Tuesday, July 26, 2011

OH, MY STARS!


I remember the gooey, slimy goodness these peculiar pods released when my mom added them to her homemade chicken soup (I'll share the recipe come Fall). Everybody's mom makes the best chicken soup ever, but my mom's was really over the top! "Quimbobo", she called them... aka, okra. Just the sight of them brings back memories, and I can almost see her stirring up a batch.


Sadly, with their lack of availability and high price tag, okra pods vanished from my life for some time making my variation of her soup incomplete. 

As I saw it, the only solution was to grow my own okra. A fairly no-fuss plant, it is as pretty as it is unusual, wearing its hibiscus-shaped flowers like accessories and its odd pods like ornaments. My mom would have loved the flowers, and at every chance, I rush to the garden where the okra grows to enjoy the sweet memory of her stirring the soup and feel the warm comfort of her spirit.





















Too hot to make soup and too anxious to taste my hand-grown pods, I decided to create my own recipe. Thus, the first few pods of the season were the "stars" of last night's Christmas in July dinner... literally!
   
RECIPE 5:

STARS OF WONDER
Ingredients:
The Holidays
Fond Memories
Millionaire & Red Burgundy Okra Pods
Golden Zucchini
Tigerella Tomatoes
Garlic Clove
Small To Medium Onion

Salt, Pepper & Olive Oil

Directions:
If this recipe was any easier, it would make itself. First, go to the garden and gather your gifts. Slice the pods... they're naturally star-shaped. Dice the golden zucchini and onions. Quarter the Tigerellas, crush the clove and set everything aside. Season with a dash of pepper and a sprinkle of salt, but no more. Let the flavors of fresh-from-the-garden veggies speak for themselves. Heat a drizzle of olive oil and sauté the garlic first, then the onions until transparent. Toss in the zucchini, Tigerellas and add the "stars". Cook until softened. Serve on a bed of pasta or as a side dish to your main course.

2 comments:

Velva said...

Okra, a love it, or hate it vegetable. I love it when someone else prepares it. I never seem to quite cook it right. Beautiful.

Velva

The Country Cardinal said...

You are so right. Prior to this, I've only experienced okra in the chicken soup, but I plan try lots of recipes. And likewise, tomato recipes... like your Roasted Tomato Soup. Looks sooo good!