Looking for a tried and true recipe for a once removed gumbo virgin.

nolaegghead · July 2018

SGH said:

JNDATHP said:
We love gumbo

And the Muhle R41.

Are you sure? Looks like a Muhle R89

SGH · July 2018

nolaegghead said:

SGH said:

JNDATHP said:
We love gumbo

And the Muhle R41.

Are you sure? Looks like a Muhle R89

Look closer my friend.

nolaegghead · July 2018

It goes without saying the most important part of any gumbo is the roux. There are many ways of making it and even more opinions on which way is best. There is no best way other than what works for you.

SWMBO and I make our rouxs differently, but the gumbo is good regardless of what method we use.

The good news is they are made from flour and fat, and these are cheap so you can practice and if you ruin (burn) it, you're not losing much but a few cents of ingredients and your time.

Start off by burning some roux, and you'll remember that smell forever. Or don't. Burned roux is bitter and can be dark, or light - it only takes a little burned flour to spoil the whole batch. Don't use it if it's burned, you'll make a terrible gumbo.

There are light and dark rouxs, and the whole spectrum between the two extremes. I like a dark roux - it has a complex flavor profile that appears to be made from a dozen exotic ingredients....but it's just flour and fat.

The ratio is 1:1 flour/fat by weight. All you need is vegetable oil. You can use a neutral oil or something with some flavor, I usually use canola. Some people use butter but the protein will burn in a dark roux. Peanut is popular. Animal fat works, but I would stray away from strong flavored fats for your first batch, experimentation is good and I encourage it.

In science speak, you are doing a maillard reaction. From wiki:

The reaction is a form of non-enzymatic browning which typically proceeds rapidly from around 140 to 165 °C (280 to 330 °F). Many recipes will call for an oven temperature high enough to ensure that a Maillard reaction occurs.[3] At higher temperatures, caramelization and subsequently pyrolysis become more pronounced.

The reactive carbonyl group of the sugar reacts with the nucleophilic amino group of the amino acid, and forms a complex mixture of poorly characterized molecules responsible for a range of aromas and flavors. This process is accelerated in an alkaline environment (e.g., lye applied to darken pretzels; see Lye roll), as the amino groups (RNH3+ → RNH2) are deprotonated and, hence, have an increased nucleophilicity. The type of the amino acid determines the resulting flavor. This reaction is the basis for many of the flavoring industry's recipes. At high temperatures, a potential carcinogen called acrylamide can be formed.[4]

In the process, hundreds of different flavor compounds are created. These compounds, in turn, break down to form yet more new flavor compounds, and so on. Each type of food has a very distinctive set of flavor compounds that are formed during the Maillard reaction. It is these same compounds that flavor scientists have used over the years to make artificial flavors.

You can do it in the microwave, dry in a pan, with oil in a pan, dry in the oven and with oil in the oven. The goal is to get the temp near where it burns and holding it there but to never cross that line.

I find oil and flour in a cast iron pan in the oven is the easiest method. SWMBO does oil and flour in a pan on the stove top, and she will work it for over an hour. Helluvalotta work.

The cast iron pan in the oven method is what I do. It is easy insofar as I'm not slaving over a hot stove and it's pretty fool-proof provided you don't get drunk and forget about it. It is also slow-moving, pretty hard to burn it, there are plenty of warning signs:

1:1 flour/fat by weight (really not that important as long as your flour is covered. I like cast iron because it buffers temperature changes and gives you a slow moving roast.

put it in the oven at 350F. Open the oven and stir maybe every 15 minutes or so until it's about as dark as chocolate...dark chocolate if you want to push it. Don't confuse the nutty strong aroma for burned. Once it gets near done, check it every 5 minutes and turn up the oven temp if you feel it's taking too long. This typically takes about an hour but can take longer.

If you burn it, start over. But taste the burned stuff so you know what it shouldn't taste like (bitter and terrible) and throw it in your neighbor's trash. Air out the house. Phantom burning smell can impact your judgment in the next batch.

