Okra Gumbo

Ingredients

Protein and stock

• Riverview Farms offers pork options, such as ham, and pork sausage

• Grass Roots Farm offers chicken, chicken sausage, duck sausage, and Andouille

• Stone Mountain Herbs (they wont be at the market this Saturday but return on September 13th) offers a dried stock blend that can add a nutritional and flavor value that is out of this world.

• Sparta Imperial Mushrooms offers mushrooms that would be a great addition to any locally inspired gumbo.

Veggies and Herbs

• Woodland Gardens, Riverview Farms, Rise N Shine Farm, Hickory Hill Farm, Goodness Groceries, and 3 Porch Farm offer oka, peppers, celery, onions, garlic, tomatoes and more for the perfect gumbo recipe.

Directions

1. Grab the ingredients this Saturday at our OKRA Day and bring friends and family together to create your own version of Gumbo!

2. Clean and cut up the chicken. Cut the ham into small squares or dice and chop the onions and herbs. Skin the tomatoes, and chop fine, saving the juice. Wash and stem the okra and slice into thin layers of one-half inch each. In a separate pot, bring 3 quarts of water to a smiling boil.

3. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil or butter in a large dutch oven until glistening. Add the proteins, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the onions, tomatoes, and herbs. Stir frequently to prevent scorching.

4. Add the okra, stirring frequently to prevent scorching. When the gumbo mixture is well fried and browned, add the boiling water and set on a very slow fire, letting it simmer gently for about an hour longer.

5. Serve hot, over your favorite rice.

Okra is in the Mallow family and is grown in tropical, subtropical and warm temperate regions around the world. The word okra is used mainly in the United States and is related to the Nigerian word okwuru. In French the word okra is gombo sounding a lot like gumbo a popular dish that originated in southern Louisiana from the Louisiana Creole people during the 18th century. Gumbo consists of a strongly flavored stock, veggies, meat or shellfish, a thickener, and seasoning vegetables, which can include celery, bell peppers and onions.

As a shopper of Freedom Farmers Market you can get all the ingredients for gumbo at the market. Gumbo is a process and one should always use what is available at the local farmers market for the ingredients and the inspiration.

Shishitos, Sauteed

Ingredients

1 tsp Olive Oil

1 pint shishito peppers

sea salt (Beautiful Briny or 3 Porch Farm)

lemon juice (one fresh quarter wedge or 1 tbs

Directions

1. Heat a little olive oil in a wide sauté pan until it is good and hot but not smoking. Add the peppers and cook them over medium, tossing and turning them frequently until they blister. They shouldn't char except in places. Don't rush. It takes 10 to 15 minutes to cook a pan-full of peppers.

2. When the peppers are done, toss them with sea salt and add a squeeze of fresh lemon. Slide the peppers into a bowl and serve them hot. You pick them up by the stem end and eat the whole thing, minus the stem, that is.

For variety, you can use a little toasted sesame oil or coconut oil instead of olive oil. If you have leftovers, an unlikely incident in my experience, chop off the stems and put the peppers in an omelet or some scrambled eggs.

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Shishitos are the perfect little treat!

These peppers are small and about a finger-long, slim, and thin-walled. Although they turn from green to red once ripe, most farmers harvest them when they are green.

Sautéed shishitos are undeniably the best thing to nibble on with drinks, add them to eggs or as an appetizer. Here is an easy way to prepare these peppers.