Okra??

[yuriyuri]

Ok, so i bought myself some okra, and now i have no idea what to do with it.... any ideas?

[NulloModo]

You could make some gumbo (sans roux, so a Gumbo z'Herbe would work well), or you could pork-rind bread them and deep fry, or you could just cut them up into slices and fry in a little butter, salt, pepper, and cayenne, or stew them with some fresh herbs...

I'm thinking the okra flavor would go really well with fresh fish too, but I don't know which direction I would take, maybe I will play around with some and see what happens.

[2big4mysize]

oh southern smothered okra is great just ask Janice hehe ( I had to type the recipe into the data base last summer after she heard me mention having some in chat and y'all know how slow and how bad I type.)

Gumbo with shrimp is a great Atkins dish.


Don't boil :nono :nono just okra plain though as it yields a slimy mess

[carebear]

Gumbo with shrimp...........please send the recipe!!! THANKS!! We love okra!!!!!!!! :yes

[scott123]

You could make some gumbo (sans roux, so a Gumbo z'Herbe would work well)

Actually... if you made a dark enough roux, there would be very few carbs left in it. The roux wouldn't thicken the gumbo, though, just flavor it.

Counting the carbs of a very dark roux might get a little tricky.

I do think, though, that if chinese spare ribs are Atkins approved based upon the fact that the "the sweet sauce gets burned away during cooking," a very dark roux based gumbo is more than fair game.

[not2late]

My okra plants are still growing...

Just remember if you're on induction, okra is a 1 cup veggie.

[NulloModo]

You could make some gumbo (sans roux, so a Gumbo z'Herbe would work well)

Actually... if you made a dark enough roux, there would be very few carbs left in it. The roux wouldn't thicken the gumbo, though, just flavor it.

Counting the carbs of a very dark roux might get a little tricky.

I do think, though, that if chinese spare ribs are Atkins approved based upon the fact that the "the sweet sauce gets burned away during cooking," a very dark roux based gumbo is more than fair game.

Hmm... well, I don't know if I buy the chinese spare-ribs thing to begin with (the ones I have always seen seem to have plenty of sauce) but assuming that grilled meats are OK because the sauce can burn away/drip away on the grill is a littler different from a roux situation, at least the way I am thinking...

When making any roux, even a very dark one, the flour stays in the pot the whole time, it doesn't evaporate or anything, it just cooks... And as far as I know, cooked flour is just as high in carb as uncooked, so, I can't really imagine and white flour based roux being ok, unless I am missing out on a big chunk of the science here.

I imagine you could do something with soy or nut flours maybe.... but soy would probably taste funny, and Idon't know if nut flours would act the same way...

[ana]

I tried to make a roux with soy flour and it never did thicken my gumbo, and the soy taste was bitter and it made the whole dish a bit grainy. I think I would just omit the roux (gasp) and have mine runny LOL

[scott123]

You could make some gumbo (sans roux, so a Gumbo z'Herbe would work well)

Actually... if you made a dark enough roux, there would be very few carbs left in it. The roux wouldn't thicken the gumbo, though, just flavor it.

Counting the carbs of a very dark roux might get a little tricky.

I do think, though, that if chinese spare ribs are Atkins approved based upon the fact that the "the sweet sauce gets burned away during cooking," a very dark roux based gumbo is more than fair game.

Hmm... well, I don't know if I buy the chinese spare-ribs thing to begin with (the ones I have always seen seem to have plenty of sauce) but assuming that grilled meats are OK because the sauce can burn away/drip away on the grill is a littler different from a roux situation, at least the way I am thinking...

When making any roux, even a very dark one, the flour stays in the pot the whole time, it doesn't evaporate or anything, it just cooks... And as far as I know, cooked flour is just as high in carb as uncooked, so, I can't really imagine and white flour based roux being ok, unless I am missing out on a big chunk of the science here.

I don't buy the chinese spare-ribs thing either

But the general premise I do suscribe to. That being, sugar, if taken to a sufficient temperature will burn, leaving you with carbon (0 carbs). The flour in the pan doesn't just cook, it burns, giving you a very different chemical make up then what you start off with.

Besides maillard compounds being formed, flour, when toasted, undergoes a process called dextrinization. Simply put, the starches are being converted to dextrose. In the case of a very dark roux, continued cooking will eventually convert this dextrose to carbon. In other words, burnt flour has no carbs.

As anyone who's let roux cook a little too long will tell you, completely burnt roux (100% carbon) is inedible. But a very dark roux, a popular level of roasting with many cajun chefs, can make a phenomenal gumbo. The difference between a flawless "black" roux and a burnt one is only a matter of seconds. Add to that the fact that the roux will continue to cook after you take it of the stove, and very dark roux can be difficult to achieve. I think, though, that when looking at the potential flavor one can bring to a lc gumbo, mastering the process would be worth it.

Keep in mind, as you convert starches to sugar and then ultimately to carbon, the thickening ability is lowered drastically so a very dark roux can't be used for thickening, only for flavoring. Also, as the roux gets darker and darker the flavor intensifies, so the amount you'll need to flavor a gumbo would be lessened, thus lowering the carbs even more.

I think the biggest obstacle to utilizing very dark roux in lc foods is the carb count. The science is solid in that there is a considerable reduction. If I had to make a conservative guess, I'd say at least an 80% reduction (depending on the color, of course). Unfortunately, regardless of the reduction, unless you can provide lc cooks with an exact number, most will have nothing to do with it. Gray areas are not popular in the lc cooking community.

[Heidi3]

curry it!

okra makes a great curry just slice and saute with onions, garlic ginger some red bell pepper and curry powder dash of cumin and chile ...it is really good!