1 pound okra, chopped
1/2 small onion, minced
1/2 cup water
salt and pepper
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
vegetable oil for frying

1. Combine flour, baking powder, cornmeal, salt and pepper in a large bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, combine okra, onion, water and egg.
3. Gradually add the flour mixture to the okra bowl until you have a pancake-like batter.
4. Meanwhile, heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a pan over medium-high heat.
5. Drop a ladle full of batter into the center of the hot oil and fry until golden brown.
6. Flip and brown the other side, then transfer to a paper towel to drain. Repeat with remaining batter.

Makes 6 patties

36 whole clams or 10 ounces canned clam meat, rinsed
4 chorizo sausages, skinned and sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
1 red chili pepper, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons butter
6 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup white wine
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and fry chorizo until browned on all sides and cooked through to the center.
2. Reduce heat to medium and add the butter, scraping to remove the bits of sausage. Sauté the chili pepper, onions and garlic until tender.
3. Add the wine and bay leaf and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat, add the clams and cover to steam for 5-6 minutes until the shells open. Discard any that do not.
5. Remove bay leaves, stir in parsley and serve with fresh bread.

Makes 4 servings

The Portuguese Spiced Beans I made that tried to emulate the flavors of chorizo got me craving the real thing. However, I made two mistakes when making my Chorizo and Clams. The first was that I didn't splurge and buy whole clams, because that would've been more fun to make and eat. The second was omitting tomatoes from my recipe, because I think that would've added nicely to the sauce. Despite these 2 things, I still enjoyed this dish, in part because it is simple and flavorful, but mostly because I ate it with soft, fresh sourdough bread. Still, I'd recommend you use whole clams and add a diced tomato or two if you're going to render this one yourself.

I found a recipe for Okra Patties and after my experience with the Mediterranean Eggplant Cakes, I figured that combining a vegetable with batter and frying it is a good way to go with basically anything. That was wrong. This was okra's last chance to impress me and it failed. It was definitely more edible than okra by itself, but it wasn't exactly savored. The flavor of pepper and onions came through more than the okra itself, I thought, but I let Shannon have one of the crispier bites, (let might be a bit misleading, since I was technically chasing her around the apartment making airplane noises with a forkful in my hand) and she basically gagged. The texture and flavor of this one just isn't really cutting it, though I did thing it was significantly better Fried with Plantains because there was no gumminess.