Okra Hominy Tomato Casserole

Somebody's Dead Casserole

My mother, bless her heart, chose not to cook well. She wasn’t raised with any expectation that she should, and she viewed the task as something which took time away from things she wanted to do. As a result, except on the rare occasions when her reputation was involved, everything was cooked at maximum heat and speed.  Her ultimate goal was to have my father take everyone out to eat.

In her day and time, especially where everyone had roots from the South, post funeral casseroles for the mourning family constituted one such reputation event.

This was my mother's "go to" casserole for such events. She rarely made it for our family, just for the grieving.

Family anecdote: One afternoon my younger sister and I got off the school bus and walked home. When we came in the door, my sister smelled mother making this casserole and said, "Uh oh, somebody's dead".

Ingredients

2 cans cut okra, one drained and one not

2 cans hominy, one drained and one not

2 cans diced tomatoes with juice

1 small yellow onion, diced small

2 teaspoons sugar

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 

1 teaspoon Franks hot sauce or similar

Bacon strips

Method

Combine the first seven ingredients in a casserole dish. Cover the mixture with bacon strips and cook at 350 for 1 hour. At this point, the dish will refrigerate for up to four days and will freeze for up to 6 months. If you prepare the dish ahead of time and chill it, you can remove bacon fat before finishing the dish.

To finish the dish, set the oven rack on the second highest level and broil the top on high until the bacon crisps, around ten minutes.

Serves 12 as side dish.