Okra's on. DONT TURN OFF THE SET

You mention okra to people, and you'll get a v ery strong reaction. They either love it, or they hate it. It's you folks who say you hate it who shouldn't turn off the set. Pay attention I'm going to teach you how to at least like it, and maybe love it.
What most turns people off to okra, I have found, is , let's face it, it's "sliminess." When you cut okra, especially larger pods of it, a thick, sticky sap comes out that really is not all that pleasant. You can avoid it somewhat, by using the smaller pods, but you can't avoid it. I have read about two dozen different techniques to avoid it, and I've tried them all. None of them work.

BUT... there is an easy solution to this problem. Have you figured it out yet?
If you only get the sliminess when you cut the okra....DONT CUT IT. I'm serious about that. Using it whole, avoids this problem. And cooking it in certain ways avoids it to. Deep fried, cornmeal batter dipped okra is wonderful, but let's face it. As someone once said on "Top Chef," "you could deep fry a big toe and it would taste good." And you know, that's probably true. I have found that very quick stirfrying of very thinly sliced okra will avoid the problem as well. I have no expertise in Indian cooking, but "bhindi" dishes, which are based on okra, have never presented that issue to me. I will leave Indian cooking to those better adept at it than I am, however.

As it is a late season staple in the markets, I set out to find a good way to make it. And I have one. You're going to love it, first of all because it's easy, second of all, because it tastes good, and third of all, because you have a tremendous about of freedom in how you make it.

This is based on a classic creole cooking technique, called "macque choux." I have no idea what that means, but if you see "macque choux," it means corn and tomatoes have been sauteed together. And they are in this dish. Together with other vegetables, and whole, small okra. Here we go.

First, you need an onion type of vegetable, sliced up. The recipe as I read it called for six scallions. I did not have any scallions in the house, and was going to use an onion, but then my eyes fell on a leek, so I finely sliced one leek.
The recipe also called for a green pepper. I assumed I would be able to find green pepper at our small farmers market. WRONG. BUT... I had a few small fennel bulbs in the house. The fennel adds crunch, but of course, you lose the bold flavor of a green pepper. I think the important thing is to just get something bulky and crunchy in there. Dice it up and put it aside.
The recipe also called for a diced jalapeno pepper. ONE of them
Get real. ONE jalapeno pepper? HUH?????? Well, I didn't have any anyway, but I had green serranos. I used three, diced, with their seeds. This gave a slight heat to the dish. Use more if you like spicier food.

Finally, the key ingredients: get the kernels off of four ears of corn (any way you can. I am not a fan of those corn kernel removers. They usually leave me with corn all over the floor and a cut finger. I just break the ears in half, and run a knife up and down, and then take the back of the knife and rub the cob to get the sweet sap). You also need a pound of chopped tomatoes (in a dish like this, don't bother with heirlooms. Save them for salads. Good old beefsteaks are fine). And.... one pound of okra. Trim off the stem ends so that they are even, but don't cut into the pod.
You are also going to need two cups of liquid of some kind. I happened to have a wonderful product, yellow tomato water, at hand. But you could use water, you could use stock, you could use tomato juice. Don't use sauce: too thick and too strong. Finally, 3 tablespoons of butter.

Ok, let's cook. In a 12 inch pan, add the butter, the onion, the crispy vegetable and the peppers. Cook this at a medium flame, until the onion thing begins to brown. That's going to take six-7 minutes . After that has happened, add the tomatoes, and about a teaspoon of salt. You want to cook this until the tomatoes break down into a saucy kind of product. Be careful. I was glad to have the liquid because my tomatoes were getting very dry, and the liquid was a big help. Cook them for about 12 minutes and then add the corn and the okra, and stir everything together, lower the heat, and stir every few minutes, for about fifteen minutes.

For the first ten minutes 0r so, you will wonder if anything is happening. The corn and okra will stay resilient. But... in the last five or so, the okra will begin to lose its strong color, the kernels will begin to soften, and some liquid will be released from the corn. And then... the liquid will thicken. What's going on? Any guesses?
Anyone remember where CORN STARCH comes from? Hmmmmm? So, put some more liquid in, if you like. After fifteen minutes or so, pull out a small okra pod and taste it. Is it soft enough for you? If it is, check the seasoning, and you're done. If not, cook it for a few more minutes.

I stirred in a big handful of Italian parsley at the end, but that's hardly necessary. You could also add some more hot peppers at the end if you liked.

I'm going to make this again, and I'm going to add some fresh shell beans to it. That will make it more like an okra succotash, and there ain't nuthin wrong with that.

So, Eyetalian met New Orleans, and this dish came out of it. Try it. Try it just once. You may change your mind about okra after this.