I shouldn't have been surprised when Charlie stopped by a few days later with a big poke full of poke. Charlie's like that. It was so pretty and green - I couldn't wait to start cooking. The smaller leaves are the best, Charlie said, so I sorted through them, shaking out the bugs, and discarding big and wilted leaves.
Then I washed it all thoroughly, drained it, and put about half on to boil.
The rest I put into the steamer, thinking that I'd try it both ways, and see which was best. The poke in the steamer was done first so I piled on the butter and salt and ate it right up. Boy, was it good.
The poke in the pot had boiled down considerably, just like the spinich it resembles, so I drained it and put it in the fridge. Tom would enjoy it with his supper.
I had some time that afternoon, so I thought I'd read up a little on poke, and I googled it. All of the articles started off with this: Poke Is Poisonous. Well, golly gee, I thought, then why the heck do people eat it?! Turns out, poke should be cooked twice, and the water discarded, before consumption. It is poisonous, somewhat at least, but boiling leaches the poison out of it, and after cooking twice, it is safe to eat. And also full of nutrients. Hmmm....I thought. I just ate steamed poke, not boiled once, let alone twice, thinking it would be more nutritious. In fact, it was more poisonous. EEEKKK! How long's it gonna take me to die??!!Well, needless to say since I'm writing this, I lived. The steamed poke really was delicious, much better than the poke cooked twice, pictured above, and I didn't suffer any ill effects at all. One article I read said that if you avoid the red parts of poke, you shouldn't have any trouble. Still, if I venture into poke land again, I will avoid everything red and cook it twice. At least.
Next time - Kooking with Kudzu! (I've already googled this one!)
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