| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr |
| Prep: | 15 min |
| Cook: | 45 min |
| Yield: | 6 to 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 ears whole corn
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 cups okra, frozen or fresh
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
- 6 cups water or chicken stock
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cups yellow corn meal
- Freshly ground nutmeg
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Put the whole ears of corn into the oven (do not shuck the corn) and cook until the outside is charred and the inside feels soft when pressed, about 30 minutes. When it is cool enough to handle, pull out the silk and remove the husk. Cut the kernels off the cob and set aside.
- If using frozen okra, put it into a strainer and run it under cool water for a few minutes to thaw. Remove the stems from the okra and cut them into thirds. Heat 1 tablespoon each of butter and olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the onion until it begins to soften, then add the corn, okra, and thyme. Cook for 1 minute and set aside.
- Butter a 13-inch by 9-inch pan with 1 tablespoon butter. Bring the water to a boil in a large saucepan and add 1 teaspoon salt. Gradually sprinkle in the corn meal, whisking constantly to avoid lumps. When it is all incorporated, stir in the remaining 3 tablespoons butter and the sauteed vegetables. Reduce the heat to low, season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg, to taste, and cook for 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Pour into the buttered dish and let cool.
- Slice the cooled cornmeal into squares and serve. You can also fry the cornmeal squares for a few minutes in butter or olive oil to make them crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 8 servings |
| Calories | 322 |
| Total Fat | 12 g |
| Saturated Fat | 6 g |
| Carbohydrates | 45 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Sugar | 5 g |
| Protein | 9 g |
| Cholesterol | 24 mg |
| Sodium | 657 mg |
| Serving Size | 1 of 8 servings |
| Calories | 322 |
| Total Fat | 12 g |
| Saturated Fat | 6 g |
| Carbohydrates | 45 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Sugar | 5 g |
| Protein | 9 g |
| Cholesterol | 24 mg |
| Sodium | 657 mg |
Reviews
This is not Cou-Cou! I’m too much of lady to say anything more…
Tyler, Tyler, Tyler, can you say travesty? This attempt is so far removed from the classic Bajan dish that it cannot justified as ‘an interpretation’, or referred to as Cou-Cou, even in the most perfunctory sense. What bothers me here is that this was not handled with the respect, attention to detail and accuracy that you have accorded other classic dishes. You owe it to your your viewers and Barbadians to revisit this and get it right. I was looking for a negative star in the rating but there is none.
May not have been “authentic” as some of the reviewers said but this dish was very good
I was born in Barbados and grew up there and this is far different from the recipe we use. I guess this is your interpretation of it. By the way corn, thyme, nutmeg, chicken stock and black pepper are none of the ingredients we use. Nice try though.
I was quite distraught to watch this ‘recipe’ on Tyler’s show. I am 100% Babradian and have never seen or heard anything like this in Barbadian cooking. Coucou is our national dish and this is an insult to our nation! I will be very careful of recipes i get from food network in future as they claim to be authentic but may not even remotely be the correct dish from that country!
I just saw the re-run of the episode on bajan coucou, I sat proudly waiting to see my national dish displayed for the whole world to see, what I saw left me speechless and dumbfounded as to why the program was allowed to continue. A check with our local food guru and internationally recognized chef Mr. Peter Edey, should have been undertaken before the show was allowed to be televised. I found all the recipies to be only “bajan” in name and an insult to our rich bajan food heritage, I shudder to think what you would do to our famous “Black Belly Lamb” which is sought after worldwide. In the future contact Mr. Edey or better yet have him take some time off from his shows “Dueling chefs” and “Caribbean Cuisine” to really show you some Bajan cooking.
First, I have to say that I feel Tyler tried to make the humble Bajan cou-cou more fancified than necessary. But we all know that these t.v. chefs need to create dishes with pizzaz and nuff gooshment, so don’t knock the man too hard. We Bajans know the deal, and if corrections aren’t made, then to France with them all. Honestly, though it may not be the traditional cou-cou as we know it, it sounds like it could be a good “mock cou-cou”, and I will try it out.
Second, in response to the so-and-so that posted this comment:
“Good recipe
10/05/2006 at 10:03am
User: Anonymous User Rating: [5 stars]
This was a good recipe, and the results tasted good. I’m not quite sure, but the few people who lectured everyone about the true way to do things all sound like the same person. I would recommend they take their poor grammar and head back to the Caribbean where they can eat the ‘real thing’ in their filthy hovels.”
This person obviously has never been to the Caribbean, and has never known anyone from the region. If so, they wouldn’t have such a poor misconception of our beautiful part of the Earth. I would recommend that this person stays put, and NEVER visits the Caribbean. Shoot, I wouldn’t want them in Bim! Such awesome beauty and the warm hospitality of our people shouldn’t be wasted on the likes of them. Not to mention de rum! Shame! Now g’long an’ neva come back, hear?!
Cou-cou is the national dish of Barbados.
The recipe from your show is not cou-cou but simply what it states, your version of corn meal and okras. I am a Bajan (Barbadian)and will not bash your recipe because I have not tried it, but to call this Cou-cou is the destruction of a proud country’s national dish. Would you do that to America? I think not. Please find an authentic Bajan to relate the true essance of cou-cou.
The recipe from your show is not cou-cou but simply what it states, your version of corn meal and okras. I am a Bajan (Barbadian)and will not bash your recipe because I have not tried it, but to call this Cou-cou is the destruction of a proud country’s national dish. Would you do that to America? I think not. Please find an authentic Bajan to relate the true essance of cou-cou.
Havng been born and raised in Barbados, I have NO idea where Mr. Florence got his recipe for cou-cou..but it looks NOTHING like the cou-cou i’ve eaten all my life. Whole hunks of Okras? I enjoy Food911 normally, but The Bajan Chicken and cou-cou was so far off base! Im VERY VERY VERY dissappointed!
This was a good recipe, and the results tasted good. I’m not quite sure, but the few people who lectured everyone about the true way to do things all sound like the same person. I would recommend they take their poor grammar and head back to the Caribbean where they can eat the ‘real thing’ in their filthy hovels.