Gumbo recipes?

The one time I made it, I pieced together a seafood gumbo recipe based on the info in these two videos:

Chop up 1 large white onion, 1 green bell pepper & 3 stalks of celery.

Peel & devein a pound of gulf shrimp (put shells and heads, if you have them, in a pot with water, some of your onion and celery debris and boil it up to make some stock - you'll need at least 3 cups of stock, maybe more. You can supplement with chicken stock if necessary). Season shrimp with Chef Paul's Seafood Magic (or something else you like) and put in fridge. Slice a half pound of andouille sausage into quarter-inch rounds and then brown them in a nonstick pan for a few minutes until crusted just a bit. Remove and set aside on paper towel.

Assemble your spice mix in a cup: Half a teaspoon of cayenne, quarter tsp of white pepper, half tsp of black pepper (all three peppers are critical). Teaspoon of Kosher salt. Tablespoon of fresh thyme leaves (or half tsp of dried). 2 or 3 Bay Leaves.

1 cup of canola oil. Heat in a cast iron pan at high heat until starting to smoke just a bit. 1 cup of flour, vigorously whisked in. NEVER STOP WHISKING. And keep whisking until Roux turns a milk chocolate color. If you feel it is starting to scorch during this process, remove it from heat for a bit bit NEVER stop whisking.

When roux turns color of milk chocolate pour in a full bottle of beer, preferably a black lager, Abita Turbodog or Amber of some kind. Whisk that for a few seconds and then throw in all of your trinity (onions, peppers and celery). Toss in your spice mix. Stir with a wooden spoon until everything is coated with the roux.

Meanwhile, boil stock in a stock pot and then gradually spoon in the roux & veggie mixture, stirring each spoonful until well disolved into the stock. Dial heat on the stock pot down to medium. Let simmer for a bit then add andouille and shrimp. Check viscosity of gumbo and add more stock if necessary to make sure you are serving Gumbo instead of Etouffee.

Serve over rice (or potato salad).

PNWFoodie said:

Well, then, what exactly makes a gumbo a gumbo rather than, say, a stew?

The roux, for the most part, but also the trinity (as opposed to a mirepoix, which has carrots) and the general profile of the ingredients and seasonings.

It could (and often is) certainly be argued that there is some crossover in definitions.

PNWFoodie said:

Well, then, what exactly makes a gumbo a gumbo rather than, say, a stew?

The difference is the roux, of course. You can make it like above till your arm falls off or you can put equal parts of oil and flour in a covered heavy enamel DO in a 375 degree oven for a couple of hours, stirring every twenty minutes until dark brown chocolate color.

In Chef John Besch's, My New Orleans Cookbook, he gives some great roux advice and since I've read it I haven't gone back to conventional roux making.  Basically, as long as your constantly whisking, you can have a dark roux in 15 min as opposed to an hour.  Get your 1:1 ratio of fat to flour (I prefer canola oil), heat the oil hot......hot hot hot. Toss is the flour to where the flour is basically shocked.  Keep whisking on high heat until you get before the color you want and then drop the temp and through in your onions. The sugar in the onions will carmelize with the heat and darken your roux even more.

It's too hot to eat gumbo now. It Must be below 60 degrees.

Little late to the party but here are a few ideas!

this is the recipe/ techniques i follow
from richards files

Stew, Gumbo, Chicken & Sausage, Chef Wil


INGREDIENTS:
2 cups Peanut oil
2 cups all purpose flour
1 large onion, 1 med. Bell pepper, and 2 ribs of celery (chopped)
2 lbs Fresh pork sausage (cut in 3 in. lengths)
1 lb Smoked sausage (sliced)
2 49 1/2 Ozs Can Swansons chicken broth + 3 cups water
6 boneless chicken breasts ( cut in fourths and seasoned with salt and pepper )
1 Bunch Cut green onions
1 Bunch Chopped fresh parsley
8 hungry people or 4 cajuns….(wink)
I used an 8 qt. dutch oven




Procedure:
1 First you make the roux
2 cups of peanut oil and 2 cups of all purpose flour
3 (the peanut oil has a higher smoking point and a nutty flavor )
4 Heat oil until it is about 350 degrees, add flour, being careful not to burn yourself because the flour does contain moisture, stir constantly and lower your fire so it does not scorch. Cook roux until it looks a little darker than peanut butter. Add chopped veggies, lower your fire to low and cook until veggies are partially caramelized. It will look like a nice cocoa color at this point.This really needs to be done on the stovetop so you can have more control over it. If you burn or scorch this, throw it away and start over, it’s the most important part of gumbo and the least expensive to throw out if need be. Move pot to the BGE that has been pre-heated to about 350. Add your fresh and smoked sausages in the pot and cook them for about 20 minutes. Add stock and water and cook until it starts to boil around the edges of pot. Add chicken and cook for about 1 hour or until meat is cooked. Adjust seasonings to your taste. Add green onions and parsley. Skim off any oil that may have surfaced. Greasy gumbo is not too appetizing. Serve in large bowls with white rice. A side of baked sweet potato or potato salad with crusty french bread is a must. Using this recipe for the roux, you have the basics, from here you can make seafood gumbo, shrimp and okra, duck and andoouille, really any combinations work. It is even common in South Louisiana to mix meats like chicken, sausage, shrimp, and oysters.


Recipe Type
Main Dish

Recipe Source
Source: BGE Forum, Chef Wil, 2003/10/28

Any questions feel free to e-mail me so as not to clutter the forum.

Note:. If using bone in chickens or hens, water is used instead of stock, too much chicken flavor may not compliment the gumbo and thus hides the taste of sausages.

I prefer using fresh hens, the flavor is more intense and the meat is firmer, you can also add an extra 2 hours of cooking time using hens instead of chicken.