two. ate.

OK, I have been bad for not writing as much as I want or should...gumbo day was at least two weeks ago but that's the way it goes...

I made another huge-ass pot of gumbo from some of the barbecue meat from the recent meat-fest and it turned out really well. I think that gumbo is easy and difficult all at the same time. Easy because in the end, it's just a lot of simmering. Difficult because making roux is a pain in the ass and there's lot so choppin' going on with what with meats, vegetables and what-have-you.

This time, I broke the cooking up into two stages that I'll call Day One and Day Two. Since I was in a slight rush to make the dish for the last Gourmet Club dinner (see the entry above...), I did the chopping and roux'ing on Day One and got the gumbo cooked to the point where it had a chance to simmer for about 30 minutes. Day Two was all about simmering the deep brown mix for dinner. The result of letting the pot sit for a day was a deepening of flavor and a nice rich taste. Here's what I did:

Wm.'s Basic Gumbo
Part 1:

  - 1 lb andouille sausage, cut into bite-sized pieces. (or 1/2 lb andouille and 3/4 to 1 lb of barbecued-smoked pork shoulder or 1/2 lb tasso (cajun spiced ham), cut all of these into bite-sized pieces )
  - 1 chicken cut into pieces (or five leg-thigh combos cut into two pieces each)
  - Oil for frying/sautéing

Part 2:

  - 1/2 cup flour
  - 1/2 cup oil (canola or vegetable, not olive oil)
  - 1 yellow onion, chopped, medium-dice
  - 1 green bell pepper, chopped, medium-dice
  - 2-3 ribs celery, chopped, medium-dice
  - 3-4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
  - 2 quarts chicken stock (or 1 1/2 qt chicken stock, 1/2 qt brown or pork stock)
  - 2 Tablespoons Creole seasoning (see below)
  - 2 bay leaf
  - 1/2 bunch of italian parsley, chopped/minced
  - 3 scallion tops (the green part), chopped medium-coarse
  - Salt and pepper for seasoning, to taste

Creole seasoning:

  - 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
  - 2 tablespoons salt
  - 2 tablespoons garlic powder
  - 1 tablespoon black pepper
  - 1 tablespoon onion powder
  - 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
  - 1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano
  - 1 tablespoon dried thyme

Cook Part 1:

  - Heat a deep, heavy pan with 1-2 Tbsp oil (medium-high heat)
  - Sauté sausage (only) for 5-6 minutes and reserve.
  - Brown chicken well (skin-side down first to render the fat) in same pan (same oil and fat sausage) and reserve.
  - If using other meats, sauté lightly to soften and reserve.
  - Discard the oil and fat from the previous steps and clean the pan.

Cook Part 2:

  - Heat the 1/2 cup of oil in the same pan over medium-high heat for 1-2 minutes
  - Add the 1/2 cup flour and stir until the flour is mixed with the oil.
  - Reduce heat to medium-low and cook flour until it's a medium brown color ( a brown roux ), stirring regularly so the flour doesn't burn. This will take from 20-50 minutes so be patient...the darker brown the roux, the better.
  - Add onions, celery, green pepper, garlic to the pan and stir/toss for 5 minutes. The roux will become sticky and attach itself to the vegetables.
  - Add Creole seasoning and continue cooking for another minute.
  - Add stock and stir to incorporate then add all of the reserved meat and the bay leaf and half of the parsley.
  - Bring to a simmer and simmer at least 1 hour on low heat, stirring occasionally. (I usually simmer for 90-120 minutes then let it cool overnight in the fridge then heat and simmer it for another hour before serving. However, you can serve it anytime you want, it will still be pretty flavorful...I also take the chicken pieces out and debone them. You can do this before serving too. Or not.
  - Just before serving, check seasoning and stir in the green onions. Remove from heat at this point.

Serve over long-grain rice and top with remaining parsley. The consistency of the gumbo should be loose-thick-ish soup consistency. If it's too thick, thin it with a bit of water or stock. The rice should just barely swim in the gumbo...