If you simply thaw the whole frozen okra you will find that the blanching process has cooked them sufficently to eat as is, and my bet is that you won't think they are slimy.
I thaw in a colander and rinse with cool water to make sure the "freezer smell" is rinsed off.
Not a fan of most frozen vegetables but these are pretty good, and very simple.
On the previous subject of collard greens, I picked up a copy of Mary Mac's Tearoom cookbook, and discovered why I've been having difficulty getting my collards to come out right -- I was aiming for the taste of turnip greens! While in Richmond, I had greens with every meal -- Richmond is far enough south that greens are treated well, very well indeed. Still craving collards, though, I think I must need iron.
Mary Mac's cookbook is very interesting from a historial perspective -- pretty much every recipe starts with a square of fatback, sliced thin. Reminds me of the way I used to cook, I didn't even know how to cook vegetables without bacon, pork fat, smoked ham hocks, pork broth, etc.
Nick won't eat pork at all, and I was trying to lower cholesterol anyway, so have been struggling to achieve a good flavor with olive oil and chicken broth. Pretty much there, except for the greens.
In the South, traditionally people (white and black) ate little beef, mostly pork, chicken and fish. Not much wheat, mostly corn. And as I described, vegetables in pork fat and/or pork broth. I don't know much about the experiences of other ethnicities in the South, it can't have been easy. |
