Now I'm hungry! Thanks for putting that up!@Olds442
@Bigfoot410
Sorry it took me so long to post this... but damn, what a day!
Better late than never, though. So, for your entertainment pleasure, here's quite a bit more about gumbo than what I wrote in that PM.
I suppose that a spot of history is in order. So I'll start by saying:
Gumbo is a concoction with roots in Africa-- especially Nigeria, where various soup-like food mixtures remain a preeminent type of entrée unto this very day. Lots of gumbo-type foods in Ethiopia, too. As I already said elsewhere, the word for "okra" in the Fon language of Africa is gumbo. Okra is used as a thickening agent in these tasty African concoctions. It is also the case that the plant itself came to the New World from Africa.
African Okra Soup... Note the Shrimp and Okra
The first English-language writings concerning gumbo seem to have their date of origin in 1803, when a New Orleans newspaper published a recipe for Rabbit and Bear Gumbo. That same recipe also cropped up in an early cookbook that was published later that same year. For quite a few of these people heading West, New Orleans was the last stop in "civilization" and a place where a lot of would-be settlers paused to obtain supplies to take with them on the long trip to paradise.
Of course, for those who planned on doing some homesteading that would feature agriculture, seeds were available for the future sowing of crops. And among the myriad types of seeds that were on sale in the French Market in New Orleans were okra seeds.
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The fact that this first gumbo recipe involved rabbit and bear meat as a combination tells us that gumbo-- which is often thought of by the uninitiated as being strictly a seafood dish-- can be made of pretty much any meat at all. In fact, it can also be made with no meat whatsoever, as is the case with the "green gumbo" type that is also known as "Gumbo Z'herbs".
***************Here it bears mentioning that while some people do still use okra for the thickening agent in gumbo, the majority do not. In fact, gumbo with okra as an ingredient is rare enough these days that one will usually specify that it's a genuine "okra gumbo" that is at hand, and the overall idea among modern chefs is that this is a very old-timey way to make gumbo.
BUT, it wasn't like that until the end of the 19th Century... okra was *the* thickening agent that gave gumbo its body... which is somewhere between ordinary soup and a corn-starch laden bisque or chowder. So, what happened to the okra, which gave gumbo its name?
Here's what a lot of people believe happened:
In the first year of the 20th Century, oil was discovered in Louisiana. And that oil brought in a robber baron named John D. Rockefeller, who had founded a gigantic corporation, Standard Oil, in the late 19th Century. This organization had a virtual monopoly in the oil business until the corporation was broken up by the instigation of a federal antitrust suit in 1911.
So for a while there, Rockefeller was hanging out in New Orleans... mostly bribing members of the so-called "Ring" that used to run the show down there until Huey Long demolished them and removed them from power altogether. Rocky was also up in Baton Rouge, corrupting the hell out of the governor's office-- a thing Huey would have welcomed had he been governor at the time.
So, Rockefeller was treated like royalty in New Orleans-- and the city did its best to please the old robber baron. What that meant was that the restaurants-- especially Broussard's and Antoine's-- bent over backwards just to please him. In fact, the head chef and owner of Antoine's, Jules Alciatore, actually invented a luxury dish that is known as "Oysters Rockefeller", just to kiss the butt of ol' JD with a resounding smack! that was heard around the world...
And gumbo? How did JD Rockefeller impact gumbo-- maybe? The story goes like this:
The story is that nobody wanted to serve Rockefeller something with that humble okra in it. Everything you served that guy had to seem like something the culinary gods of France came up with in a gourmet's wet dream...
So, okra wouldn't do. They couldn't change the name of gumbo, because it was ubiquitous... I mean, bullshit does spread, but only so far. So instead, what was done was this: they did away with okra and substituted roux-- that staple of French cooking, and the grandmother of the Four Mother Sauces of France...
And voilà! Gumbo was transformed from something vaguely African, which the rank-and-file ate, into something French that could be advertised as gourmet-class cuisine.
Or at least, that's how the story goes...
But! There's no proof that any of that happened. In reality, nobody knows for sure how the roux got in there... just that it did.
***************So now we know that the foodstuff, gumbo, and the plant, okra, are both of African origin. We know that the foodstuff gumbo requires some form of thickening agent in the stock, and that pretty much any meat whatsoever (or no meat at all) may be used as part of its preparation. What else might be said?
Well, we can say that generally, a gumbo will feature a stock that is flavored in accordance with the main meat type to be used in the preparation. For instance, I'm about to give you a recipe for Chicken and Andouille Gumbo, and in it I used chicken stock for the soup-water part of the concoction. If I was making a gumbo such as Shrimp and Catfish Gumbo, I'd be using a seafood stock. I'd use beef stock if this were some form of beefy gumbo.
And so forth.
