Gumbo

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It’s cold out and there is nothing better on a cold day than a spicy bowl of authentic Cajun gumbo. I make a pretty good one and several people have asked for the recipe. I’ve done it for so many years and so many times that I don’t really have one, so I figured I’d just tell you how I make it in today’s article. Give it a try! It might take a couple of times to really dial yours in, but it’s worth the work.

Mis en place

You're going to want to do a little prep. In a large mixing bowl you will want to prepare the Holy Trinity. That’s one large white onion, 4 or 5 good sized celery stalks, and a large green pepper. Dice all this to a medium size. Don’t get too fine or you’ll lose the texture you’re creating for your gumbo, but don’t keep it too large either… nobody wants a giant soggy piece of pepper on their spoon.

Note: All spices start with “some”. I don’t know how much… just put some in. If you think you should put some more, put some more. Just remember, you can always add, you can never remove.

Add to the Trinity:

• Paprika

• Dried thyme

• Worcestershire sauce (A good solid pour)

• Garlic powder and 3 good sized bulbs of minced garlic

• Cayenne pepper

• Black pepper

• Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning (careful with this stuff, it’s salty as hell, but good too).

• Hold off on salt for now. That Creole Seasoning is very salty and you’re going to want to get this thing bubbling before you determine how much more you need.

Say, out loud, “what the good Lord has brought together, let no man put asunder”, while combining the Trinity with the spices. It’s good luck.

Now let it sit while you make a roux.

Dark Brown Roux

A roux is a French base that combines flour with fat. Roux is used as a foundation for many soups, stews, gravies, and sauces. It comes in the following categories:

• Blonde

• Light Brown

• Dark Brown

• Black

Many dishes call for a roux as a thickening agent, however the thickening properties of roux are inversely proportional to how dark it is. The opposite is true of flavor. The darker the roux, the more flavor is packed in it, but the less it will thicken a dish.

For gumbo, you are going to use a dark brown roux. This is what gives gumbo its distinctive color and flavor. Some people attempt to go for a full black roux, but I think this makes gumbo taste bitter. Dark brown is the way to go.

Creating this dark brown roux means your gumbo isn’t going to be very thick. It’s a common misconception that Cajun gumbo should be thick, it shouldn’t. It should be full of ingredients and flavor, but not thick like gravy.

Using your best, thick bottomed, cast iron pot, put in 4 heaping tablespoons(ish) of all purpose flour. Then add some canola oil. How much? Hard to say… Start around a quarter cup. That should be fine. When combined with the flour it should have the consistency of a loose cake batter.

Don’t get cute and try to use butter. Butter has fat solids in it which will burn while making your roux. You could use clarified butter, but I have only tried it once and frankly it was a giant pain and burned anyway. Just stick with canola oil.

Now get a fresh beer because you are going to be here for a little while. You cannot leave a roux unattended on the stove for even half a minute. It will burn and then you are starting over. Also don’t add any spices or flavoring to your roux yet. They will burn in the oil and will taste terrible.

You are basically going to be toasting flour in oil on your stovetop. The temperatures get very high. It’s going to smoke quite a bit, so turn on your exhaust fan.

Put the pot on the fire at medium heat and start to stir. Use a wooden spoon, not silicon. A developing roux will melt plastic. Don’t be too vigorous with it, just run the spoon on the bottom of the pan making sure the roux continues to move. It will bubble and give off the smell of toasted almonds. It might clump up a bit then loosen. It will eventually stop bubbling. Through all this, just keep stirring.

During this process your roux is going to be incredibly hot. Be careful not to splash it. People call roux Cajun napalm because if it splashes on you it sticks and burns right through your skin. I’ve done it and it hurts… so wear an apron and be careful.

After about 5 or 6 minutes you’ll notice the color will begin to darken. Just keep going. It will first turn slightly yellow, this is blonde roux… not what we are looking for. Then it will look like caramel. This is light brown roux, keep going. After about 15 - 20 minutes, maybe more depending on your heat levels, it will look like milk chocolate, now we are getting close. Once it is the shade of a Snickers bar, you have a dark brown roux. Congrats!

One note of caution. If you see a bunch of little black flecks develop in your roux, just throw it away and start over. You burned it. It’s okay… it’s just a little flour and oil. Don’t get discouraged, just try again at a lower heat. It will take longer, but you will have less of a chance of burning it.

Time for the Trinity

Now that you have a dark brown roux, without removing it from the fire, add your Trinity and spices. This is going to give off a big sizzle and a lot of steam. Fold it in with your spoon.

You will notice that when you add your Trinity the color of your roux will immediately become a little darker. This is normal. It will also seize up and become thick like glue. Also normal, just fold in your veggies and spices.

Now add about 2 or 3 cups of chicken stock to loosen everything up. Bring back up to a simmer, cover, and let go on medium low heat for about a half an hour. Stir occasionally and give it enough time to let everything get to know each other a little bit.

Meat

While your gumbo base is simmering, prepare your meat. Gumbo can have about anything in it. Traditionally you see chicken, smoked Andouille sausage, shrimp, crab, mussels and clams, even pork. For my at home gumbo that pretty much is just for me, I use chicken thighs, smoked Andouille sausage, and shrimp. If I’m making it for other people, sometimes I throw in some shellfish and stuff, but I think that’s more form over function to be honest.

