There is an outdoor market in Lafayette called Fresh Pickins that is a bean lovers heaven. You can find most any kind of local grown bean, frozen fresh or dried. Inspired by the peppers and okra(that is now taller than me) in my garden and John Coykendall’s beautiful memoir/gardening/cook book, Preserving our Roots, I picked up some butter beans for a sumptuous summer succotash. What a great thing to do with all your late summer garden hodgepodge harvest! Finishing it off with my Milky Cap Butter Compote put it over the top. I plan to find some nice fish to serve the rest over tomorrow night, but it was perfect all by itself.
- 2 tbsps bacon grease
- 2 lbs butter beans
- 1 onion- chopped
- 1 bell pepper- chopped
- 3 cloves garlic- diced
- 6-8 cups fresh okra- chopped in rounds about a 1/2″ thick
- 2-4 cups corn(off the cob)
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes- cut in half
- salt and pepper to taste
- 8 tbsps milky cap butter
- 1 bunch fresh basil shredded longways(chiffonade)
- cover beans with water, bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer until done(about 20 minutes for fresh)
- heat bacon grease on med.high in a heavy cast iron pot
- toss in onion, bell pepper, garlic & sauté until soft
- toss in okra and corn & stir sparingly until cooked just through
- add in beans with a cup or so of their cooking liquid(potlikker), salt & pepper, & simmer about 5 minutes
- add cherry tomatoes(if using) and butter
- turn off heat & stir in basil
I keep a mason jar next to my stove to strain my bacon grease into whenever I cook bacon, so it its something I always have on hand. I don’t cook bacon that often and I use it when I have it, so I don’t have to worry about it going rancid, but if you cook bacon more than you cook with the grease, you could store it in your fridge to extend its life. Frying fresh bacon, using the grease to cook this in, and then serving with the chopped bacon bits is another great way to go, or make a vegetarians day and use pecan(or other high heat) oil. I used fresh frozen beans here, which I always prefer to dried when I have a choice. If you don’t have fresh tomatoes, you could substitute a can of diced tomatoes(but add them in with the okra & corn), or just leave them out. Hot peppers would be an excellent addition and I have some in garden, but I left them out for my 3 year old. Instead, I’m making hot sauce to add to individual servings and keeping it kid-friendly. Parsley would be great in lieu of or in addition to basil. And, of course, if you are one of the millions of Americans that do not have Milky Cap Butter in your freezer, you can use regular butter.
3 responses to “Summer Succotash:
with Milky Cap Butter Compote
”I love your blog. Beautiful and so we’ll written. Bunny
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