For Olds442: Your Guide to Gumbo

[Roberteaux]

Mrs. G said she doesn't want sausage (stop right there!....don't even try )

She asked If I can do chicken and shrimp....or shrimp and scallops. What say you Roberteaux? Which one?

LOL

Well... chicken and shrimp is pretty yummy... I know that from personal experience.

Never had shrimp and scallops gumbo, though... but it sure does *sound* good, don't it?

What I would say is this: have a look at a couple of recipes for both-- there's a million of 'em on the Internet-- and you'll probably get a good idea of what you'd like to try first...

Gumbo is a lot like music-- or any other art form, for that matter. Even when your very first brew is really good, that drive to be creative and to improve remains in place... especially at first, when you're still in kind of an experimental phase.

Most seafood gumbos are cool in that one doesn't have to cook anything prior to cooking the gumbo itself. Like, in the recipe I offered in the OP, you have to brown your meats first. In many of the seafood gumbo types, you just chuck the stuff into the pot and it cooks along with everything else... so that eliminates one step from the process...

Personally, I'd go with the chicken and shrimp type-- but that's only because I've actually had it before and so know what to expect. Never had shrimp and scallop gumbo, though... so maybe I'd go there just to be adventurous?

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I was thinking of what you said regarding bacon last night... you know, some recipes call for bacon (or another form of ham) to be added to seafood gumbos... and in fact, there are also those who use bacon grease as the lipid component of roux...

As I said in my previous post: there are so many types of gumbo out there-- so many recipes and so many different routes that might be taken to end up with the stuff-- that it's the literal truth that there are probably as many types of gumbo out there as there are people who cook gumbo.

So you and the missus should have an eye at some of the recipes you'll find out there on the web. I mean, there are literally thousands of them, but you won't have to plow through all of them to find something that you find appealing either from the standpoint of ingredients, or perhaps because the method of preparation seems interesting to you...

...or both!

Very happy to know you'll give it a crack. For those to whom the practice appeals, cooking is a very rewarding kind of thing to do... it's an art form in and of itself!

--R

 

[Dun Ringill]

@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".

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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.

View attachment 463061
JD Rockefeller Was the Wealthiest of All Plutocrats in His Time​

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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

• Your roux will change colors as you go along. A French roux is white, barely cooked. A New Orleans roux is about the same color as peanut butter. A Cajun roux is about the color of milk chocolate. Which type of roux you prefer is pretty much up to you.​
• If you spot so much as one black speck in your roux, throw it away and start again. The black speck means you burned the roux (dammit!) and burned roux tastes like bitter shit. So unless you want bitter, shit-flavored gumbo, toss that roux out and start again.​

Refer to the following chart... here's your roux colors:

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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.​

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View attachment 463077​

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New Orleans Roux is About the Same Color as Peanut Butter​

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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.​

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View attachment 463076​

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Double, Double-- Toil and Trouble; Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble!​

Were the Witches in Macbeth Cooking Gumbo?​

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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.​

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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.​

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View attachment 463073​

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C'est Magnifique! Fresh Gumbo is to Die For!​

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NOTES... the devil's in the details...​

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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:​

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View attachment 463071​

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Easy Does It on the Garlic​

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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:​

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View attachment 463072​

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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.​

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View attachment 463074​

If I Could Put Thyme in a Bottle...​

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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. ​

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View attachment 463075​

Pretty Warm Stuff!​

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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.​

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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.​

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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).​

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But again: you do NOT have to use andouille, even though that really is the New Orleans standard.​

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By all means: use something else if you want. See if I care! <sniffing haughtily>​

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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.​

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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.​

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I'm on the list of haters. Filé? Yuck.​

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View attachment 463078​

Be a Sausage Snob-- Slice On the Bias!​

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Final tip:​

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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. ​

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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.​

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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.​

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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!​

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And now you know why I have almost no dinner guests these days... ​

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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

Reported and sent for review!






(Reported to my better half to see about makin' it!!)

 

[socialhero]

I have cataloged these details and am gathering provisions.

Need to get my mitts on some andouille but I have a lead.

 

[Bigfoot410]

If it keeps raining all week like it has been, we'll be trying this awesome dish this weekend. If it stops raining, I gotta catch up on yard/garden crap. Lookin' forward to making this.

 

[Bigfoot410]

I have cataloged these details and am gathering provisions.

Need to get my mitts on some andouille but I have a lead.

I hear ya. I may have to go dark for a few days to try to procure some items. If that fails, I may have to call Guido and Vinnie to do what they do and get stuff.

 

[Freddy G]

LOL

Well... chicken and shrimp is pretty yummy... I know that from personal experience.

Never had shrimp and scallops gumbo, though... but it sure does *sound* good, don't it?

What I would say is this: have a look at a couple of recipes for both-- there's a million of 'em on the Internet-- and you'll probably get a good idea of what you'd like to try first...

Gumbo is a lot like music-- or any other art form, for that matter. Even when your very first brew is really good, that drive to be creative and to improve remains in place... especially at first, when you're still in kind of an experimental phase.

Most seafood gumbos are cool in that one doesn't have to cook anything prior to cooking the gumbo itself. Like, in the recipe I offered in the OP, you have to brown your meats first. In many of the seafood gumbo types, you just chuck the stuff into the pot and it cooks along with everything else... so that eliminates one step from the process...

Personally, I'd go with the chicken and shrimp type-- but that's only because I've actually had it before and so know what to expect. Never had shrimp and scallop gumbo, though... so maybe I'd go there just to be adventurous?

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I was thinking of what you said regarding bacon last night... you know, some recipes call for bacon (or another form of ham) to be added to seafood gumbos... and in fact, there are also those who use bacon grease as the lipid component of roux...

As I said in my previous post: there are so many types of gumbo out there-- so many recipes and so many different routes that might be taken to end up with the stuff-- that it's the literal truth that there are probably as many types of gumbo out there as there are people who cook gumbo.

So you and the missus should have an eye at some of the recipes you'll find out there on the web. I mean, there are literally thousands of them, but you won't have to plow through all of them to find something that you find appealing either from the standpoint of ingredients, or perhaps because the method of preparation seems interesting to you...

...or both!

Very happy to know you'll give it a crack. For those to whom the practice appeals, cooking is a very rewarding kind of thing to do... it's an art form in and of itself!

--R

Very good. Chicken and shrimp it will be. Yes I realize there must be a thousand recipes online...but the whole fun of it is to make your recipe and then discuss it!

 

[Roberteaux]

Very good. Chicken and shrimp it will be. Yes I realize there must be a thousand recipes online...but the whole fun of it is to make your recipe and then discuss it!

Well... here's my recipe, then!

INGREDIENTS​

--1/2 cup vegetable oil
--1/2 cup flour

--1 quart chicken broth (broth, not stock)
--2 cups water
--1.5 pounds chicken breast
--1 pound of shrimp (about 20) shrimp, peeled and de-veined. You can use smaller shrimp-- just make sure they're peeled and de-veined, and it's always 1 pound no matter the size of the shrimp.

--1 big onion
--1 green bell pepper (or any other color of bell pepper, they all kinda taste the same)
--3 - 4 stalks of celery
--1 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes (drain before adding).

1 cup sliced okra (totally optional, but added here for okra fans, and because that's my recipe)

2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon of your favorite hot sauce
1 teaspoon plain old salt (optional, but recommended unless you have health issues)
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, chopped (but not too finely). Substitute is 1.5 - 2 teaspoons of coriander.

1 teaspoon of Creole seasoning, if you're not using cilantro or coriander.

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NOTES ON CILANTRO:

Pretty sure you can get fresh cilantro all over the place around Toronto. It's used in a lot of Chinese and Indian recipes. Sometimes it is sold as "Chinese parsley", with "cilantro" being the Spanish-language term for the same stuff. It's used in a lot of Mexican dishes as well.

