Our niece Lauren was craving gumbo last week, so I promised her that I would share our 'recipe' this week.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup organic vegetable oil
3/4 cup organic flour
4 cloves of garlic
1 cup organic onion, chopped
1/2 cup organic celery, chopped
1 cup organic green bell pepper, chopped
2 organic serrano chili peppers
7 cups organic broth (if making a non-seafood gumbo, chicken broth works well. recall that we slow cook an organic whole fryer and freeze the broth, which is perfect for this use, or if making a seafood gumbo, boil down the shrimp/crawfish heads and shells and make a seafood broth)
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon thyme
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Cayenne to taste (or a cajun seasoning, like Tony Chachere's)
Various meats or seafood (if making a seafood gumbo, we use shrimp, crawfish, crab and/or oysters - all of which we 'de-shell' prior to adding to the gumbo; if making a non-seafood gumbo, we use organic slow cooked de-boned chicken and/ or organic sausage. Prior to adding the meat to the gumbo, we add some cajun seasoning (like Tony Chachere's) to the meat. Again, there are no limitations here - my paternal grandma would add anything she could shoot from her front porch: rabbit, squirrel, robin, etc etc etc.
File (used as a thickening agent)
Okra (used as a thickener), amount depends on you
Tabasco Sauce
Instructions:
Step 1 - Combine the vegetable oil and flour in a deep cast iron skillet. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly. (we usually use a whisk at first to get the flour combined with the oil, and then switch to a wooden spoon).
Step 2 - The roux is done when it is a rich, dark brown color - almost chocolaty. My paternal grandma used to say that the roux would be done when the cook had finished a six pack of beer! :)
Step 3 - Add the chopped vegetables and garlic to the roux, and stir until well combined; it will be thick.
Step 4 - Transfer the roux/vegetable mixture to a dutch oven or stock pot. Add 4 cups of chicken broth (saving the rest for later) and bring to a simmer.
Step 5 - When the gumbo comes to a simmer, add the bay leaf and thyme. Taste the gumbo, and add salt, pepper and cayenne to your taste - amounts will vary! (we normally put in about 1 teaspoon of cayenne, very little salt as our chicken broth is already salty, and about 1 teaspoon of black pepper). Continue to simmer until all flavors have married together, usually about 30 minutes.
Step 6 - Time to add the meats! I would caution that something like shrimp, which can easily get overcooked should be added later. You can add more chicken broth at this time as well. If the broth is too rich, you can add plain water instead.
Step 7 - Reduce heat, and continue to cook slowly. After the gumbo has cooked, feel free to add shrimp if doing a seafood gumbo. Additionally, at this point you can add okra to thicken the gumbo.
We have found the gumbo is actually better the second day - so now that the gumbo is cooked, we will cool it down, refrigerate, and save for tomorrow! We serve the gumbo over a bowl of rice, topped with File and Tabasco sauce.
We have also found that a slice of homemade french bread is delish with the gumbo; this time, however, we are going to try the Rustic Loaf that we made last week. This pot of gumbo should feed us for several meals, so I imagine we will end up freezing some and saving it for another time.
Enjoy!
Ingredients:
3/4 cup organic vegetable oil
3/4 cup organic flour
4 cloves of garlic
1 cup organic onion, chopped
1/2 cup organic celery, chopped
1 cup organic green bell pepper, chopped
2 organic serrano chili peppers
7 cups organic broth (if making a non-seafood gumbo, chicken broth works well. recall that we slow cook an organic whole fryer and freeze the broth, which is perfect for this use, or if making a seafood gumbo, boil down the shrimp/crawfish heads and shells and make a seafood broth)
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon thyme
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Cayenne to taste (or a cajun seasoning, like Tony Chachere's)
Various meats or seafood (if making a seafood gumbo, we use shrimp, crawfish, crab and/or oysters - all of which we 'de-shell' prior to adding to the gumbo; if making a non-seafood gumbo, we use organic slow cooked de-boned chicken and/ or organic sausage. Prior to adding the meat to the gumbo, we add some cajun seasoning (like Tony Chachere's) to the meat. Again, there are no limitations here - my paternal grandma would add anything she could shoot from her front porch: rabbit, squirrel, robin, etc etc etc.
File (used as a thickening agent)
Okra (used as a thickener), amount depends on you
Tabasco Sauce
Instructions:
Step 1 - Combine the vegetable oil and flour in a deep cast iron skillet. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly. (we usually use a whisk at first to get the flour combined with the oil, and then switch to a wooden spoon).
Step 2 - The roux is done when it is a rich, dark brown color - almost chocolaty. My paternal grandma used to say that the roux would be done when the cook had finished a six pack of beer! :)
Step 3 - Add the chopped vegetables and garlic to the roux, and stir until well combined; it will be thick.
Step 4 - Transfer the roux/vegetable mixture to a dutch oven or stock pot. Add 4 cups of chicken broth (saving the rest for later) and bring to a simmer.
Step 5 - When the gumbo comes to a simmer, add the bay leaf and thyme. Taste the gumbo, and add salt, pepper and cayenne to your taste - amounts will vary! (we normally put in about 1 teaspoon of cayenne, very little salt as our chicken broth is already salty, and about 1 teaspoon of black pepper). Continue to simmer until all flavors have married together, usually about 30 minutes.
Step 6 - Time to add the meats! I would caution that something like shrimp, which can easily get overcooked should be added later. You can add more chicken broth at this time as well. If the broth is too rich, you can add plain water instead.
Step 7 - Reduce heat, and continue to cook slowly. After the gumbo has cooked, feel free to add shrimp if doing a seafood gumbo. Additionally, at this point you can add okra to thicken the gumbo.
We have found the gumbo is actually better the second day - so now that the gumbo is cooked, we will cool it down, refrigerate, and save for tomorrow! We serve the gumbo over a bowl of rice, topped with File and Tabasco sauce.
We have also found that a slice of homemade french bread is delish with the gumbo; this time, however, we are going to try the Rustic Loaf that we made last week. This pot of gumbo should feed us for several meals, so I imagine we will end up freezing some and saving it for another time.
Enjoy!
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