The Flowering of Friendship...

And in my Inbox this morning, this wonderful recipe that comes via our new friends in New York, by way of Athens, Greece....see the network unfolding?  From New York to New Zealand, from North Devon, England to Genoa, Italy, from Kentucky to the Blue Ridge to the Pacific Northwest, from Arkansas to Louisiana and back again (Marlene).... and all places in between, including right next door!  What a far-flung delight you all are!  Here's a dynamite recipe for Okra as we visit that vegetable one last time this season (almost over!).  Thank you so much, Miriam! (as I turn this forum over to her):

Aunt Mary Avgorou’s Greek Okra & Tomatoes



(This is how Desma’s Aunt Mary in Athens deals with okra. We caught her in the act. The simple greatness of this recipe is that it allows okra’s amazing mucilaginity to make a neat meeting with the sweet sharp juiciness of tomato)


(We were at your farm, Elora, on a hot sunny afternoon in early September, cuz we were just visiting our friends Chris & Torula and they thought we’d like to meet you. We harvested about 1 lb of okra, and you gave us a heap of heavy ripe tomatoes, and we took it back to Sassafras and cooked it all up for a feast that night)

INGREDIENTS

1 lb okra tender enough at harvesting to admit a tiny knife with very little resistance. Wash but do not trim the top or the tip
1/3 c olive oil 1 ½ c chopped onion
3 – 4 green or red/green peppers, torn into pieces, not sliced
¼ - ½ c Coarsely chopped parsley
(Optional:   make half of it parsley, ½ of it chopped fresh oregano)
2 lbs cut up fresh tomatoes
2-3 cups tomato sauce or tomato juice
      OR canned tomatoes with sauce
Salt & pepper

METHOD

• Simmer the onions & peppers in the olive oil until they are tender add the okra, stirring off & on for 10 minutes, keep the heat low.
• Add tomatoes and juice/sauce and parsley/oregano, raise heat till it seethes, then lower to simmer and cover. Add salt & pepper


• Check regularly as it simmers for an hour or so. It’s ready to eat when the okra is tender enough to break up with a wooden spoon.


• This keeps well and is even better the next day
                               
                                                                                 From Miriam in New York

PS (Elora's note, here):  --Don't fail to check out Miriam's comment on "the gloaming" in comments on yesterday's post ...it amplifies both our diversity and our connectedness.