War On Okra (Mistaking okra plants for marijuana leads to internal affairs investigation)

Houston Chronicle ^ | Oct. 2, 2002 | ROBERT CROWE

[MrLeRoy]

After mistaking a backyard patch of okra for homegrown marijuana, the La Porte Police Department has found itself in the middle of an internal affairs investigation into whether an officer stole personal property during the mistaken drug raid.

The officers on Aug. 14 served a warrant at the home of 88-year-old Irene Gilliam Hensley, in the 200 block of North Nugent Street. Officers believed her grandson, Charles Gilliam, who also lives there, was growing pot in a backyard shed and garden.

The department received a warrant after an officer -- following a tip from a family member of Gilliam's -- said he saw marijuana plants growing in the backyard after he peeked over Hensley's fence.

While the officers seized a pipe, catalogs and High Times magazines, they found no marijuana. The plants the officer identified in the backyard turned out to be okra in Hensley's garden.

[...]

Hensley said the whole situation would not have happened had her family not been feuding. It was Gilliam's 15-year-old cousin, Clinton Ryan Tully, who stated for the search warrant that Gilliam may be growing marijuana in a backyard shed.

Just days before the arrest, Gilliam and his aunt, Peggy Tellez, had been arguing. Tellez is Tully's grandmother.

While she alleges he threatened her and told her "to watch her back," Gilliam alleges she told him she would "find a way to get him out of the house."

"I did not tip the police department off (about the marijuana), but he threatened me," she said of the incident at Hensley's house a few days before the arrest.

Gilliam thinks Tellez and Tully cooked up the story about the marijuana to get him out of his grandmother's house.

The warrant specifically stated the officers seeking the warrant had experience identifying marijuana plants.

Reff said he was not embarrassed about the snafu his officers made when misidentifying the plants.

"I wouldn't say it's embarrassing, but I was surprised," he said.

[FreedomPoster]

>>I can tell you've never had my grandmother's fried okra before.

When can we drop by for dinner?

[Bedford Forrest]

QUESTION: What is the best way to serve okra?

Best way is fried, second best is raw in a vinagrette dressing and third best is in a beef/barley stew or soup. We generally put in 15-20 plants amongst the tomatoes and the peppers and eat it all summer. Also freeze a lot and give a tad away to certain neighbors. It likes the heat - first sign of cool weather and it is done.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

Best way is fried, second best is raw in a vinagrette dressing and third best is in a beef/barley stew or soup.

Please don't forget gumbo and pickled.

[wardaddy]

I like okra gumbo(I make a mean one..it's all about da roux)...that's about it. My wife loves okra. Neither of us have smoked any lately. We'll have to try that one night after the kiddies are put to bed...lol

[Black Agnes]

My granny made a mean gumbo. Never did get her recipe either before she passed on. I'm sure if she'd ever caught us doing something as stupid as *smoking* okra she'd have beaten us like and old rug, for stupidity.

[Space Wrangler]

Well, if you find yourself in SE Tennessee anytime soon, drop on by! When cooked properly, there is no slimey inside. The trick is to cook it just long enough to make it crispy, but to get it off the stove before it gets cooked dry. If it cooks too long, it gets crunchy. My wife and I canned 48 jars of pickled okra this summer as well. My twist on pickled okra is to put some peppers and garlic in along with the okra. For the hot hot variety, I actually drop a little powdered cayenne pepper in with the vinegar!! Yummy!!

[Black Agnes]

Now I'm hungry.

[wardaddy]

It's the roux. Use a black cast iron seasoned deep skillet. Heat a high temp oil like peanut or even palm (nothing foo-foo like canola)if you're brave enough and mix in flour. Be prepared to stir and add flour (with wooden spoon) for about 30-40 minutes until roux is very shiny and fairly thick and as brown as you can get it without burning it. Then add shrimp and coat them scalded with the roux. Then water, some tomatoes (canned are ok), lots of okra, water, salt pepper, garlic, onions, bell peppers, tabasco or cayenne....plenty of water...you will have to simmer it down for hours. Andouille sausage also helps....maybe some oregano if you like......and as important almost as the roux...Bay Leaves...the strongest you can get....maybe 6 leaves per gallon at least. You can also add crab parts even the bones to stock the mix if you like. Cook it down as long as you can stand it without burning it. The okra will disintegrate eventually.

When ready pour in bowl and add a dollop of white rice. A nice French baguette goes well with it. You may leave out the okra and add file at the end when it has cooled a bit from simmering for hours. File' will thicken it as well but not quite the same.

Shrimp creole is similar but a lighter roux, no okra, and add shrimp last. Made with tomato sauce or more whole tomatoes.

Just my brief gumbo knowledge. Better yet, go buy a Baton Rouge Junior League cookbook...they used to be called the "River Road Cookbook".

I'm hungry.

[Black Agnes]

(scribble...scribble...scribble). Now I'm even hungrier. *sigh*.

[Black Agnes]

Did you read this one yet?

[JohnLoyRocker]

LOL, you stole my post!

I can't hear the word Okra without immediately summoning up an image of Winfrey's Fat Head (that might be why I try to avoid any conversations where there's the remotest possibility that the work Okra might come up).

Instead of that publicity shot, I would have used the disgusting picture that was on the supermarket tabloids not long ago.

[Nate505]

I must agree. I usually don't like okra, but fried okra is one of the best foods on the planet. Unfortunately, you can't find it in Colorado in many places, except maybe Church's Fried Chicken.