TFF - A Disaster in the Kitchen

After being the one lucky enough to get picked last week to be on Tyler Florence's blog with my entry to Tyler Florence Fridays, I planned to take a week off from posting. Then I changed my mind. And I changed my mind again. Because really, there are just so many fun recipes to try!
I decided to go ahead and post anyway, just not really get myself worked into a frenzy over it.
And then....it HAPPENED.
I got the call at 9:45 Wednesday morning that my son was throwing up at school. All you moms out there know what that means. GO, pick up vomit covered child (quickly, please) and go home. You never know what a sick day is going to bring, but when it happens that late in the morning, what it does mean is that since it is less than 24 hours away from the "incident" you also can't take him back to school the next morning....which means two sick days. Two straight days at home with a four year old....
Fortunately, this happened to be one of those times where it passed very quickly, but I still didn't get much done (other than reading the entire tome of Julia & Julia, cover to cover) because the boy wanted me to snuggle him all day.
I was not about to complain.
However, my point is, that cooking was officially OFF the schedule. Well, for TFF anyway. I did cook. I took advantage of his four hour nap to roll all my meatballs for Swedish Meatballs Wednesday night, and I made Paula Deen's Hummingbird Cake yesterday afternoon to post Monday for My Girl, Paula!. But, since I was due to go to the grocery the day of said "incident" I had very little on hand to cook with.
SO!!! Since I am sooooo out of the zone this week, I thought I'd take the opportunity to tell you about a Tyler Florence recipe I tried a couple of weeks ago. See, I have okra in my garden. I didn't really feel like making a gumbo, and I definitely didn't feel like deep frying, so I went looking for a recipe. I found one from Tyler (thanks to my MEF, Sylvia) from his Food Network Days. It only rated 2 stars, but I figured it was poorly reviewed for purely "personal opinion" reasons, and assumed I could make it work. it IS a Tyler recipe, after all.
Oh. My. God. Did this recipe suck.
I tried, I really did, but I'm sorry to say it, Tyler, you need to re-think this one.
So, no pictures....but here is the recipe....just in case you want to give it a try....or take it as a warning.

Cornmeal with Okra (Cou-Cou)
Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence
Prep Time:
15 min
Inactive Prep Time:
0 min
Cook Time:
45 min
Level:
Easy
Serves:
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
Directions
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