| Makes: | 6 servings |
| Prep Time: | 20 minutes |
| Cook Time: | 3 hours, 0 minutes |
| Ready In: | 3 hours, 20 minutes |
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Most people now realize that okra and the word "gumbo", which means okra in some parts of Africa, mean the same thing. Not to be confused with the gumbo type soup that Cajuns have become well-known for. So this means that you can make a gumbo of gumbo. Have you confused? That is ok...what I will give you here is an easy way and non-tiring way to cook okra and then to make an okra gumbo. |
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| Ingredients |
| 3 one pound bags of cut okra |
2 tbsp canola oil (my preference although any oil will do) |
| 1 can Rotel Brand tomatoes |
1 cut up yellow onion |
| 1 cut up bell pepper |
Gumbo Fixings |
| 1 package of 6 chicken breast (or more) |
1 pound shrimp (optional) |
| 4 to 6 boiled eggs |
2 tbsp dry or wet roux (optional) |
| 2 tbsp Wylers chicken granules (optional) |
salt to taste |
| black pepper to taste |
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| Directions |
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Defrost the frozen okra in a microwave or at room temperature. In a large Magnalite pot or Dutch oven (need cover), spray with Pam or add the oil. On the stovetop add the okra, the chopped onion and bell pepper and the can of Rotel. Stir and heat until the pot is warm. This is done to speed the cooking process. Cover the pot and place in the preheated oven. Set your timer for 1 hour. Take out and stir thoroughly. Repeat this step at 1/2 hour intervals. After two hours you can judge if you need to cook longer. Do so by continuing the step.
Editor's Note - What I like to do is cook this dish in the late evening I cook it for two hours and then turn off my oven and leave it in the oven until the next morning. The heat left in the oven will continue to smother ("cook it down") the okra. No need to stir. At this point it will look just like you remember Momma's smothered okra. Boil your eggs at any time. After your okra is cooked by whichever method, fill your gumbo pot with 5 quarts of water (more or less), add the cooked okra directly to your water, along with the chicken granules and the optional roux. I like to add the roux for extra flavor. The old cooks never added roux to this gumbo; so if you do not have roux, no problem.
Cook over medium to high heat until the gumbo boils. Add the chicken and continue cooking for 45 minutes to an hour. You may need to add water to your base. In the last ten minutes of cooking, season to taste and add the shrimp and boiled eggs all of which is optional. You can put anything you like in a gumbo. The original meat in the old time version of this dish was only shrimp and egg. Serve over rice and enjoy. Remember the French bread to soak up the juices. |
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