Gumbo Recipe

[rubble]

Years ago I picked up a fantastic crawfish boil recipe/process in this forum from Jeff1234.  Now I'm looking for a great authentic cajun/creole Chicken/sausage/shrimp gumbo recipe.  We've always used the boxed versions but they just aren't the same.  Anyone down on the Bayou have a great Gumbo recipe they would share?

[smooth move]

we use this from the Justin Wilson Cookbook. it's a seafood gumbo, but you can adjust for chicken, sausage or whatever.

[ChrisB]

[rubble]

13 hours ago, smooth move said:

we use this from the Justin Wilson Cookbook. it's a seafood gumbo, but you can adjust for chicken, sausage or whatever.

Thanks Smooth!!!   Do you make your own stock?  Can I use a basic recipe using the skin and bones leftover from a smoked chicken?  

What about the Roux?  Anything special there?  We've used this for a Dark Roux but it is just okay...  

THE LIGHT BROWN CAJUN ROUX

1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup flour

In a black iron pot or skillet, heat the oil over medium high heat to approximately 300 degrees F. Using a wooden roux spoon, slowly add the flour, stirring constantly until the roux is peanut butter in color, approximately two minutes. This roux is normally used to thicken vegetable dishes such as corn maque choux (shrimp, corn and tomato stew) or butter beans with ham. If
using this roux to thicken an etouffee, it will thicken approximately two quarts of liquid. If used to thicken seafood gumbo, it will thicken approximately two and a half quarts of stock.

THE DARK BROWN CAJUN ROUX

1 cup oil 
1/2 cup flour

Proceed as you would in the light brown Cajun roux recipe but continue cooking until the roux is the color of a light caramel. This roux should almost be twice as dark as the light brown roux but not as dark as chocolate. You should remember that the darker the roux gets, the less thickening power it holds and the roux tends to become bitter. This roux is used most often in sauce piquantes, crawfish bisques and gumbos. However, it is perfectly normal to use the dark brown roux in any dish in Cajun cooking.

This roux gives food such a rich character that I sometimes make shrimp and corn bisque with it, as well as a river road seafood gumbo that will knock your socks off. Slow cooking is essential to achieve that dark, rich color.

Some time ago, I was discussing the origin of the dark roux with my good friend, Angus McIntosh, a chef and aspiring Cajun. I've always contended that because the Cajuns cooked in black iron pots over open fires using lard as a base, the dark roux was discovered by accident when the fire got too hot and the flour over-browned. With their lean pantries in mind, the Cajuns kept the roux instead of discarding it. They enjoyed the flavor and kept doing it that way. Classical cookbooks written as far back as the mid-1500s state that roux is derived from the French word "rouge" meaning "red" or "reddish" in color. Thus, the origin of the name. Angus felt that it developed during the Cajun's less affluent years as a means of enriching a soup or stew with flavor when the pantry was not as full but the number of chairs at the table were many. Either way, if properly done, the dark Cajun roux enriches food with color and flavor that is so fantastic it could only be Cajun.

[smooth move]

you can use chicken broth and water 50/50. i grew up eating a very dark roux and my mom still makes it dark. i like her gumbo, but i like a lighter color roux, about the color of peanut butter, even a little lighter. i have a friend that makes a creole gumbo, with tomatos and i like it that way every now and then. i enjoy making roux, but it's hard to beat cary's store bought. i make a fish stock every so often with fish bones and shrimp hulls, but usually just pour the chicken broth out of the box and cut it with water. when i was a kid i could tell when the roux was ready by the smell in the house. i couldn't stand the smell, but loved the soup it made. now i really like the smell. when i make roux, i just start with a few spoonfulls of bacon grease and a little flour. i just keep adding a little of each untill i have the quantity and quality that i'm looking for. sometimes i can drink one beer while i'm doing it and sometimes two.

[justdriftin]

On 1/9/2017 at 5:39 PM, smooth move said:

you can use chicken broth and water 50/50. i grew up eating a very dark roux and my mom still makes it dark. i like her gumbo, but i like a lighter color roux, about the color of peanut butter, even a little lighter. i have a friend that makes a creole gumbo, with tomatos and i like it that way every now and then. i enjoy making roux, but it's hard to beat cary's store bought. i make a fish stock every so often with fish bones and shrimp hulls, but usually just pour the chicken broth out of the box and cut it with water. when i was a kid i could tell when the roux was ready by the smell in the house. i couldn't stand the smell, but loved the soup it made. now i really like the smell. when i make roux, i just start with a few spoonfulls of bacon grease and a little flour. i just keep adding a little of each untill i have the quantity and quality that i'm looking for. sometimes i can drink one beer while i'm doing it and sometimes two.

This is the absolute best way to tell how long to cook something - by how many beers till done!