Gumbo

There’s one thing about Gumbo that you should know.  There are so many versions, it’s utterly ridiculous. 

 

You can leave in or delete many of the ingredients below.  The roux (the shortening/flour mixture), is pretty much a staple in gumbo, but some people leave that out and use a tomato base.  I personally have never had a Gumbo with tomatoes, and I probably never will.  I know I said you can change things up, but I could never imagine making a gumbo with tomatoes.  My great grandmother, cajun as you can get, told me that a good gumbo should look like dirty mop water.  No, it doesn’t sound appetizing, but that’s pretty much the way it looks.  Now, back to the different ways to make gumbo.  The recipe below calls for a shortening/flour mix for the roux.  But many people use vegetable oil. Also, if you don’t want to use water, you can use shrimp stock, chicken stock, vegetable stock…  You can leave the chicken out, and substitute it for duck, rabbit, squirrel,  nutria, raccoons and opossums.  You can substitute the Blue Crab for Dungeness Crab (though don’t let my mom know you did that, cuz that’s not new orleans), you can use a different type of sausage (a more cajun one, or andouille).  Leave the oysters out if you want!   

The bottom line?  No two families make gumbo the same.   

But this is THE way my mom always makes her gumbo.

Serves 12-14

1 cup shortening
1 cup flour  (the flour and shortening combo make the roux.  add more roux to make your gumbo thicker, and less for a thinner gumbo)
1 large onion, chopped 
3 ribs celery, chopped 
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 1/2 gallons water or chicken stock 
1 chicken, cut up 
1 lb smoked sausage, cut in 1/4 inch slices 
Salt, freshly ground black pepper and cayenne pepper to taste
2 bay leaves  
2 (8 oz) can oysters, with the water (boiled, not smoked)
3 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined 
3 pounds blue crab, cracked down the middle 

Heat the shortening on medium high in a large cast iron skillet. Once melted add the flour and combine. Cook the roux, stirring constantly, to a dark peanut butter color. This takes quite a while, just go with it.
***disclaimer: roux needs to be stirred constantly, if you walk away for even a minute, it will burn. If this happens, throw it away and WASH YOUR SKILLET. Wiping it won’t do because the taste and smell will still be there***
When the roux reaches a color just a bit darker than peanut butter, add the vegetables, combine and continue cooking and stirring. (be careful not to spatter yourself when you add the veggies). When the vegetables are tender and the roux reaches the chocolate color, carefully transfer it to a heavy bottomed large pot. Add the water (or stock) and stir until the roux incorporates with the water. Add the chicken, seasonings and bay leaves. Simmer for about a 1/2 hour, then add the sausage.  Continue cooking for an additional 1/2 hour. BTW…it should have a stew like consistency.

Add the oysters, shrimp and crab about 10 minutes before serving.  Re-season with salt, pepper if needed
Serve in large soup or gumbo bowls over about 1/2 cup of cooked rice per serving.  Sprinkle a little gumbo file (fee-lay) on top before serving, if you so desire
Oh!! Don’t eat the bay leaves!!!

Cajun Shrimp Fettucini

This is another dish that will surely impress any Cajun cuisine connoisseur.  The sauce is cheesy, thick and creamy.  Seasoned to your liking with Cajun seasoning.  Also, if your lucky enough to actually live in Cajun country, feel free to substitute crawfish tails for the shrimp. 

Actually, you can leave the Cajun seasoning out all together and it makes a GREAT Fettucine Alfredo.  Either way…serve with some crusty bread or garlic toast. 