I'm typing this off the top of my head, I'll check it tomorrow for drunken mistakes so it's subject to change.

Once it is done, dump it out of the pan into a hot-oil proof container to arrest the cooking. it can burn with carryover cooking if you are working that razor's edge, like a Muhle R41 ( @sgh ).

That's how to make roux. I'll follow this up with some general guidelines in making authentic Louisiana gumbo tomorrow.

nolaegghead · July 2018

One other thing, the darker the roux, the less effective it is as a thickener. This is not anything to worry about, but just an effect the breaking down of the starch has on flour as a thickening agent. Something you should be aware of. Generally gumbo is not thick, but I don't like mine with the viscosity of water So the viscosity can be adjusted at the end. The okra will thicken it and historically dried sassafras (file') also is used to that effect. But you can just use the regular methods, more flour, cornstarch or arrow root

SGH · July 2018

nolaegghead said:

if you are working that razor's edge.

I really like your choice of words here. With that said, I would of liked it even more if you would of mentioned the Muhle R41 by name.

JNDATHP · July 2018

@nolaegghead thanks for the write up. I have never tried to make a roux in the oven but will be trying it soon.

nolaegghead · July 2018

fixed it for you, Scottie

SGH · July 2018

nolaegghead said:

fixed it for you, Scottie

Much better my friend.
On a separate note, the next time you speak to Randy, ask him if he would like to get together for a cook out. My other place is only 45 minutes from downtown Foley. I got a big, nice, new building we can throw down in.

nolaegghead · July 2018

will do

Biggreenpharmacist · July 2018

SGH said:

nolaegghead said:

fixed it for you, Scottie

Much better my friend.
On a separate note, the next time you speak to Randy, ask him if he would like to get together for a cook out. My other place is only 45 minutes from downtown Foley. I got a big, nice, new building we can throw down in.

What do yall do? Get drunk and make roux and shave each others backs with muhle R41’s?

Thatgrimguy · July 2018

Real gumbo needs a roux base, and I got it have seafood in mine!! File and okra are optional

buzd504 · July 2018

Basic gumbo steps:

Prep trinity (onion, celery, bell pepper), cooked chicken, chicken stock, and pre-brown some andouille to render some of the fat. And egg-roasted chicken is best, but an OTC rotisserie chicken works in a pinch.

I usually make my roux using the stove top method, either in cast iron, or in the pot I will be building the gumbo. Regardless, I make the roux in the pot/pan that I sauteed the andouille in to deglaze the tasty bits.

Cook roux to desired doneness. Dump in onions and some S & P. (Note: putting the onions in stops the roux from cooking. Adding them separately from the peppers and celery allows them to caramelize as the peppers and celery add a lot of water).

Sautee onions with roux until onions start to caramelize. This will form sort of a gooey ball with the roux. About 10 min. Then add peppers and celery and a little garlic and cook until soft, about another 10 minutes. If the veg/roux seems dry or prone to scorch, add a little chicken stock, beer, or white wine to thin.

Once veg/roux is soft add chicken, sausage, and stock. Add a couple of bay leaves, thyme, cajun seasoning. Other spices to taste, but those are the big ones. Simmer for an hour or two, tasting and seasoning.

I don't usually add okra to my base gumbo, and we usually serve file and hot sauce on the side.

Serve over rice or many plop a glob of potato salad in the middle.

Easy

Carolina Q · July 2018

From Chef Paul!! Such passion!

Jambalaya
Blackened Prime Rib, 13:12
Gumbo, 21:12

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5XXU47q9js

SGH · July 2018

Carolina Q said:

From Chef Paul!! Such passion!

Jambalaya
Blackened Prime Rib, 13:12
Gumbo, 21:12

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5XXU47q9js

Agree. Any time he spoke about cooking, you could just hear it in his voice. Cooking was a true passion to him.

RRP · July 2018

Once again I thank those of you helping me started with the basics! I actually even found myself listening to Zydeco in the background! If that music doesn't get you moving - then nothing will!

