What is up party people?! A few post back I talked about my trip to New Orleans and all the food we indulged in. I also mentioned that my dad and his side of the family were born and raised in southern Louisiana so they know a little something about Cajun food. Well, for the first time ever, I decided it was time for me to finally try my hand at making gumbo, from scratch.
I was honestly super nervous because everyone has always warned me about the roux being super tough. Coming from someone who avoided roux at all cost for years, it wasn’t that bad. It was actually fairly simple. I turned on some music and got a little groovy; made time go by much faster. To me there is a huge difference in the taste when making a roux from scratch and getting pre-made from the grocery store. Store bought roux isn’t going to drastically alter the flavor of your dish, it just won’t give you the option to adjust the consistency, flavor, or color much but it still works great! Continue reading for a quick slideshow tutorial and printable recipe!
Scratch-made Gumbo
Ingredients:
- 1 bell pepper
- 2 onions
- 6 stocks of celery
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 2 chicken breast
- Andouille sausage
- Chicken stock
- Dried Oregano
- Dried Parsley
- Cajun/creole seasoning
- salt and pepper
- 1 cup Vegetable oil
- 1 cup Flour
- Tabasco sauce
- Rice for serving
Instructions:
Celery, bell pepper and onion; this my friends, is what the Cajun folk of Louisiana refer to as the Holy Trinity. Before you even start thinking about your roux, make sure to get everything chopped and prepared so you can focus solely on the roux to insure it doesn’t burn. Once you have your trinity chopped, put in a bowl and set aside. Nothing says gumbo quite like Andouille sausage. My package came with 2 links and I used both. Slice those up into desirable size and set aside, in a bowl, with 3 cloves of minced garlic. In a large stockpot, fill with 2 cups chicken stock and 8 cups water. Throw in half an onion, 1 clove of garlic, about 2-3 teaspoons of dried oregano and parsley and set on medium heat letting it gradually come to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, gently drop in 2 decent sized chicken breast. Let those boil for about 30 minutes or until you are done with your roux. Don’t worry if your chicken is boiling for a little bit longer than 30 minutes because it will just make the chicken tenderer. Here comes the roux. A roux is simply one part flour, one part oil. So for every cup of flour that you use, you will also use one cup of oil and so on. For this I actually prefer to use the Crisco that comes in a can; it works wonders. First, you are going add your cup of vegetable oil to a hot pan and let that start melting a little bit as you get your cup of flour. Add flour a little at a time, using a metal whisk or spatula to make sure no flour is sticking to the bottom. Its important to use something made of metal or else it might burn or melt. Once you have all the flour in the pot, vigorously whisk to ensure there are no lumps; we want it to look smooth like milk and slightly bubbling. Word of advise: don’t go more than 10 seconds without whisking because even the smallest amount of burnt flour can ruin the entire batch. After about 15-20 minutes your roux should have a nice light caramel color to it. I sprinkled a very small about of Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning in at this time. When whisking, make sure there are no black specks floating around because that means there is burnt flour, so pay close attention to that. It should smell good. It should never smell burnt and should never be smoking. After about 30-35 minutes, your roux should now have a more hazelnut brown color or maybe even a milk chocolate look. If it doesn’t than turn up your heat slightly and keep whisking. The darker and thicker your roux is, the richer the flavor will be. Go ahead and add your trinity once the roux is a nice hazelnut brown. The roux is going to thicken up immediately and start to bubble and smoke quite a bit; its ok don’t panic, you didn’t mess up. Be sure to mix continuously still make sure not to burn your roux. Let the veggies sweat down for about 1-2 minutes. Once your veggies are done sweating down, add your sliced sausage and garlic and continue stirring. make sure to get everything coated in that thick roux and let that cook for another 3-4 minutes then set aside on an off burner. At this time, remove the chicken breasts from the boiling water and cut into large cubes and return to broth. Remove large pieces of onion from the chicken stock with tongs and discard. Add your sausage, veggie and roux mixture straight to the pot with the chicken and stir. Once you have your roux mixed in with your chicken stock, lower heat to medium or medium low and allow the gumbo to simmer for about 2 hours. The longer it simmers the more time it has to build and deepen the flavors. For mine I added cornstarch slurry to thicken it up. The slurry is completely optional if you don’t want it as thick. Once you have everything in the pot, add a teaspoon of both salt and pepper, a tablespoon of creole seasoning, about a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce and half a tablespoon of Tabasco sauce. Leave it uncovered and stir occasionally. The best way to serve gumbo is over a bed of rice with a baguette of French bread on the side! Make your rice near the time you want to serve it so it is still warm. Season the rice with about 1-2 teaspoons of butter and a pinch of salt and pepper. After about 2 hours of simmering and you have your rice cooked and your baguette warmed up, you are ready to eat!!
Totally Tay 