 

Serves 3-4

 

 

Ingredients

  

1 pound fettucine pasta

1 lb andouille sausage, sliced and quartered

2 cups large shrimp, cleaned

1 tbsp Creole Seasoning ( I like Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning)

1 tbsp oil

4 tbsp butter

2 cups half & half, divided

1 tbsp corn starch

1 cup parmigiano reggiano cheese

2 tbsp Creole Seasoning 

 

DIRECTIONS

  

Bring large pot of water to boil for pasta.  Place the shrimp in a bowl and sprinkle with 1 tbsp creole seasoning and toss to coat.  Add the sausage to a hot pan and toss to warm through.  Add the oil and toss in the seasoned shrimp.  Cook the shrimp just until it turns pink, about 2-3 minutes, then remove.  The water should be ready for the pasta.  Add the pasta to the water and stir to prevent clumping.  Follow the cooking directions on the package.  While the pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce.  Add the cornstarch to 1 cup of half & half  and whisk well, and set aside.  To the same pan that you prepared the shrimp/sausage mixture, melt the butter.  Add the 1 cup of cream w/o the cornstarch.  Whisk together and warm through, but do not let boil.  Add the cheese and whisk till smooth and melted.  Keep whisking.  Add the other cup of half and half (with the cornstarch).  Stir until thickened and smooth.  Add the creole seasoning and mix well.  Add the shrimp and sausage and incorporate. 

Top your drained pasta with this fabulous creole cream sauce and enjoy!!

print this recipe here

 

Shrimp Étouffée

Being raised with a mother from Louisiana, surprisingly I can only remember having this dish about twice when growing up.  I’m not sure why…we were all fans of seafood, rice, and all the other wonderful ingredients in this recipe.  When I grew up and moved out, my mother gave me a Cajun cookbook one year (I think for Christmas or something) and in there was this recipe for Shrimp Étouffée. 

The recipe is courtesy of Britt Shockley.  The original recipe, Crawfish Étouffée has won the world championship for 1991, 1992, and 1993.  Everything is exactly the same, except of course I’ve sub’d shrimp for the crawfish. 

This dish is sure to impress any connoisseur of Cajun cuisine.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter

1 large onion, diced

1 large bell pepper, diced

1 1/2 tbsp all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups seafood stock

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp red pepper

1/8 tsp white pepper

1/8 tsp black pepper

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp paprika

1 lb medium shrimp (the original recipe calls for 1 lb crawfish tails)

1 cup soft butter

1/4 cup sliced green onions

1/4 cup chopped parsley

Steamed rice

Directions

Melt 1/2 cup butter over medium high heat in a heavy bottomed saucepan.  Add the onion and bell pepper; cook until soft.  Add flour, and stir well to blend.  Coook 5 minutes.  Add seafood stock and whisk until smooth.  Add seasonings.  Bring to boil; then simmer for 30 minutes.  Add the Shrimp.  Blend well, and cook 10 minutes.  Lower the heat and stir in soft butter until incorporated (do not bring to a boil).  Add green onions and parsley.  Serve over steamed rice.

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Red Beans & Rice (Slow Cooker Version)

If you’re into southern food, then you know about red beans & rice.  This is an authentic recipe that will impress anyone that is a connoisseur of this great dish!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Serves 8

Ingredients

1 pound dry kidney beans

1 large onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

2 tablespoons garlic, minced

2 stalks celery, chopped

4 cups chicken broth

2 cups water

2 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 tablespoon dried parsley

1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning

1 pound andouille sausage, sliced

4 ham hocks

Directions

Rinse the beans to make sure they have no rocks or gravel and place in the slow cooker. Clean the ham hocks under warm running water and place in the crock pot along with the rest of the ingredients. Cover and cook on high for 4 hrs or low for 8. 

About 3/4 of the way through, I usually check to make sure my beans haven’t gotten too dry (if I’m home), if so, just add enough water or chicken broth to make them moist again.  They should be more creamy…not soupy.

After cooking is complete, remove the Bay Leaves.  (If you don’t remove them, at least, please don’t eat them!!)  Remove the hocks and put them on a plate (remove any beans from the hocks).  With a potato masher, mash the beans until they reach the proper consistency (about half the beans should be mashed, the other half stay whole).  After smashing about half of them, mix together.  They should be creamy. 

When the hocks have cooled for a few minutes, remove and discard the skin.  Take the meat off the bone, and chop into chunks.  Add the meat back to the beans and stir to incorporate.

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Rice

4 cups water

2 cups long grain white rice

In a saucepan, bring water and rice to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.  Uncover, and fluff with a fork.  Cook uncovered for another 5 minutes.

Serve beans over steamed white rice.

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