small saucepan, melt the butter and add the flour gradually, stirring constantly until the mixture turns a nice golden-brown. Add the butter flour mixture to the soup in the big pot and then add the rice and heat through. If the final mixture is too thick for you, add more water and possibly more bouillon if it waters down the taste too much. **I'm assuming you could also boil a whole chicken and then debone it and put in the chicken pieces, which would also eliminate or lessen the need for as much bouillon, but I'm too lazy to do that usually. This seems to taste better for me each day it sits, so it definitely makes for good leftovers too! Good luck!

Get the dry Roux and it has a great recipe for chicken and sausage gumbo using okra.

It is also fun to just boil okra and then salt it when it's done. Eat them with a fresh salad or some fresh tomatoes.

Google uses for Okra. I have been to a dinner where I had a casserole with okra in it and it was great. Also I have had spaghetti with okra in it and it was pretty good also...But fried is my favorite..

wow, this all sounds great. I just wanted to tell you now i'm hungry! Whens dinner??? How far are you from Tampa! jk... I didn't know we could grow okra in florida!! Now I'm gonn try.

My girlfriend uses Paula Deen's gumbo recipe from foodnetwork.com and it is yummy!

I usually dress up the Zatarain's gumbo you find in the store. Usually I am all about making everything from scratch, but gumbo took a while and it wasn't that great. I add stewed tomatoes, okra , sausage, shrimp and sometimes corn.

We bake our okra instead of frying. Basically I use the same recipe, but I spray a pan with cooking spray and then spray the okra and bake at 475 for 15 minutes, then turn them and bake for an additional 15 minutes. It's not quite as yummy, but still pretty good. It can be pickled, not my favorite, but my hubby and kids like it. Sometimes I will saute it with a little onion, tomato and garlic in olive oil. Add a little salt and pepper and it makes a good side dish. And if you like Indian food, this one is pretty good. http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/easy-indian-style-okra/Deta...

Our garden always produces a ton all at once. Last year there was NO way to keep up with it. I wound up freezing it. So we have enjoyed it throughout the year. You have to par boil it first, but it's easy. Here are some directions:http://www.pickyourown.org/okra_freezing.htm

For Gumbo: use onion, garlic, chopped tomatoe, and if a meat eater, add sausage (cooked first)

For Vegans: fresh corn off the cob, minced onion, sliced okra, cherry tomatoes and nuts (walnuts or pecans) all uncooked. Add fine chopped parsley for taste and color

This is the real deal hollifield of gumbo. Ga - run - tee

saute onion, bell peppers, and celery in butter. add flour and cook over low to medium heat stirring constantly until light brown or peanut butter color- this is your roux and it will thicken the gumbo and add a rich depth of flavor. Add cut up fresh okra, a either fresh or a big can of tomatoes - chopped, diced, stewed, doesn't matter much. a can of tomato paste, chopped garlic, water, uncooked rice, chopped or shredded cooked chicken, any seafood you like (shrimp. clams, mussels, whatever) and seasonings. A couple bay leafs, basil, oregeno, chili powder, cajun spice, whatever you like to taste. if you want to be authentic, you can add just a little gumbo file at the very end (it's a concentrated sassafrass herb that's supposed to thicken, but it's very potent, so be careful) Simmer and enjoy.

You can use Okra in your beef stew, and need to add it at the last minute after the meat is cook. You can make rice, peas, and add okra. You can make soup, and add okra. You can add it to corn meal, or just eat it as a side dish and I never fried Okra. Good luck.