I should also mention that one doesn't necessarily combine meats so as to make gumbo. For instance, I sometimes make a Chicken Gumbo that doesn't have andouille sausage in it. Instead, it's just chicken, period. But one rule that it's wisest to abide by is this: if there's any form of seafood or crawfish in one's gumbo, then it's pretty much *always* best to use a seafood stock. This is a rule of thumb that I have never seen varying over the years.
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I should also mention this: andouille is a pork sausage, and some people have proscriptions against the eating of pork, OR they just don't like pork without an underlying philosophical consideration.
But as I said: one need not put sausage in their gumbo. If you just want chicken gumbo, double up on the chicken in the recipe I'm about to offer.
It's also the case that if one does wish to put sausage in one's gumbo, it needs not to be andouille sausage. Essentially, any form of sausage whatsoever will do.
For this recipe, I used andouille mainly because I personally like andouille in my chicken gumbo... and also because Chicken and Andouille Gumbo is an extremely traditional form of gumbo in New Orleans. So for both our sakes, I went with Chicken and Andouille today... me, because I like it like that, and you, because the instant you make this stuff and take your first taste, you'll suddenly remember that wonderful scent you detected as a younger man while wandering around in the French Quarter.
***************Okay, enough dawdling. Let's get this show on the road!
So, here's your list of ingredients:
1lb chicken breast
1lb andouille sausage
1 large onion
1 large green pepper
2 long ribs of celetery
2-3 cloves of garlic
2 quarts of chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon of "Creole Seasoning"
1/2 teaspoon of thyme
1 bunch scallions (only the green tops are used)
1/3 cup of minced parsley
Maybe filé powder (see notes, below)
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Please note here that this recipe is scalable. The above ingredients will produce about a gallon of Real Good Stuff, but if you double what's on the list you'll end up with two gallons of Real Good Stuff... and so forth. Gumbo scales to perfection.
***************How we cook this stuff up:
1. Chop all your veggies up really good. Put the onion, green pepper, and celery (also known as the Holy Trinity of Gumbo) together, along with the minced garlic, all in the same bowl. Set to one side-- but where you can reach it without leaving the stove.
2. Brown your meats really good, or maybe you cook them on a grill. Once the meats are done, put them all in one bowl and set aside.
3. Now you make your roux. Mix together the oil and flour in a 5-quart pot, and put it on the stove. Use a metallic whisk to stir.
4. If you've never made roux before, go with medium heat. Stir, stir, stir and do not stop-- dammit!
Refer to the following chart... here's your roux colors:
5. Now that your roux is done, reduce heat to low and dump the vegetables in there. Stir, stir, stir! The veggies will cool the roux, and at the same time they end up kind of deep fat fried. Lovely! So keep stirring (and do NOT stop) for the next four or five minutes.New Orleans Roux is About the Same Color as Peanut Butter
6. Add your stock, the meats, and seasonings. Turn the heat back up to Full Blast until the stuff almost begins to boil. Then dial the heat back down to where the mixture continues to bubble as it cooks, but is not actually at a full boil or really close to it. Keep it cooking like that for the next hour.Double, Double-- Toil and Trouble; Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble!Were the Witches in Macbeth Cooking Gumbo?
7. Five minutes before the hour has ended, dump in your scallion tops and the parsley. Turn the heat off and stir the stuff in. You want to take it easy on those last two veggies because the flavors are somewhat delicate and can be boiled right out of the brew.8. That's it. The traditional way to serve this is to dump it atop a bowl of cooked rice. It goes well with pretty much any beverage-- but especially soft drinks and beer-- and you might want to have some French or Italian bread on hand for dipping. There are some people who eat it without the rice, too. You get about 8 largish, main course servings out of this gumbo you just made. It's about one gallon deep.C'est Magnifique! Fresh Gumbo is to Die For!
NOTES... the devil's in the details...Concerning garlic: in the list of ingredients I mentioned 2-3 cloves of garlic. That's "cloves" not BULBS of garlic! But also of interest is that you sometimes get garlic with gigantic cloves. Just adjust the amount of garlic by imagining 2-3 smaller cloves, and you'll be okay. The garlic I used today was the big-clove stuff, so I'm including this photo to give you some idea of about how much I used:Easy Does It on the Garlic
You may have noticed that I put parentheses around "Creole Seasoning". I did that because there's more than one vendor of the stuff out there. But what I tend to use is Tony Cachere's:
This stuff appears to be available nationwide, and it's the right stuff. BUT, if you can't find it, just drop me a note in this thread, and I'll post the ingredients one uses to make one's own Creole Seasoning. Later on, you can also tweak the ingredients and come up with your own special blend if you like. But for now, Tony Cachere's will probably do the trick.If I Could Put Thyme in a Bottle...
