Place rice in a sieve and rinse in cool water until water runs clear. Set aside.

Heat a 10-12 inch cast iron or other heavy skillet on medium high heat. Have a 3 or 4 quart lidded saucepan nearby. Add bacon to pan and cook until crisp. Transfer cooked bacon to saucepan, leaving all fat in skillet.

Turn heat down under skillet and add onion. Cook in bacon fat, frying gently, 2-3 minutes. You want the onion to turn golden brown but not blacken. Transfer to saucepan with bacon.

Now add okra to skillet and cook, stirring, allowing it to brown slightly, 3-4 minutes. Transfer to saucepan.

There will be little, if any, bacon fat left in the skillet. I had none left. If you do, you can pour it off into a heatproof jar (carefully!) for other cooking, or pour it into the pan with the bacon/onion/okra. Your call.

The next steps are not classic pilau cookery. They are what I did, and they created a successful dish.

Add the rice, parsley, and thyme to the saucepan. Add the bay leaf. Add enough water to cover; I use enough to cover by the first joint of my index finger. This highly unscientific measure works. If you want to be more scientific, start with 1 1/4 cups water. If the rice is covered, great. If not, add another 1/4 cup for a total of 1 1/2 cups water. You want the rice covered but not swamped.

Salt and pepper generously, remembering bacon is salty.

Bring to a boil. When water is boiling, turn heat down to a simmer, cover pan with lid, and cook for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes have elapsed, turn off heat. Wrap pot lid in clean, nonlinting dishtowel or cloth and cover pan again for 15-20 minutes. This creates a fluffier, drier rice dish.

Wonderful with chicken, pork, or all by itself.

Use leftovers within 2 days.

Notes: To cut bacon into small pieces, I use Nigella Lawson’s trick of scissoring pieces directly into the pan.

Long grain rice is ideal; but I used Lundberg white Basmati, which was what I had in the house. Although the wrong rice for a pilau, the resulting dish was delicious.