20 June 2016

Spicy pan-roasted okra with onions and garlic

You might remember that I bought a couple of kilograms of okra at the Grand Frais market in Vineuil, outside Blois, a few weeks ago. I blanched them and froze them on trays so that I can easily take out and cook as many as I want, when I want. Yesterday, I wanted.


In my web surfing and reading, I found several recipes for okra and onions cooked with spices including cumin, turmeric, and coriander, along with hot red pepper and lemon juice. I adapted that by adding garlic to the mix and using Chardonnay wine vinegar instead of citrus. The Maille vinegar has an expecially bright taste that I really like. Another white wine or a cider vinegar would also be good in this. Or lime juice, for example.


After the onions and garlic are sautéed in oil and starting to brown, the frozen okra pods go into the pan. Don't thaw them first; let the heat of the pan do it.


Then add the spices and let the okra cook with them for about 10 minutes. At that point add the vinegar (or lime or lemon juice) and either a teaspoon or so of sugar or some sweet wine like hon mirin (a rice wine) or even a sweet French wine like Monbazillac, Muscat, or Vouvray. I always favor sweet wine over sugar in my cooking. Let the okra simmer and steam partially covered for another four or five minutes, or until tender.


Then it's ready. You might notice that I added some little potatoes to the mix, mainly because I had them already cooked and in the fridge. They're nice little yellow-fleshed boiling potatoes grown in the Saint-Malo area of Brittany — French Yukon Golds, you might call them. I got a bag of them at the supermarket.


To go with the okra, Walt grilled a duck breast that I had rubbed with a mixture of spices like the spice blend I used in the okra, but with some smoked paprika and ground cloves added. You score the duck skin with a sharp knife before marinating and then grilling it, letting the spices penetrate into the meat and preventing the breast filet from curling as it cooks.

Here's a recipe for the okra and onions. You can use either fresh or frozen okra for this one, and I think cooking broad flat Roma green beans this way would be really good too.

Spicy pan-roasted okra with onions and garlic

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 medium onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, sliced
400 g frozen okra pods (just shy of a pound)
½ tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. ground coriander
¾ tsp. salt
½ tsp. black pepper
½ tsp. ground turmeric
½ tsp. hot red pepper flakes (or more to taste)
1 Tbsp. white wine vinegar or lemon juice
1 or 2 tsp. sweet white wine

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté for three or four minutes. Add the frozen or fresh okra pods to the pan with the spices. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring to blend all the flavors. Finally, add the vinegar and wine. Loosely cover the pan to steam the okra for a minute or two, and then remove the cover and let the liquid reduce slightly.

Cooked this way, the okra didn't have any of the dreaded "silkiness" (aka "slimy texture") that people often associate with the vegetable. I think the vinegar and wine added at the end dissolve the okra juice. The potatoes turned out to be a good addition, but this okra would be really good served with rice — meatless if you prefer.

26 comments:

  1. I sure wish I were there! Well!
    What did you do with the carrots you told me about? A velouté, like me?

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    1. Haven't done anything with the carrots yet. They'll keep for a few more days. I might make honey-glazed carrots with them.

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    2. Hi chm, this is off topic, so my apologies, but I thought you might find today's temperatures in your old stomping grounds of interest. Palm Springs is reporting 127 degrees and Salton City 118.

      Here in West Hollywood we are 102 degrees. Of course these are all records.

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    3. That is incredible, D. For the °F-challenged, 127°F is 53°C, whereas 118°F is "only" 48°C.

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    4. That is incredible, D. For the °F-challenged, 127°F is 53°C, whereas 118°F is "only" 48°C.

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    5. In July 2005, if I recall correctly, the mercury went up to 129°F (54°C) in Palm Springs. I don't know what is was in Salton City, but is was hot!

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  2. In case anyone is wondering... those spices on the left in the photo are not from San Francisco. They're just spice jars that we saved from that time (over thirteen years ago now) and refill over and over.

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    1. Good to know because i was wondering if Ken brought those spices back from North Carolina recently!

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    2. We buy the spices in bulk at the Paris Store in Tours-Nord, at the Asia Store in Blois, or at Grand Frais in Vineuil. Then we refill our jars.

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    3. I buy spices in bulk also and the empty jam jars from Bonne Maman or similar come in handy . With a printer, one can make labels and those jars are good since they are stackable .

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    4. I save favorite jars also. What a yummy non slimy way to eat okra!

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    5. I've found another couple of okra recipes I want to try, but they require fresh okra. Next time...

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  3. wish we could get duck .....love it

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    1. and i wish i could get okra without driving many miles to hunt it down. somebody in n.c. must be raising and selling ducks.

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  4. Melinda, look at this. How far are you from, say, Waynesville?

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  5. I would like to try this....I looked on amazon for a Maille white wine vinegar and they had only one which was $50.00 plus for 8 ounces...I'll need to look for another choice!

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  6. Don't let the vinegar stop you. Use lemon or lime juice, or a good cider vinegar. I'm sure you can get good white wine vinegars there as well.

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    1. I will not let this stop me! Thank you for the ideas.

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  7. http://www.maille.com/fr_FR/
    click on US and see if you can find it near you , the stores often ship so see if that will work.
    If not, let me know and I will see if I can find it where I live and mail you a bottle.

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    1. Thank you! I had fun at the Maille site and only let myself be slightly carried away. What fun.

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  8. If you need to order wine vinegar from Amazon, you could try this one for $6 or $7 a bottle. But as I said, another whie wine vinegar or cider vinegar would be fine. Or lemon juice.

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    1. Done! Thank you....I already have a nice collection of vinegar, but this will be a nice addition.

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  9. Ken, the duck breast and okra look fantastic. A nice savory combination.

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    1. I have to say it was all really good. Walt has the grilling of the duck breast down pat.

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    2. I have to say it was all really good. Walt has the grilling of the duck breast down pat.

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