When it comes to thyme: I listed one-half of a teaspoon as being the amount to put in. In reality, you can put a little more in there-- but no less. Some people who really love the flavor of thyme have been known to use one full teaspoon in the above recipe... but I wouldn't start with that much. And a warning: any more than that, and about all you're gonna taste is thyme. So be careful with this stuff, okay? Start with one-half. You may find that you don't need more. I never use more than that myself. Ever. Pretty Warm Stuff!
Regarding sausage: unless you've got somebody up there to custom grind your sausage (and hey, it's Chicago... you very well may!) then you're gonna go with something prepackaged. In the realm of andouille sausage, the real difference is mainly to be found in how coarse the grind is, followed by how much cayenne is in the mixture. Andouille sausage is considered to be a "warm" sausage, as opposed to a "hot" sausage such as chorizo... and season-wise, gumbo is a "warm" food, NOT hot.The Savoie's brand sausage is from Louisiana, and it's pretty warm when compared to other, more bland types of andouille. You may or may not like the stuff.Other sausage manufacturers that are common include Hillshire (kinda bland, but acceptable), Aidell's (warm enough for government work), Beaumont Boudin (very nice-- not too hot or bland), Johnsonville (ha ha!), and Zatarain's (it's passable if you can't find anything else).But again: you do NOT have to use andouille, even though that really is the New Orleans standard.By all means: use something else if you want. See if I care! <sniffing haughtily>
Concerning Gumbo Filé: what this stuff is, is ground sassafras leaves. It was once an almost mandatory seasoning to be cooked in the gumbo as part of its preparation, but some people really HATE this stuff. About the only place where I've found people who tend to cook using filé is in Northern Alabama... but pretty much everybody else just puts the filé on the table and lets the guests use it if they want it, or to not use it.It has an intensely aromatic, "green" kind of flavor that not everybody appreciates. In New Orleans, you don't even usually find it on the table and have to actually ask for it, or you'll never see it. And they won't offer it, either. As I said, not everybody likes it and some people just hate the stuff.I'm on the list of haters. Filé? Yuck.Be a Sausage Snob-- Slice On the Bias!
Final tip:One of my favorite things to do to my dinner guests is to insult them while they eat my gumbo. It's the price they pay.And here's a fun way to start: note that the sausage in the photo above was not sliced into round "medallions" and was instead "sliced on the bias". That is a snooty French culinary term which means to slice something in a diagonal kind of way, so you end up with these oblong ovals instead of round medallions.To insult your guests, tell them that you had to "slice on the bias" and then act like it was a real chore. Most people do not know this term and will ask you what you mean. You then point out the shape of the sausage and act like they're idiots because they didn't already know that.For extra fun: insist that slicing on the bias changes the flavor of the sausage. They'll either think you're crazy, or they may believe you-- or at least ask how it changes the flavor. If that's their reaction, you get to make fun of them for not being sharp enough to realize that the shape of a foodstuff has nothing to do with its flavor. Tell them how stupid you think they are. The really cool part is that if your gumbo is the Real Good Stuff, they'll actually finish eating before smacking you in the head and stomping back out your front door!And now you know why I have almost no dinner guests these days...
***************Okay, so there's your gumbo thread.
You will find that this stuff isn't really hard to make at all. People usually crap their pants while doing their first roux, as the roux is the trickiest part of the whole thing. But remember: it's just flour and oil and if you blow it, you can do it again really cheap. Don't be trippin' out on me, here.
If you follow my recipe, you'll have the Real Good Stuff.
Best luck to you, and best wishes. May all your dreams of gumbo come true.
Bon Appétit,
Chef Roberteaux,
Deland, FL
ok i'll grab some veggie oil.Yep. Regular veggie oil. I just use Wesson-- or whatever else I might have at the moment...
Man, I'll bet that andouille you're about to score is gonna be really good stuff!
Are you going to try making a straight okra gumbo, and no roux?
If so, just substitute the okra for celery and you're good to go. The original trinity mix (before the roux got in there) was onion, green pepper, and okra.
Of course, if you want to leave the celery in there, that would be fine too!
--R
oh i plan on it. that'll be the best way to get feedback on my failure/success. i know this is going to be a learning process, so thank you for all the details!@Olds442
@Freddy G
@Bigfoot410
...and @ everybody else who plans to cooks some gumbo for the first time...
Please do post your results here. I'm very interested in seeing how things worked out for everyone!
--R
ok i'll grab some veggie oil.
argh, i thought okra was in your recipe too. onions, peppers and celery are a lot easier than finding okra somewhere in one bin of Jewels thousands of bins. thanks for the early save.
@Olds442
@Freddy G
@Bigfoot410
...and @ everybody else who plans to cooks some gumbo for the first time...
Please do post your results here. I'm very interested in seeing how things worked out for everyone!
--R
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