Southern Loving - Gumbo

Finally, a new recipe! I've been wanting to make Gumbo for a while and Chanin had some Gulf Shrimp (prawns) in the freezer so I set about looking for a good recipe. I finally found one here: http://www.gumbocooking.com/

I wanted to make one with chicken, prawns and sausage and after asking around I found out that you either do meat or shrimp, but not both, at least, that's the consensus. But, according to Gumbo Cooking, New Orleans does what I wanted, so I was all set. I used the recipe from Gumbo Cooking, which also has a good tutorial on making the roux the right way.

So, here we go with New Orleans Gumbo.

Ingredients:

1 lb medium shrimp peeled

1/2 lb skinless, boneless chicken breasts or thighs, cut bite size

1 lb andouille or lean smoked sausage sliced bite size

1/2 cup vegetable oil (corn or canola is best)

3/4 cup flour

2 cups chopped onions

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped green pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp minced fresh garlic

1 tsp fresh thyme chopped

6 cups chicken stock

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes

3 cups sliced okra (if frozen thaw before use)

1/2 cup fresh parsley chopped

2 bay leaves

1 tsp Tabasco sauce

Some of the players:

It's best if you use a cast iron pot, if you don't have one, a heavy pot should be used.

 

In a large heavy pot coated with 1 tablespoon oil, saute chicken and sausage on medium high heat until brown on all sides. Some of the meat will stick to the bottom of the pot then release. Scrape all those bits off as well. Remove and set aside. 

 

Place oil and flour in pot, stir well and brown to make a roux. A whisk is best for this step.

The colour is getting there, but not quite yet. The pot may smoke a bit, apparently, that's normal. It's really weird seeing the roux go from a looking course to smooth.

When flour is browned to the color of milk chocolate, add chopped vegetables and saute on low heat for 8-10 minutes.

Gradually add chicken stock stirring constantly until blended.

Add chicken and sausage and all other ingredients except the shrimp, okra and parsley which will be saved for the end.

Cover and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes. Remove lid and cook 30 more minutes stirring occasionally.

Add shrimp, okra and parsley and continue to cook on low heat uncovered for 15 minutes.

Serve in a bowl with rice. A serving of 1/3 cup rice to 1 1/4 cup gumbo is the way it's done in New Orleans.

 

Enjoy, we did!