OKRA, part one

Okra. Not orca (as in whale) or oprah (as in tv host). The weird green sorta-looks-like-a-pepper vegetable that for some reason people adore in this state I am living in. Every barbecue joint around here serves fried okra.

The farmer's market bounty.  Looks like I need to buy a cornucopia.

I've eaten okra before, usually fried, but never actually touched a fresh one until today.  Royall got close to two pounds of it at the farmer's market this morning.  It has a fuzzy layer on the outside like a peach and a mysterious goo with a texture that is not un-like spit on the inside.  I tried it raw and it was nothing spectacular- kind of sweet, pretty bland.

Oooey-gooey.  This is why people use it to thicken soups.

Ooey-gooey, take two.

So, what is the first thing you do with a vegetable that you don't know how to properly cook?  If you live in the south, the answer is: fry it.

I googled how to fry okra and came up with this conglomerate of a recipe:

1. Cut okra.

2.  Place in ice water in the fridge for an hour.

Add salt to ice water.

3.  Drain and dredge in cornmeal, salt and pepper.

I double dredged: coated once, let it sit for a few minutes and coated again.  EXTRA CRISPY!

4.  Fry for 4-5 minutes at 375 or so.  

Our fryer is banished to the storage closet.  New house, new rules.  No frying inside, it makes everything smell!

Don't they look like tater-tots?

Don't worry, OKRA, part two is healthier.  Much healthier.

The Vegan WASP delight: HUMMUS

First of all, I think hummus needs to be renamed so it doesn't sound like it tastes gross. It's too close to "haggis" for my liking. Not sure what you could call it though. Wasps say "chickpeas", everyone else says "garbanzo beans". Maybe we could rename it creamy chickpea dip. Although that's terribly boring. Leave some new name ideas in the comments if you think of any good ones.

Total time to make this recipe is about a day, if you count soaking the dried beans overnight. Besides the soaking, it takes about an hour and a half.

You'll need:

1 cup dried chick peas, which grows to about 2 cups after soaking

1 cup of tahini (ground sesame seeds, you should be able to find this at most grocery stores near olives, etc.)

5 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons lemon juice

some water that is left over from boiled chickpeas (about 3-4 tablespoons)

2 cloves garlic (I used 1/2 clove because I'm wimpy when it comes to garlic)

1/2 teaspoon cumin

dash of paprika

salt & pepper

parsley for garnish if you wanna get all fancy pants

ak-mak crackers for dipping, any carb should work though


FYI: This recipe is adapted from a Jewish heritage website.


DIRECTIONS:

1. Soak beans overnight in water. I dumped out the old water and put in fresh water a few times.

2. Simmer for an hour or until they are tender. Add water as needed. Drain, but save some liquid in case you need to thin the hummus. Note: my stove top isn't dirty. That's where the melted tea kettle metal leaked and ruined the enamel... long story.


3. Put all the goods into a food processor for a couple minutes. You may find that it's too thick and needs more lemon juice or liquid added. Play around with it until you get the consistency you want.


4. Drizzle with olive oil if you want. I also sprinkled paprika and sesame seeds on top. I like to eat my hummus with ak maks, they are really good crackers!


Voila! That wasn't too hard! I think this is the best hummus recipe I've ever made. Maybe it's because I used the dried and cooked beans instead of using canned beans. Maybe it's the amount of tahini, most recipes don't call for that much. OR maybe it's because I'm awesome.