Family Gumbo Recipe

[VikingJuice]

Several people have asked me about this the last few weeks so I printed a copy.  I thought I'd share it with you guys here.

CAJUN GUMBO

Ingredients: (serves 5-8 medium sized bowls)
1-2 Lbs chicken (peeled shrimp can also be added)
1 full package of polish, