Gumbo

A Gumbo is first and foremost a labor of love,  if cooking is an art (and it is) then a good Gumbo is one of the masterpieces that every cook should study.  That being said… the basics needed for a good Gumbo are pretty straightforward and you can get passable results with relative ease…  I was recently at the dentist and struck up a conversation with a lady about Gumbo and she was looking for a great recipe… she overheard that I was from Louisiana and asked me about it… well I just couldn’t pass up the chance to plug my blog…  so I promised to post a Gumbo recipe… so here it is!

This recipe is an “Okra Gumbo”  recipe which in my opinion has the fullest flavor and more body… it is also gluten free which is a big thing for my family as my son Aidan is allergic to wheat gluten.

The ingedients:

1 Stick of Real Butter
1-2 lbs of frozen chopped Okra
1 bunch of celery
1 bag of green onions
1 yellow or white onion
1-2 bell peppers
6- 10 cloves of garlic
rice
eggs (optional)
chicken, smoked sausage(andouille preferably) and/ or  fresh seafood…  the more the better!

Soup stock  about 3-4 quarts( this can be a boiled chicken broth if you are making a chicken or chicken and sausage gumbo or just chicken bullion) if you are making a seafood gumbo you will want preferably fresh uncooked seafood but use whatever is available… I strongly suggest fresh oysters in a seafood gumbo as it is absolutely the best!

The process:

Saute the Okra in a large skillet preferably a 14 inch or larger cast iron skillet… make sure to keep it hot and keep stirring the okra… you need to cook the okra down untill it is a nasty looking mush… once it gets soft you can break it up with a spoon by mashing it a little in the pan… just be sure to allow it to scorch a little before you stir it each time. you don’t want it to burn but you do want to brown it very very well!  when Okra scorches it releases a fantastic flavor that is the foundation for a good gumbo so make sure to not shortcut this process… the better you scorch it the better the gumbo will be… if the okra gets dry and gummy while you are stirring it add a little water… the steam helps to loosen the fibers in the Okra and it breaks apart easier…keep the heat on high and keep stirring and turning!  once you cannot recognize any of those cute little okra disks and everything looks like a nasty brown mush you can remove the heat but keep stirring untill it has cooled enough to not burn. once it has stopped sizzling you can set it aside for the moment.

Next you will need to dice the yellow onions, dice the garlic, dice the bell pepper, chop the green onions and chop the celery.  Melt the stick of butter in the skillet and combine everything (except the green onions) and  saute untill all the vegetables are softened and delicious smelling… then add the green onions and saute them for a few minutes.
Well the hard part is done! combine all the ingredients together in the stock pot with your soup stock and clean up your skillets so that  you can brown your chicken or sausage.. or whatever meat you decide to put in the gumbo… if the meat is already cooked and ready (or if you are using fresh seafood)  add it to the gumbo and bring it to a boil…  it is important that you boil the gumbo for a good 30-mins to an hour… or longer! the longer the better because it tempers the flavor.  Now is a good time to taste the gumbo and season it to taste… be sure to add plenty of salt, onion powder, a little garlic powder.. a healthy dash of paparika, and black pepper.  Season it to taste but don’t short yourself on salt… any good soup will need a decent amount of salt to bring the flavor to the forefront. If you decide to skimp on the salt be sure to suggest it once it is served as it can make the difference in a bland Gumbo and a totally fantastic Gumbo!

OK so everything is in and has been boiling for a bit so you need to bring it down to an even simmer… and this would be the time to add the “Optional Eggs”  the trick to this is to break an egg into the Gumbo without letting it separate… if the Gumbo is boiling then the egg will fall apart in the boil and you will get “Egg Drop Gumbo”  :)  I would suggest at least 1 to 2 eggs per person because if they like em … they go fast! and you will have people bobbing for eggs in the gumbo!

Well thats it!  The gumbo is made!  cook some rice and let the gumbo simmer untill it is time to eat!   don’t forget to make a  bowl of potato salad as it goes great with a nice spoonfull right in the bowl of gumbo!

Hope you enjoy my recipe!   please comment and feel free to ask questions!