But if you can't find the stuff, then you can use coriander-- which is just dried cilantro leaves plus seeds. Coriander tastes slightly different-- but it's in the same ball park. OR you can do away with it altogether.

If you've never had cilantro, then do this: while at the store, pluck off a leaf and take a whiff of it. If you hate the scent, you'll hate the flavor even worse. If it seems okay to you, you can bite a tiny chunk off. If it tastes either metallic to you or it tastes like soap to you, then spit it out immediately because guess what? You're probably allergic to cilantro!

Seriously: some people are allergic to cilantro! No need to be eating stuff you're allergic to. Make sure Mrs. Freddy is good with the stuff too.

Cilantro is a funny kind of herb. It's not like garlic, where you can add a lot of the stuff and it's no big deal. Instead, cilantro adds up and just keeps getting stronger and stronger the more you use. So even if you do use cilantro, don't put the whole quarter cup in there right away. Start with a pinch and just keep adding to it until you're happy with the flavor of your brew. You might not use all of it.

You won't be putting the cilantro in until the very last couple of minutes of cooking. Despite being powerful, the flavor can be boiled right out of the brew... which is why you don't stick it in there until the stuff is actually pretty much done. It's kind of the same with the scallions and parsley used in the first recipe I posted.

If you don't want that cilantro or coriander in there, you can use something like Tony Cachere's (or other) Creole seasoning. Konriko is another brand that's okay. But if you use either of these, omit the salt in the above recipe, because they're both a little salty.

Also: if you can find no such thing, then post here to tell me and I'll tell you how to mix the same thing up with seasonings that you will be able to find with ease. There's nothing magical in something like Tony Cachere's. Instead, you're just saving the time it would take to mix the same stuff together yourself.

Ask, if that's what you want to do. You can adjust things yourself if you mix it yourself.

COOKING PROCEDURE​

1. Go ahead and brown your chicken pretty good.

1a. While that's happening, chop up your trinity mix-- that is, the onion, bell pepper, and celery. Dice the bell pepper and celery so they'll fit in a spoon-- onions aren't so critical because they reduce to nothing anyway... but still: cut them down to smaller-size crescent-shaped slices.

2. Now you make a roux.

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NOTES ON ROUX:

This recipe calls for a Cajun-style roux, which means "dark like milk chocolate". This roux is a little more challenging to make in the minds of some, though it's really just roux that's cooked for longer than one cooks to make a French white roux or a New Orleans peanut butter-colored roux. It's not actually more difficult, except that you have to be disciplined enough to actually stand there stirring away nonstop for about 15 minutes. OR you can try to make it using the oven method somebody posted up there.

Or, you can just make a New Orleans roux if you want, though my recipe wants the dark Cajun stuff. Ultimately, however, roux is roux.

So if you use medium heat, it's gonna take maybe 15 minutes to make the Cajun roux. Stir like hell and do NOT stop. Dump your veggies in there and then reduce the heat to low. Stir those veggies for five minutes or so. You're doing that to cool the roux and to partially cook the veggies.

Man, wait until you get that face full of vegetable steam!

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3. Stir the veggies for about five minutes under low heat.

4. Now add your chicken broth, the water, the chicken meat, the can of tomatoes, the bay leaves, the salt and pepper, the hot sauce, and the okra (if you decided to use okra).

5. Bring the mess up to boiling, but before it gets out of control reduce heat to where the stuff is bubbling away but not threatening to boil over. It's usually a lower heat setting (below medium) that will accomplish this, so long as you got the stuff boiling first.

6. Bubble, bubble, bubble for the next 1.5 hours. But about 7 minutes before that's done, add your shrimp. As with any other recipe, they're done when they're no longer totally pink... which takes about 7 minutes!

7. Turn the heat off and dump in your cilantro or coriander (if you're using it). Just sprinkle the stuff in there a little at a time, taste-testing it until you're happy with what you've got. The amounts I listed above should be considered to be MAXIMUM amounts... probably best not to exceed unless all you want to taste is cilantro.

