Okra and Butter Bean Stew with Creole Spices

I made this stew a few weeks ago using some leftover,tasty, and very meaty pole beans. But the pole beans have disappeared from the market, and this week I used butter beans instead.
When I first saw the beans at the market truck in the church parking lot I thought they were limas. An elderly, and well-heeled lady disabused me of this idea.
"Do you have any mo-ah of those butter beans?" she asked the vegetable girl,"Ah promised ma friend I would get her some-"

Since there were enough for everyone, I bought a small bag-full home and and added them to the stew. This dish improves by staying on the low burner overnight and allowing the okra to thicken it-


1 medium yellow onion, diced,flavored with sea salt and sauteed in butter to a golden brown

14 oz diced tomatoes,pureed in a blender.

1 cup butter beans

1-1 1/2 cup cut up okra.

4 small yellow potatoes,diced.

2 cloves of garlic,minced or pressed.

4-5 cups chicken or vegetable broth.

1/4 stick butter

2 heaping tablespoons of Creole mustard.

1/2 to 1 teaspoon or more of Creole seasoning to taste.( I use, and always will use Tony Chacherie's)

1 tablespoon of red vinegar.


After sauteeing the onion in a little of the butter, put everything else including the butter in a medium sauce pan. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and leave the pot alone for a few hours, or even better overnight. This allows the stew to develop more flavor and to thicken. This should feed 4 or 5 people-