Cooking Recipe Chicken-Okra Gumbo Plains-Style From Tony Burke
Recipe Ingredients
Directions
* - okra can be fresh sliced or a 10-ounce package frozen okra
sufficiently thawed to separate okra slices can be substituted.
** - seeds removed and finely chopped.
1. Wash salt pork under cold water to rinse off excess salt. Blot dry
and cut into small dice.
2. Place in a large, heavy soup pot and cook over low heat until all
fat has been rendered. Remove crisped pork dice and drain on paper
toweling. Set aside.
3. Blot chicken pieces dry with paper toweling and dredge lightly with
flour. Press flour into each piece, then shake off all excess. Heat
salt pork to almost smoking. Brown the floured chicken pieces a few
at a time in the hot fat. Remove as browned and set aside.
4. Pour off and discard fat. Add butter to soup pot and place over low
heat. When melted, add onion and okra and cook, stirring often with a
wooden spoon, until onion is soft. Be careful not to let okra scorch.
5. Return chicken to pot and add remaining ingredients except salt and
pepper and optional flour. Let simmer for about 1-1/2 hours, adding
additional water if needed. Remove from heat. Remove and discard bay
leaf. Remove skin and bone from chicken pieces and return meat to
pot. Reheat if necessary. If desired, thicken mixture with 1-2
tablespoons flour mixed to a paste with about 1/2 cup cold water, and
stir over low heat an additional 10-15 minutes.
6. Ladle into large soup bowls over mounds of just-cooked, fluffy
white rice. Sprinkle crisped pork dice over each serving.