Cooking with Chef Jo: "I'll Take Some TOE, Please"

Welcome back to another episode of Cooking with Chef Jo. I'm happy you stopped by! Grab a cup of your favorite herbal tea, don your cozy slippers, and grab a pillow for the back of your chair. Be sure and grab paper and something to write with. Ah, there. All cozy now?

Today's recipe is not about foot fetishes or cannibalism, but an honest to goodness meatless main dish.  My family ask me to make over and over again. I had to give it a name so I called it "toe" because they couldn't pronounce the Indian name for it and the cut vegetables look like toes. It's a curry and one of my favorites. It's made with the old southern goodies: tomatoes, okra, and eggplant or TOE.

My kids got a kick out of it. They would gross out their friends by saying they ate toe for dinner. I've also made preserves made of the same vegetables to farther gross their friends out. I was either the coolest mom around or the craziest. I never knew for sure.

Keep in mind if you have arthritis, vegetables in the nightshade family like tomatoes, okra, and eggplant may cause a worsening of pain and condition. So daughter #2 never ate this.

 Jo's TOE Curry*
Serves 6

What you'll need

5 Japanese or baby eggplants, sliced lengthwise and quartered
2 cups of  very young okra,  about 2" long
2  cups of coconut milk, add more if needed
2 cups of vegetable stock, add more if needed
2 TBS butter
2 TBS olive oil
1 onion, chopped
                                                             1 red pepper, chopped
                                                             1/2 green and red bell pepper, chopped
                                                             1 clove of garlic, minced (large clove)
                                                             1 jalapeno, remove seeds and core, finely chopped
                                                             2 tomatoes, chopped
                                                             2  tsp of fresh ginger, grated
                                                             1/4 cup of desiccated coconut, unsweetened
                                                             2 TBS of Madras curry powder
                                                             1 1/2 tsp of black mustard seeds
                                                             1 tsp of coriander, ground
                                                             1/2 tsp of cinnamon
                                                             2 tsp of turmeric
                                                             salt and pepper to taste
                                                             fresh cilantro, chopped for garnish
                                                             lemon juice to taste*

*Notes-*This is a very mild curry. To add more heat add the core and seeds of the jalapeno or add you favorite hot chilies.
* I usually just cut lemon wedges in a bowl so everyone can add their own.
*To add heat- leave the seeds and core in the jalapeno and increase the number to 3 jalapenos.

Putting it all together

• Saute eggplant in olive oil and butter until browned on both sides. Set aside. 
• Do the same for the okra, but don’t brown.
• Cook the onion, red and green peppers in a large pan. Sweat them a bit with a shake of salt, and then add the curry, turmeric, cinnamon and coriander. Cook for about 10 minutes. Onions will be translucent.
•  Add the garlic, ginger, tomatoes, and jalapeno. Stir and cook for approximately 5 minutes. The aroma of these additions will fragrance the kitchen.
• Add the mustard seeds, stir and cook for about 1 minute.
• Add the vegetable stock and reduce heat. 
• Add the coconut milk, and desiccated coconut. Let cook for about 10 minutes at a simmer.
• Add the cooked baby eggplant and okra and simmer for about 20 minutes or until it begins to thicken.
• Add cilantro right before serving and stir well.

For Service- Serve over your grain of choice. I use quinoa and the nutty flavor or to keep it authentic brown rice. Sprinkle with more cilantro to garnish. Enjoy!

Y'all have a blessed day!

Chef Jo