8. That's it. Like any other gumbo, the traditional way to serve it is to ladle the stuff over cooked rice. You're not shooting for a bowl of soup with rice in it, though. The mixture is about 50/50 or so.

9. Bon Appétit-- and may all your dreams of good gumbo come true!

--Robba

 

[Freddy G]

Well... here's my recipe, then!

INGREDIENTS​

--1/2 cup vegetable oil
--1/2 cup flour

--1 quart chicken broth (broth, not stock)
--2 cups water
--1.5 pounds chicken breast
--1 pound of shrimp (about 20) shrimp, peeled and de-veined. You can use smaller shrimp-- just make sure they're peeled and de-veined, and it's always 1 pound no matter the size of the shrimp.

--1 big onion
--1 green bell pepper (or any other color of bell pepper, they all kinda taste the same)
--3 - 4 stalks of celery
--1 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes (drain before adding).

1 cup sliced okra (totally optional, but added here for okra fans, and because that's my recipe)

2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon of your favorite hot sauce
1 teaspoon plain old salt (optional, but recommended unless you have health issues)
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, chopped (but not too finely). Substitute is 1.5 - 2 teaspoons of coriander.

1 teaspoon of Creole seasoning, if you're not using cilantro or coriander.

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NOTES ON CILANTRO:

Pretty sure you can get fresh cilantro all over the place around Toronto. It's used in a lot of Chinese and Indian recipes. Sometimes it is sold as "Chinese parsley", with "cilantro" being the Spanish-language term for the same stuff. It's used in a lot of Mexican dishes as well.

But if you can't find the stuff, then you can use coriander-- which is just dried cilantro leaves plus seeds. Coriander tastes slightly different-- but it's in the same ball park. OR you can do away with it altogether.

If you've never had cilantro, then do this: while at the store, pluck off a leaf and take a whiff of it. If you hate the scent, you'll hate the flavor even worse. If it seems okay to you, you can bite a tiny chunk off. If it tastes either metallic to you or it tastes like soap to you, then spit it out immediately because guess what? You're probably allergic to cilantro!

Seriously: some people are allergic to cilantro! No need to be eating stuff you're allergic to. Make sure Mrs. Freddy is good with the stuff too.

Cilantro is a funny kind of herb. It's not like garlic, where you can add a lot of the stuff and it's no big deal. Instead, cilantro adds up and just keeps getting stronger and stronger the more you use. So even if you do use cilantro, don't put the whole quarter cup in there right away. Start with a pinch and just keep adding to it until you're happy with the flavor of your brew. You might not use all of it.

You won't be putting the cilantro in until the very last couple of minutes of cooking. Despite being powerful, the flavor can be boiled right out of the brew... which is why you don't stick it in there until the stuff is actually pretty much done. It's kind of the same with the scallions and parsley used in the first recipe I posted.

If you don't want that cilantro or coriander in there, you can use something like Tony Cachere's (or other) Creole seasoning. Konriko is another brand that's okay. But if you use either of these, omit the salt in the above recipe, because they're both a little salty.

Also: if you can find no such thing, then post here to tell me and I'll tell you how to mix the same thing up with seasonings that you will be able to find with ease. There's nothing magical in something like Tony Cachere's. Instead, you're just saving the time it would take to mix the same stuff together yourself.

Ask, if that's what you want to do. You can adjust things yourself if you mix it yourself.

COOKING PROCEDURE​

1. Go ahead and brown your chicken pretty good.

1a. While that's happening, chop up your trinity mix-- that is, the onion, bell pepper, and celery. Dice the bell pepper and celery so they'll fit in a spoon-- onions aren't so critical because they reduce to nothing anyway... but still: cut them down to smaller-size crescent-shaped slices.

2. Now you make a roux.

****************​

NOTES ON ROUX:

This recipe calls for a Cajun-style roux, which means "dark like milk chocolate". This roux is a little more challenging to make in the minds of some, though it's really just roux that's cooked for longer than one cooks to make a French white roux or a New Orleans peanut butter-colored roux. It's not actually more difficult, except that you have to be disciplined enough to actually stand there stirring away nonstop for about 15 minutes. OR you can try to make it using the oven method somebody posted up there.

