Creole Country Dinner (photos - lengthy)

Up in heaven my Granny is smiling. For dinner tonight I cooked Butterbeans, Cornbread and Okra with tomatoes, bacon and chicken.

I guess it is a creole dish with no name. Let's just call it

Okra Meridian

Let's get started;



Need: Butterbeans (from freezer), Cut Okra (from freezer), salt, sugar, Veg Oil, Water, Bacon, Chicken, Diced Onion, Chopped Garlic, Diced Tomatoes, Selfrising Flour, White Cornmeal, Buttermilk.

Make cornbread - 3/4 cup white cornmeal, 1/2 cup selfrising flour, 1 cup buttermilk. Preheat Oven to 395 degrees F. I preheated the skillet in the oven. Add 2 Tablespoons oil to skillet and batter.



Cook 30 minutes give or take, until top of pone is browned. Here it is on the table:



Start butterbeans:



in a boiler add 2 cups beans, 3 cups water 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp sugar and 1 Tablespoon veg oil.



bring to a boil and cook for 30 minutes. add some more water if needed. You want broth (pot liquor)in the cooked beans for reasons we'll see later.

Cooked:


Now for the okra and tomatoes, with bacon and chicken:

Drain the tomatoes I don't want the liquid, just the flesh - OK to use fresh if you want, but get rid of liquid.



Cook the bacon - I used the fat end of this thick cut bacon for something else, and the meaty portion is what I want in this dish anyway, so this is good.



Cook until crispy



While bacon is cooking, season the chicken,



With Creole seasoning and red pepper flakes.

Then cook off the chicken in the bacon fat



Cut into nice sized pieces and ready to come out of the pan



Set aside bacon and chicken:



Cook okra in bacon grease and chicken renderings with a little salt and black pepper.



Cook for 20 minutes or so until okra is tender and begins to dry out, then add chopped onions and minced garlic.



When onions begin to get tender, add well drained tomatoes.





Cook until the tomatoes have dried considerably, then add bacon (broken into bite size pieces) and chicken.



Stir and call it ready to plate:



On the table:



Now for the butter beans:

Break apart a wedge of cornbread and place in bowl. Add beans and pot liquor over the butterbeans and chopped onion on top.





One plate view of Okra, Tomatoes, Bacon and Chicken



Another:



On fork:



Spoon of beans with cornbread, onions and pot liquor:



View out breakfast room window at dinner tonight.



Life is good here. Granny would be happy.