SGH · July 2018

RRP said:

If that music doesn't get you moving - then nothing will!

A great shave will get you going even better.

SGH · July 2018

I may post an uberlather here later today.

nolaegghead · July 2018

To complete my gumbo instructions that seem to go over so well (tl;dr):

I'll make it quick.

Smoke or roast chicken, turkey, quail, duck, whatever fowl you want. Smoke some andouilli sausage. Pick the meat off it the fowl, set aside. Cut up the sausage set aside. Make a broth with the bones and giblets. Take fresh okra, and literally cook the snot out of it. Saute up some cajun trinity/mirepoix, with whatever else you want. Gumbo is about making something with what you have. Local/fresh/good.

Mix it all into the boiling broth, simmer, add and adjust seasoning, adjust thickness if needed. That's it. You don't need a recipe.

You just need to know how to make the roux.

You can add some tomatoes if you want.

Seafood gumbo is pretty much the same except you might want a lighter roux so you don't mask the delicate seafood. Throw the stuff that is ruined by overcooking in last. Fish/shrimp/crab/lobster (you pick any combo) broth. That is the flavor, don't count on overcooking seafood protein for flavor - you're doing it wrong. That's what the damn broth is for. Prepare to open your wallet, it's expensive. You can throw lake crab (small split blue crab) in for flavor and the ooh aaah factor. Any seafood works.

Nola out.

SGH · July 2018

nolaegghead said:
Seafood gumbo is pretty much the same except you might want a lighter roux so you don't mask the delicate seafood.

Would any of these work or should I just stick to shaving?

nolaegghead · July 2018

SGH said:

nolaegghead said:
Seafood gumbo is pretty much the same except you might want a lighter roux so you don't mask the delicate seafood.

Would any of these work or should I just stick to shaving?

Do not add Zebra Mussels.

Carolina Q · July 2018

nolaegghead said:

To complete my gumbo instructions that seem to go over so well (tl;dr):

Not too long at all. All instructions, yours and everyone else's, are much appreciated, if somewhat out of my comfort zone. The only roux I've ever made was for béchamel.

SGH · July 2018

Carolina Q said:
somewhat out of my comfort zone. The only roux I've ever made was for béchamel.

Brother Q, making a roux is very, very simple. For some reason it is spoken of like it’s an art. It’s really not. It’s actually just the opposite. Nothing but equal parts of fat and flour.
The biggest thing as cliche as it sounds, is simply take your time and don’t scorch it. Until you are proficient at it, keep your heat no higher than medium and stir constantly. If you do this you can’t miss. Problems only arise when folks try running to high and don’t stir constantly.

johnnyp · July 2018

As a companion piece to Nola's roux write-up, this post is worth a read.

https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1190902/how-to-make-a-roux-in-the-style-of-dixie/p1

SGH · July 2018

johnnyp said:

As a companion piece to Nola's roux write-up, this post is worth a read.
https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1190902/how-to-make-a-roux-in-the-style-of-dixie/p1

You know i actually forgot that I posted that. Thanks for the reminder.

Biggreenpharmacist · July 2018

SGH said:

johnnyp said:

As a companion piece to Nola's roux write-up, this post is worth a read.
https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1190902/how-to-make-a-roux-in-the-style-of-dixie/p1

You know a actually forgot that I posted that. Thanks for the reminder.

Old age is catching up with you. What are you? About 95 now?

SonVolt · July 2018

Carolina Q said:

From Chef Paul!! Such passion!

Jambalaya
Blackened Prime Rib, 13:12
Gumbo, 21:12

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5XXU47q9js

I sure miss Dom Deluise.

SGH · July 2018

Biggreenpharmacist said:
Old age is catching up with you. What are you? About 95 now?

I certainly feel it

Biggreenpharmacist · July 2018

I thought he looked like a white Mr T.

Carolina Q · July 2018

Biggreenpharmacist · July 2018

Ha! that's awesome.

Looking for a tried and true recipe for a once removed gumbo virgin.

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