Stewed Okra and Tomatoes

From the garden

• 1½ lb okra pods, stemmed and cut into half-inch rounds
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 5 medium ripe tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped · about 2 lb, juice and all
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme

From the pantry

• 4 slices bacon, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar · stirred in at the very end
• hot sauce (optional) · for the table
• salt · to taste
• black pepper

1. Render the bacon in a wide heavy pot over medium heat, 6–8 minutes, until crisp. Lift it out with a slotted spoon onto a plate and leave every bit of the fat in the pot.
2. Soften the onion in the bacon fat 5 minutes, until translucent at the edges, then stir in the garlic for a minute more, just until it smells sweet.
3. Add the tomatoes with all their juice, the thyme sprigs, the bay leaf, and a good pinch of salt. Simmer 10 minutes, pressing the tomatoes down with the spoon, until they slump into a loose sauce.
4. Stir in the okra, drop the heat low, and simmer uncovered 20–25 minutes, stirring only now and then. The pods give their body up to the sauce and thicken it, and that is the whole point of this dish rather than a fault to cook out.
5. Fish out the thyme stems and bay leaf, stir in the vinegar, and taste for salt and pepper. Scatter the bacon back over the top and serve hot beside fried chicken, pork roast, or plain rice, with hot sauce on the table.