There’s a dark underbelly to the beauty of the CSA box: the stuff we don’t use. So I have a confession to make. I’ve never cooked okra before. I either let it go bad, or trade it in for something else when I get it in my CSA box. I like it deep fried, but I’m not much of a deep-frier at home and my other experiences with it have been kind of yucky. But I decided this week I would use that okra, dammit!

So I found this recipe for gumbo (which I’ve also never made) that looked fairly simple. And it’s an Emeril recipe, so it’s bound to be good. And it was! The only thing I didn’t count on was cooking okra down takes at least as long as making a roux. So my happily playing toddler was mightily pissed off by the time I finished. And since the last step is frying the shrimp, it was a little tricky with someone trying to climb my leg and howling. Anyway, on to the food:

Shrimp stock! I was going to buy a lobster bullion I'd used before for this, but the fishmonger at Central Market convinced me to make my own stock. It was easy! I used the shells from the easy peel shrimp, fried them in oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, added and cooked a little tomato paste, covered with water, and simmered. I made about three cups and froze the one I had left.

Lovely CSA okra, peppers, onions, and garlic with spices and celery.

Cooking everything up together with a can of fire roasted tomatoes. Cooking the slime out of the okra takes a while.

Finished! I served it with white rice and it was delish. And despite all the whining, the toddler loved it too.