Grab that bowl you used for your Trinity. No need wash it, it’s all going in the same pot. Cut 5 or 6 raw chicken thighs (boneless is easier) into chunks. This isn’t some fancy plate… gumbo is just stew, so don’t get too worried about everything being uniform. Just cut them up to big bite sized and put them in the bowl.

Next cut up your Andouille sausage (the kind I use comes in a pack of 5 links… I use the whole pack). Oh, go to a nice store and get real smoked Andouille sausage. It makes a difference. Anyway, cut them about a third of an inch thick and toss in the bowl. Peel and devein your shrimp (about a pound) and set them aside for right now.

Throw some more spices in that bowl with the meat. A little more paprika is always a good idea and if you like spicy, definitely a little more cayenne pepper. A little more Tony Chachere’s? Sure, a little more never hurt anyone. While we are at it, a little more thyme too.

Now give it all a toss and leave it alone for a bit.

Add the meat

Your gumbo base should be simmering nicely. Check and make sure your onions are translucent and tender and that your celery and green pepper is soft. If it is, add that meat.

Just use tongs or whatever to slowly add the chicken and sausage to the gumbo until it’s all in there. Then add more chicken stock to make sure everything is covered well, but remember, you still have to add shrimp so don’t get your pot too full.

Once your chicken has been simmering for a couple of minutes (just for safety) you are going to want to taste your gumbo for flavor. If you need salt, now is the time to add a little. Black pepper too… it’s an easy thing to forget but it really helps. I usually do a little more Worcestershire at this point too, but don’t go overboard with it.

Keep it simmering, cover, and let it go on medium low for an hour or so. No rush here… you really need some time to let those flavors develop. Stir occasionally.

Time for rice

I like Thai jasmine white rice, but any kind of white rice is fine. I’ve done it with Basmati and it turned out great, but good old Uncle Ben’s is just fine if that’s what you have. Just don’t do instant. This isn’t an instant meal… put in the work, it’s worth it.

2 cups of rice + 3 & 1/2 cups of liquid in a separate pot suitable for rice

I use about a 1 to 4 ratio of gumbo broth to chicken stock for mine, but you do you. Bring it up to a boil, stir well, cover, and reduce heat to low. Depending on the rice, it usually takes 20-30 minutes. (Don’t use more than about half a cup of gumbo broth, and if you run out of chicken stock, just use water to get to the proper amount of liquid. All you are trying to do is get a little flavor in the rice grain. Trust me, you won’t be able to tell a difference.)

Once it’s done, turn off the heat, give it a fluff and put the lid back on.

Add the shrimps

Look, your shrimp is going to get a little overcooked. That’s what happens when you put shrimp in stew. You heat it up and it’s perfect, then you heat it again and it’s overcooked. There’s no avoiding it and it honestly doesn’t matter, so don’t stress about it. Having said that, I like my first bowl of gumbo to have perfectly cooked shrimp in it which is why I leave them out until after the rice is done.

Add about a pound of shrimp and stir into the simmering gumbo. Give it about 5 or 8 minutes for the shrimp to cook fully.

Time to eat!

If you’ve made it this far, well done! You have a spicy, hot, earthy, and authentic pot of Cajun gumbo!

Put some of the rice in the bottom of a big bowl. Ladle that gumbo with plenty of stuff in it and plenty of broth over the rice. If you happen to have a French baguette lying around, break off a bit to sop up the broth, but if you don’t… it doesn’t matter at all. Pop a fresh cold beer and enjoy!

No okra, no filé? What the hell, man?

Yeah, I don’t use okra or filé in mine. Okra in stew is very slimy and I find it unpleasant. Some people say you can fry the slime out of okra… but some people are wrong.

As for filé, I just don’t love the flavor. Filé is shredded and dried sassafras leaf. Sassafras is a weed. It’s dried weeds. Gumbo was invented in poor communities in south Louisiana. Maybe they had to eat grass clippings and weeds. I don’t have to eat that shit, and I’m not putting it in my stew.

Gumbo is like life, sort of

If you want to put okra or flié in yours, it’s your gumbo. It is your taste that matters and you should put what you like in it. Make it however you want. Gumbo is a little like life that way… it should be filled to the brim with things you love, so have fun with it. If it doesn’t turn out well, try again. Unlike life, you get plenty of chances with gumbo.

Happy Sunday all! Give it a try with someone you care about and tell me how it turned out!

Non Sequitur

Did y’all hear about that Chandler Halderson dude who pretended to go to college, pretended to get a job, pretended to get an interview at SpaceX, pretended to get a head injury, and then killed his parents, chopped them into little pieces, spread them around town, and then pretended they went to a cabin for the weekend?

So… long story short, the dude didn’t make a very good plan. Like, there’s no way that people weren’t going to know what he did. There was massive evidence of every single element of the crime pretty much everywhere. He didn’t even come remotely close to getting away with any of it. Like not even close… And his lawyer proved herself dumber than him.

There is a certain kind of crazy that only sheltered child, white guy losers have that really leaves you scratching your head. I mean it’s hard to be this big of a loser and still be able to pull off something this incredible. But fricken’ Chandler did it.

Shaking my head.

—V