Or, you can just make a New Orleans roux if you want, though my recipe wants the dark Cajun stuff. Ultimately, however, roux is roux.

So if you use medium heat, it's gonna take maybe 15 minutes to make the Cajun roux. Stir like hell and do NOT stop. Dump your veggies in there and then reduce the heat to low. Stir those veggies for five minutes or so. You're doing that to cool the roux and to partially cook the veggies.

Man, wait until you get that face full of vegetable steam!

****************​

3. Stir the veggies for about five minutes under low heat.

4. Now add your chicken broth, the chicken meat, the can of tomatoes, the bay leaves, the salt and pepper, the hot sauce, and the okra (if you decided to use okra).

5. Bring the mess up to boiling, but before it gets out of control reduce heat to where the stuff is bubbling away but not threatening to boil over. It's usually a lower heat setting (below medium) that will accomplish this, so long as you got the stuff boiling first.

6. Bubble, bubble, bubble for the next 1.5 hours. But about 7 minutes before that's done, add your shrimp. As with any other recipe, they're done when they're no longer totally pink... which takes about 7 minutes!

7. Turn the heat off and dump in your cilantro or coriander (if you're using it). Just sprinkle the stuff in there a little at a time, taste-testing it until you're happy with what you've got. The amounts I listed above should be considered to be MAXIMUM amounts... probably best not to exceed unless all you want to taste is cilantro.

8. That's it. Like any other gumbo, the traditional way to serve it is to ladle the stuff over cooked rice. You're not shooting for a bowl of soup with rice in it, though. The mixture is about 50/50 or so.

9. Bon Appétit-- and may all your dreams of good gumbo come true!

--Robba

Love cilantro! No problem getting it all the way up here in the frozen tundra. It's usually right between the seal meat and whale blubber section at the igloo store.

 

[Olds442]

how do i make the creole seasoning? jewel didn't have it available. i have a fairly decently stocked spice department.
@Roberteaux

and for the record, i'm doing his original recipe from page one, down to the green pepper just because. i can tweak later.

the shrimp // chicken will happen second.

 

[Olds442]

@Roberteaux my guys at Thuringers have the creole seasoning, so I'm going to grab that. but, it's probably not bad info to have in here anyway.

 

[Roberteaux]

how do i make the creole seasoning? jewel didn't have it available. i have a fairly decently stocked spice department.
@Roberteaux

and for the record, i'm doing his original recipe from page one, down to the green pepper just because. i can tweak later.

the shrimp // chicken will happen second.

Okay, here's your basic seasoning for ya.

Mix together:

• 2 tablespoons onion powder
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 2 tablespoons basil
• 1 tablespoon thyme
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon white pepper
• 1 tablespoon cayenne (red) pepper
• 1 tablespoon celery seed
• 5 tablespoons paprika

You will also be adding salt, unless you have health issues involving sodium. But if not, then what you do is first add 1 tablespoon of salt and mix it all up. Taste the seasoning. Not enough salt? Add another 1/2 tablespoon and taste again. If still not salty enough, go to 1/4 tablespoon...

You want to use smaller and smaller amounts of salt as you adjust because salt just kind of climbs up on top of everything very quickly... and it's quite difficult to separate the salt from the rest of the stuff in there once you've added too much, unless you're good with a microscope and really small tweezers...

Incidentally: in some places this stuff is available, but is not called "Creole Seasoning". For instance, in Upstate New York there's a product known as "Buck's Seasoning" that is advertised as being good for soups, meats, and what-have-you.

A friend of mine went up there and as a gift, came back with a case of Genesee Cream Ale and a bottle of Buck's Seasoning. I read the ingredients, and it was basically one in the same as Tony Cachere's.

BUT, mixing your own seasoning is very interesting, because you can vary from the baselines I offered above, and come up with something that is pretty much your own unique blend.

