Ingredients: |
Ingredients: 1⁄2 cup of all purpose flour
1⁄2 cup oil
1 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
1 cup finely chopped celery
1-2 cups of chopped yellow onions
2 lbs. sliced okra, fresh or frozen (thawed)
1⁄4-1⁄2 cup of chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 bunch of green onions chopped
2-4 garlic cloves minced
1-3 bay leaves
1⁄4 tsp thyme or 1 tsp fresh chopped thyme
1 TBSP of Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp hot sauce (such as Tabasco)
1⁄4 tsp of ground red pepper
3⁄4 tsp of ground black pepper
Gumbo file’
1 (6 oz) can of tomato paste
1 (14.5 oz) can of tomatoes chopped or some use Rotel tomatoes salt according to taste and according to the broth used, ~2 tsp-2 Tbsp
You can use varying combinations of Seafood, Sausage or Chicken, depending on preference: (I make Seafood Gumbo w/ Andouille sausage) 1 lb. sliced Andouille sausage
1 lb. fresh crabmeat (claw is best) or
put in ~3 lbs. of whole gumbo crabs, you
cut off feelers and use claws and body (cut body in half)
1 pint of oysters
2-4 lbs. of shrimp (peeled & deveined)
note: You can make crawfish gumbo by using
crawfish and crab. You can add ~ 2 cups of chicken for a delicious combination with seafood as well.
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Directions: |
Directions:All recipes say to make a Dark Roux. The success of a Gumbo that tastes of Louisiana depends on understanding the importance of this first step; success is being able to achieve a dark brown roux without burning it! My take is that you can use any vegetable oil or bacon drippings for the oil. Recipes vary from 6 tablespoons of flour to 6 tablespoons of oil for 6 quarts of liquid to up to 1 cup of oil to 1 cup of flour for a gallon of liquid. I most often use 1⁄2 cup oil and 1⁄2 cup flour for about 2 quarts of liquid. But then I never measure the liquid, you will have your preference for how thick you like your gumbo. I was confused regarding the use of “file’ “and finally found one recipe that says to sprinkle file’ when served if okra is not used, but with my recipe, you use both.
You can begin by making your own chicken stock as any recipe describes, but I rarely do so and use the chicken base in a jar called, “Better than Bouillon” or other premade broth.
1. Decide on broth. Make broth according to preference, ie, chicken broth with Better than Bouillon, or use fresh chicken carcass or turkey with vegetables to make broth, or vegetable broth or after peeling shrimp, boil shells and heads in ~ 8 cups water in pot for ~ 1 hour and then strain broth, discarding heads and shells
2. Pick crabmeat, removing any shell
3. Prepare shrimp, peel shells and devein
4. Heat ~ 2 Tbsp. of oil or shortening and add okra. Sprinkle with 1⁄2 tsp salt and saute’ ~10
minutes over medium high heat until slightly brown. Heat another Tbsp of oil and saute’
Andouille sausage ~ 8 minutes or until brown. Set aside both.
5. Make Roux in heavy iron skillet for best results. This takes a long time! Heat oil or bacon
drippings over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and add flour gradually, stirring constantly until the roux is a medium to dark chocolate brown. Recipes say 10-30 minutes. I say 30 minutes usually and never 10. If you try to rush and heat is too high, you will scorch or burn the roux and if too heat is too low then it takes too long but safer as you learn the perfect temperature for your stove.
6. Next, once roux is dark brown, add the yellow onions, celery and bell pepper and saute’ 4-5 minutes or until vegetables begin to soften. Add garlic and 1⁄2 cup green onions and cook 3 more minutes. Stir in tomato paste and all the spices and all the other seasonings. (Do not add the rest of green onions nor the parsley). Add the tomatoes and do use the liquid from the tomatoes. Gradually add the stock that you have made. Use approximately 2-4 quarts of stock or broth. Add sausage and okra and bring to a boil and then cover and reduce heat to medium low and simmer. Recipes say 30 minutes to 2 1⁄2 hours. Longer really melds the flavors. I add the okra later if I cook longer as I do not like it too broken down.
7. Never add the seafood until the last 10-20 minutes before serving. Stir in shrimp and remaining 1⁄2 cup of green onions and simmer ~ 3 minutes. Stir in crabmeat, oysters and 1⁄2 cup of green onions & the parsley and simmer 1 minute. Add crawfish or cooked chicken at this time if doing a different variety of gumbo. Remove from heat and taste for salt. Let each person sprinkle the dish with file’.
Serve over hot rice with garlic bread. This is worth the effort. This recipe serves 8-12. |
Personal
Notes: |
Personal
Notes: Liz,I landed my first optometry position in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1984, and I fell in love with the food as many do. “What to have for lunch?” was the major consideration at work each day. Discovery of the “best” recipe comes from loving a dish and trying different variations of that dish over time; this is the way I cook so it was difficult to pass an exact recipe on to you and Chris.
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