Chocolate with salt

Sometimes I stumble upon very familiar products, I know from Europe, but never see them here in supermarkets, but then also upon products I don't know, like wild spinach or at my last order, okra. I saw okra before at a veggie market and my husband and I were wondering, what it could be.
So that time I thought, I'll give it a chance and try it out. It's always exciting to try something new. I found a nice article about cooking with okra and here a nice recipe (German) I used and just modified to my liking and needs.

Out came a very delicious casserole, I definitely will cook again. And okra, well, I'm really glad I gave it a try and  I'm looking forward to cook with it again.

But for now, let's get it started with Okra - mince casserole and homemade flatbread



Ingredients (for 2)

For the casserole

300g fresh okra
150ml red wine vinegar
250g minced meat
1 small onion
2 garlic cloves
150ml beef stock
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 lemon (juice)
250ml greek yoghurt
1 big tomato
grounded cumin
salt
pepper
oil

For the flatbread (8 pieces)

100g spelt flour
100g white bread flour
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
warm water

First wash the okra and remove the stems. Then layer the okra in a dish or bowl and sprinkle with some salt and drench with the red wine vinegar. Put aside for at least 30 min or longer.
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Then drain and rinse the okra, before you put it the hot pan with some oil and fry it for 5 minutes, tossing from time to time. In the meantime chop the onion and garlic finely. Remove the okra from the pan, pour little oil into the pan and brown onion and garlic together with the mince. Add now the tomato paste and pour in the beef stock, remove from heat and stir in the greek yoghurt and lemon juice and season with salt, pepper and cumin to taste.
Grease a small baking dish. Slice the tomato and layer the slices at the bottom of the baking dish. Season with salt and pepper. Cut the okra in half and layer them on the tomatoes, then cover everything with the mince mixture. Put in the oven for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile prepare the flatbread. Put the spelt  flour in a bowl and sieve in the white bread flour. Mix the flours with salt and add the olive oil. Slowly add warm water in small sips while kneading until the dough is smooth and doesn't stick to you hands.
Divide now the dough in 8 similar pieces and roll to balls.
Preheat a pan without oil to medium-high heat. Roll the dough as thin as possible with a rolling pin and layer the bread in the hot pan. Bake the bread till first bubbles start rise and then flip the bread. When the flipped side is also slightly browned, flip the bread again. Then the bread starts to puff up. Remove the bread from the pan, put it on a plate and cover with a kitchen towel. That way it will stay warm and fresh till the casserole is ready.

As I already said, the casserole was fantastic and the taste of the okra pleasantly surprised us. I can imagine, the casserole would taste with lamb mince even better, but my husband asked me not to change the recipe. Maybe I can convince him one day to try it out. Until then, just

Enjoy!