You can also skip some stuff. Don't like garlic that much? Reduce or eliminate the garlic powder. Can't handle salt? Do away with it altogether or reduce it to the nubs. You can add things, too... like little dried onion chunks, like in Montreal steak seasoning...

The paprika does have a mild flavor, but it is also in there just to add color to the mixture, so you can see how much of the stuff you've actually dumped on something you might be grilling...

And so forth.

--Robboletto

 

[Roberteaux]

Love cilantro! No problem getting it all the way up here in the frozen tundra. It's usually right between the seal meat and whale blubber section at the igloo store.

Must be nice to have a local igloo store!

You know, I once ordered an igloo from a Canadian igloo store. Got it on Amazon.

But when it arrived, it was just a really soggy cardboard box, 'cause the igloo melted...

I called the igloo store, and they told me that next time I should pay extra for the insulated plastic box, and to have the igloo packed in dry ice so it would at least make it all the way down here...

But I dunno: the whole experience kind of soured me on igloo livin'. Later on I was talking to some guy who claimed to be an Inuit ethnic group member, and I told him about my catastrophe with the igloo and how I kind of wasn't sure whether to try again.

He told me that I wasn't missing much.

You're one crazy kind of guy, Freddy!

--Robbs

 

[Bigfoot410]

Must be nice to have a local igloo store!

You know, I once ordered an igloo from a Canadian igloo store. Got it on Amazon.

But when it arrived, it was just a really soggy cardboard box, 'cause the igloo melted...

I called the igloo store, and they told me that next time I should pay extra for the insulated plastic box, and to have the igloo packed in dry ice so it would at least make it all the way down here...

But I dunno: the whole experience kind of soured me on igloo livin'. Later on I was talking to some guy who claimed to be an Inuit ethnic group member, and I told him about my catastrophe with the igloo and how I kind of wasn't sure whether to try again.

He told me that I wasn't missing much.

You're one crazy kind of guy, Freddy!

--Robbs

Toilet seats in igloos are cold in the morning. No go for me. I moved to the USA.

 

[Roberteaux]

Toilet seats in igloos are cold in the morning. No go for me. I moved to the USA.

They have toilets in there?

Damn... now I'm starting to feel as though I really AM missing something!

--R

 

[Bigfoot410]

They have toilets in there?

Damn... now I'm starting to feel as though I really AM missing something!

--R

The poorer people have "Outloos". They're even worse.

 

[Freddy G]

 

[Roberteaux]

Any lipid whatsoever will work... even vegetable shortening.

But olive oil isn't exactly a popular choice for gumbo-making, mostly because of the flavor that it imparts to the final product.

But that doesn't mean it won't work... instead, it's just that it's not a really popular oil to use for the most part.

I'm sure that there's at least somebody out there who makes gumbo using the stuff, though. There are as many recipes as there are people cooking the stuff, and everybody's gumbo comes out slightly different...

--R

 

[socialhero]

Oh Amazon, consistently providing too many choices.

I’m going original for this run, naturally. Let’s see how this goes!

 

[Roberteaux]

View attachment 465466

Oh Amazon, consistently providing too many choices.

I’m going original for this run, naturally. Let’s see how this goes!

Best luck!

FWIW: I also tend to use the original Creole type, at far right in the photo.

Haven't had a complaint yet-- and have never yet seen anybody who was content to stop devouring the gumbo at just one bowl...

As noted in the OP: you just gotta watch it with the thyme, if you season as I directed in that post. One-half teaspoon per two quarts of stock is really very good. You end up with a "warm" gumbo that isn't incredibly spicy, but which also isn't bland like chicken soup.

--R

 

[socialhero]

Ok, getting after this. I’ve gathered the provisions.

As you can see, I’ve even gathered Tecate and lemon and salt a’la the Lt’s suggestion. I’m going FULL MLP tonight.

Just gotta make sure I don’t burn this fuckin’ roux over here.

C’mon, flour!