One Local Summer Week #5

Sometimes just one ingredient inspires an entire meal. This week, it was okra.

I sauntered up to one of my favorite farmers' stalls this week, hoping to pick up some blue lake green beans, a sweet cantaloupe, and some tomatoes, when I spotted the gorgeous, slender green fruit staring up at me. There was no hesitation, I immediately started scooping up a handful and filling my bag. I had never seen okra offered at the market before.


As I wandered home, I was hit with another surprise--my tomato plants were finally bearing ripe, vibrant red fruit. What's a girl to do, faced with okra and tomatoes, but whip up some gumbo ?


Unfortunately, I had verified my suspicions earlier in the week that there was little local meat to be had in Southern California, so I was resigned to a vegetarian gumbo. I do have to pause a moment to offer a very gracious thanks to Jay Porter of the Linkery, who was kind enough to spend a solid amount of time answering my questions about local meat and pointing me in several directions including Catalina Offshore Products seafood, A & W Emu ranch, and Creston Valley Meats in Central California (the closest sustainably-minded processing plant he had been able to find). I really appreciate all the information you were willing to lend me Jay, and look forward to exploring all of my options.

As for my gumbo, it took little time for me to head to my favorite N'Awlins website, Chuck Taggart's, and even less time to find a recipe for Gumbo Z'Herbes, a bewitching concoction of southern greens. Chuck, by the way, compiled the ever-solid Doctors, Professors, Kings & Queens: the Big ol' Box of New Orleans box set, which is well worth listening to, especially while you take an afternoon to cook up some gumbo.

What instantly attracted me to Gumbo Z'Herbes was it's use of a myriad of greens, including greens I usually just toss into the compost bin--beet greens, carrot tops, and turnip greens. In fact, some recipes I found called for no less than 10 different types of greens (a number that, apparently, some brave cooks upheld so vehemently that they would sneak into others' gardens and snip the tops off of their neighbor's root vegetables). What I instantly have to emphasize, especially after promising that you should use up to ten otherwise-disposed-of greens, is Chuck's reassurance: "This is an absolutely delicious gumbo. Don't be afraid of it."

The recipe, I'm guessing, will scare some people off instantly. Who wants to eat a concoction of mustard greens, beet greens, turnip greens, and carrot tops? The result, I'm willing to gamble, will turn skeptics into converts after their first meal.


The flavor, for a bunch of stewed vegetables, was deep, complex, and satisfying. I actually looked up a number of recipes and, based on what I had on hand and locally, adapted them all. The key here, I realized, was modification--whatever you happen to have on hand I recommend throwing into the pot.

(You don't have to believe me for that matter:

"I’m convinced that part of gumbo’s virtue, aside from its deliciousness, is that the dish is very forgiving of the cook. Measurements do not have to be exact, ingredients may be changed to use what is on hand, and unless the diners are so set in their ways that they can’t appreciate change, the result will be quite good."
-Stanley Dry, A Short History of Gumbo)

Here were my inspirations:

Chuck Taggart's Gumbo Z'Herbes recipe (I didn't have local ham)
Leah Chase's Gumbo Z'Herbes recipe (from the Dooky Chase Restaurant)
Regan Burns' recipe for Gumbo Z'Herbes as posted on Chow.com (the technique which I found the most practical to follow)

And here was my final result:

Local Gumbo Z'Herbes

greens
8 cups water
salt
1 bunch beet greens
1 bunch turnip greens
1 bunch carrot tops
3 onions, diced
3 cloves garlic, diced

tomatoes
8 small tomatoes

roux:
3 tbsp oil
3 tbsp flour (non-local for me)

"holy trinity":
1 onion, diced
3 small carrots, diced
1 red or green pepper, diced

the rest
salt
pepper
1 tsp. cayenne

1 tbsp. dill
1 small zucchini, diced
8 baby sunburst squash, diced
corn from 2 ears, cut from cobs.

Heat water and salt in large pot over high heat
meanwhile, place all greens in a pot of cold water, swirl to release dirt, drain pot. Repeat 2-3 times, until water runs clear.
Dice greens coursely.
when water is boiling, add greens, three diced onions, and 3 cloves garlic to pot. reduce heat to medium and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
during last two minutes, add tomatoes to blanch.
Drain, reserving liquid (important!)
remove tomatoes from greens and peel, discarding peel and reserving flesh.
puree all but 1/4 of greens in a food processor. Set both pureed and non-pureed greens aside.

make roux: heat oil in large, heavy bottomed pot. slowly whisk in flour and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, for 10-15 minutes, until roux turns golden to dark brown.
add onion, carrots, and pepper, and cook for 5 minutes, until vegetables are soft
add garlic, stir for 30 seconds until fragrant
add tomato flesh, stir for 30 seconds
add salt, pepper, and cayenne
add squash, corn, and dill
add reserved cooking liquid and bring to a rapid simmer
cook, 15 minutes uncovered, until vegetables are tender
stir in pureed and non-puree greens
continue to cook 10-15 minutes, partially covered until gumbo thickens
continue to simmer on low up to 30 more minutes if needed.

serve warm



Notes:

1. I added two un-local ingredients to this gumbo. One was flour, which is both an integral and indispensable part of gumbo. Two was file powder, which, is a less essential (gumbo can be made without it) but equally important component of Gumbo. Were I living near Lionel Key Jr., I would certainly try to seek out his version. (Regarding that link--it is part of the Southern Foodways Alliance Oral History Project, one of the best food-traditions projects I've come across. Their website is well worth exploring).

2. The next day, I cooked two sausages (casings removed) and stirred the meat into the leftover gumbo as it was re-heating. Again, if you have local pork, I highly recommend making this recipe with meat.

3. Gumbo is best followed up with an equally satisfying dessert. Fearing the end of the strawberry season and finding my first local rhubarb, I opted for my first ever strawberry-rhubarb pie (actually my first 100% homemade pie for that matter). The organic flour, organic vegetable shortening, sugar and vanilla weren't local, but the crust was homemade, the fruit was local, and the filling was damn delicious.