Tomato Okra Gumbo: A Family Heirloom

Since I didn't get the chance to take pics of the food, here's a candid with my Gran from around 2007. So, if you haven't realized already, this also satisfies item number 20 on the list. Back when I was in middle school, I used to hang out at my Gran's during the summer, helping her prepare meals and tend the garden. Well, one such meal was her Okra Tomato Gumbo. I couldn't get enough of the stuff, which apparently runs in the family, because I remember her telling me it was my late Granddad's all-time favorite dish. It's been years since I've had her gumbo, years speckled with several sides of the dish from Jesstines Kitchen on Meeting Street (which is delicious by the way). Part of the reason I haven't gone for the recipe before now is because my husband had a horrible run in with boiled okra (slime, slime, and more slime), but when I was making this list I figured he could take one for the team. I wanted to learn the recipe before I may not get the chance. Two weekends ago we had lunch at EVO Pizza with my dad and grandmother and, with the list so fresh on my mind, I figured that was as good of time as any to ask about the recipe. I hinted to her that I'd love to come over and learn the secrets of the dish and what I got in return was the intel that you basically just put as much okra as you want, as much tomato as you want, onions, and a cube of beef bouillon into a pressure cooker and fire away until it's done. So, the next chance I got to stop by the grocery store, I grabbed some beef bouillon (my stock had run dry) and some okra; and then I ran around to my dad's house to grab the tomatoes Gran had given him to give to me (there are seriously no tomatoes like hers). I also grabbed some peeled shrimp to add to the recipe in hopes to divert my husband's taste buds from the okra slime. I did do a lot of research to find out how to not make the okra slimy and what I found was that you want to put the okra in the frying pan (I don't know how to use a pressure cooker, so I was altering things a bit) before everything else, along with a little bit of olive oil, and just cook it until all of the slime seems to go away. Then, I chopped up the tomatoes and onion into large chunks and dumped them in. I actually added a can of tomatoes I had in the pantry as well, but only to get rid of them and take advantage of how much juice was in the can (some of my fresh tomatoes were eaten before I could cook the dish). During my pregnancy, I read all about how bad canned tomatos are for you, so they've kind of been chilling in the back of the pantry for months. After all of the juices really started to come out of the veggies, I added two cubes of bouillon (there was a lot of juice), some paprika, creole seasoning, and the shrimp. After a few minutes, it was ready to be served over rice and devoured (which I promptly did). This isn't a strict ingredient by ingredient recipe, so if you're someone who needs one, I'm sorry. I really just went off the cuff with this one since that's what I was given (my Gran doesn't really do recipes either). I suggest, if this isn't enough guidance for you, check out some of the recipes online. They all sounded pretty darn tasty while I was doing my slime research. If you're open to anything though, definitely play around with it and find a happy medium for you.