Dad’s Gumbo - from Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen
Makes 10 main-dish or 20 appetizer servings.
- 2 cups chopped onions
- 1.5 cups chopped green bell peppers
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 5.5 cups Basic Seafood Stock
- 1 pound andouille smoked pork sausage such as Polish sausage (kielbasa), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 dozen medium to large oysters in their liquor, about 9 oz.
- 3/4 lb crabmeat (picked over)
- 2.5 cups hot Basic Cooked Rice
Seasoning Mix
- 2 whole bay leaves
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper (preferably cayenne)
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
Combine the onions, bell peppers and celery in a medium-size bowl and set aside. In a small bowl combine the seasoning mix ingredients; mix well and set aside.
Heat the oil in a large heavy skillet over high heat until it begins to smoke, about 5 minutes. Gradually add the flour, whisking constantly with a long-handled metal whisk. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until roux is dark red-brown to black, about 2 to 4 minutes, being careful not to let it scorch or splash on your skin. Immediately add half the vegetables and stir well (switch to a spoon if necessary). Continue stirring and cooking about 1 minute. Then add the remaining vegetables and cook and stir about 2 minutes. Stir in the seasoning mix and continue cooking about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the garlic; stir well, then cook and stir about 1 minute more. Remove from heat.
(see below about the roux)
Meanwhile, place the stock in a 5.5 quart saucepan or large Dutch oven. Bring to a boil. Add roux mixture by spoonfuls to the boiling stock, stirring until dissolved between each addition. Bring mixture to a boil. Add the andouille and return to a boil; continue boiling 15 minutes stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes more. Add the shrimp, undrained oysters and crabmeat. Return to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and skim any oil from the surface. Serve immediately.
To serve as a main course, mound 1/4 cup rice in the middle of each serving bowl. Spoon 1 cup gumbo over the top, making sure each person gets an assortment of the seafood and andouille. Serve half this amount in a cup as an appetizer.
Making the Roux
A roux is a mixture of flour and oil. The cooking of flour and fat together to make roux is a process that seems to go back as far as four hundred years ago. Traditionally, the fat used was animal fat, though today various oils are used, and the roux was, and often still is, made by very slow cooking.
The basic reason for making a roux is for the distinctive taste and texture it lends to food. This roux taste and texture is characteristic of many dishes that Louisiana Cajuns make.
The first few times, making a roux may seem difficult, and, certainly, using oil heated to over 500 degrees has an element of danger to it. However, once you’ve made roux several times and become more accustomed to handling the high temperature, you will find it to be extremely rewarding because of the uniqueness of the finished product.
How to make a Roux
The usual proportion of oil to flour is fifty-fifty.
Roux can be made in advance, cooled and then stored in an air-tight jar for several days, in the refrigerator or at room temperature. If roux is made ahead, pour off excess oil from the surface and reheat (preferred), or let it return to room temperature before using.
In general, light and medium-brown roux are used in sauces or gravies for dark, heavy meats such as beef, with game such as elk and venison, and with dark-meat fowl such as duck, geese and blackbirds. They give a wonderful, toasted nutty —just the right enhancement—to these sauces and gravies. Dark red-brown and black roux are used in sauces and gravies for sweet, light, white meats such as pork, rabbit, veal, and all kinds of freshwater and saltwater fish and shellfish. In addition, black roux are best to use in gumbos because the darkest roux result in the thinnest, best-tasting gumbos of all; but it takes practice to make black roux without burning them, and dark red-brown roux are certainly acceptable for any gumbo. You’ll notice that [ I ] makes exceptions to these general guidelines in some recipes. These exceptions simply reflect a preference for the flavor of a particular roux with the combined flavors of other ingredients in certain dishes. (For example, [ I ] prefer the flavor of a medium-brown roux in Grillades and Grits - a veal dish - and in Sticky Chicken, rather than a darker roux.)
[ My ] approach to roux derives from the tradition of Cajun cooks who view roux as being essentially of two types - medium brown and black; and who also classify meats as basically two types - heavy, dark, somewhat bitter ones, and light, white sweet ones. Traditionally, Cajun cooks use light roux with dark meats and dark roux with light meats. This is because they know intuitively, whether they can verbalize it or not, that these particular combinations lead to wonderful-tasting food. Working within this tradition, I’ve developed variations and given you in this book the roux-meat combinations which I think are best. You’ll find that as you gain more experience and skill in making roux, you’ll want to experiment with the endless combinations of roux color and the flavors of other ingredients you’re using - especially meats - to find those combinations that excite your taste buds the most.
Several words of advice are essential:
1) Cooked roux is called Cajun napalm in [ my ] restaurant’s kitchen because it is extremely hot and sticks to your skin; so be very careful to avoid splashing it on you; it’s best to use a long-handled metal whisk or wooden spoon.
2) Always begin with a very clean skillet or pot - preferably one that is heavy, such as cast iron (and never a nonstick type). If possible, use a skillet with flared sides because this makes stirring easier and thus makes it less likely the roux will burn. In addition, use a large enough skillet so that the oil does not fill it by more than one-fourth of its capacity.
3) The oil should be smoking hot before the flour is added
4) Once the oil is heated, stir in the flour gradually (about a third at a time) and stir or whisk quickly and constantly to avoid burning the mixture. Flour has moisture in it, and adding it to hot oil often creates steam - another good reason for using long-handled whisks or spoons.
5) If black specks appear in the roux as it cooks, it has burned; discard it (place it in a heatproof container to cool before discarding), then start the roux over again.
6) As soon as the roux reaches the desired color, remove it from the heat, stir in the vegetables, which stop the browning process and enhance the taste of the finished dish, and continue stirring until the roux stops getting darker (at least 3 to 5 minutes).
7) While cooking roux (bring it to the desired color), if you feel it is darkening too fast, immediately remove it from the heat and continue whisking constantly until you have control of it.
8) Care and concentration are essential for you to be successful with this fast method of making a roux. Especially the first few times you make a roux, be certain that any possible distractions—including children—are under control. In addition, have all cooking utensils and required vegetables or seasoning mixtures prepared ahead of time and near at hand before you start cooking.
