Posts Tagged "Gumbo"

Edit:  Thanks to everyone who sent links or offered to mail me the roux.  As soon as I realized we liked it, I had checked online and the shipping costs are more than I’m willing to pay.  I understand that the weight and insurance make it expensive and it isn’t that the retailers are charging too much.  I can make my own roux til I get more when I’m back in Louisiana so I’m not going to order it!

On Lime Green Kitchen:

Pumpkin Bars – real simple, real good!  No comments on the shiny cake pan, ok?  (Last time I had a shiny cookie sheet, several of you gave me a hard time about it.) 

This weekend, I did a horrible thing . . well, I cheated!  My very spoiled son is still aggravated with me.

When I was home last week, I ate at my friends’ house . . Roger and Eileen.  Roger is the cook and he’s such a good cook.  We had gumbo and it was so good.  He told me he uses storebought roux.  NO!  Say it isn’t so, Roger!  Yep, he uses this . . Savoie’s Dark Roux:

Of course, I brought some home.  Over the weekend I made gumbo.  I told no one my dirty little secret.

We ate.  I asked “On a scale of 1 – 10, how’s the gumbo?”  Vince said “11-1/2″.  Chad knew I’d done something different . . but he only knew because I wouldn’t have asked that question otherwise.  I confessed!  Chad was mad . . really . . he was upset.  I explained to him that Roger uses storebought roux.  If Roger can use it . . surely it’s ok for me to use it.  No!  He said “It tastes fine but it’s just the idea that it isn’t authentic homemade!”  Is that spoiled or what?

My opinion . . it was really good . . really good.  Now . . what if you can’t get Savoie’s Roux where you live?  Join the crowd!  I can’t either.   I wish I’d bought enough to last me til I go back home again.  Any of you Louisiana folks heading to Missouri any time soon?

Patience!  Fooled you, huh?  Started out with a full pot and let it simmer down to this.  Gumbo is really better if made the day before you plan to serve it.  The slow simmering just blends all the flavors.  Can’t make a pot of gumbo quickly!

Nothing’s been taken out of the pot, it just simmered down to a nice, thick gumbo.

Shortly before serving, I added parsley and green onions.  I actually added a whole bowl full of each but forgot to take a picture so I had to chop a little more for the picture!

Serve over a pile of hot rice and homemade file’.  My family is happy and full tonight!

Creme Brulee for dessert but I forgot to take pictures after adding and melting the sugar on top.  Maybe tomorrow I’ll remember to get a picture of the last three with the melted sugar.

Some foods just seem better during cold weather.  All it takes is one cool breeze and that indicates it’s gumbo weather at our house.  Thursday I smoked a chicken to make gumbo so last night I started it.  It’s one of those foods that seems better the next day so it simmered for a while last night and will simmer a while today before we have it for dinner.

Here’s how I make my gumbo and I’ll be the first to admit that I like lots of people’s gumbo better than I like my own but I think you kinda develop your own skill at making gumbo and no matter what I do differently, mine stays the same.  Chad and Vince love it!  They almost love it too much because I can see Vince glancing at Chad’s bowl to make sure he isn’t getting too much and I have seen Chad scoop out a bit and put in a container to store in the fridge downstairs just to guarantee he gets his share of it.

It’s so easy to make!  If you’ve never tried it . . please try it if you think you might like it.

For chicken gumbo, start with a chicken.  (Sounds pretty easy so far, right?)  You can boil the chicken or smoke it or grill it or whatever.  Some people even put whole, raw chicken pieces in their gumbo.  I don’t do that.

In a separate pot — the one you’re going to use for your gumbo, make your roux.  Roux is simply browned flour.  Creole cooks generally make their roux lighter than do cajun cooks.  I’ve heard that a roux should be equal parts fat (oil, shortening) and flour.  I don’t measure so I can’t say if that’s what you want or not.

Start maybe with 1/4 cup oil and 1/4 cup flour.  Over medium heat, begin browning the flour.  Stir constantly because you do not want it to burn and it will burn very quickly if you’re not careful.  If ever you make gumbo and find it too then, you can always make a little batch of roux in a separate pot, dump it into the gumbo pot and let it continue simmer til everything blends together and the gumbo thickens.

Keep stirring and you may need to turn down the heat just a bit to keep it from burning.

This is about the color I’m happy with.  Once you get to the color you want, add the vegetables.  I add:

Chopped onion.  That’s one whole large onion.  Add as much or as little as you want.

Green peppers.  I buy these when they’re on sale, chop them, store them in FoodSaver bags in the freezer.

Some garlic.  I used about 2 tablespoons.

Some people add in celery but I do not.  Saute the veggies til they’re pretty clear.  They’re going to get mushy during the cooking process and will probably just disappear but the flavor will be there.

Add your meats.

Shredded smoked chicken.  If I don’t have a smoked chicken, I add either meat from a boiled chicken or sometimes, if you happen by the deli in the grocery store just right, they’ll have rotisserie chickens marked down.  Grab a couple of those, debone them, put the meat in the freezer for when you need it.  That would work for gumbo.

Sausage.  I slice the sausage and brown it in a separate pot because sometimes it’s real greasy.  This is venison sausage, thanks to my niece’s husband.

Add some water, a bay leaf or two, salt and pepper and let simmer uncovered for at least several hours.   Add less salt than you think you’ll need.   You will taste test before serving and can adjust salt and pepper then.  I simmered til time to turn it off and let it cool down before putting it in the fridge overnight.  Today I’ll simmer it some more, add the last of the magic ingredients and this is dinner for tonight!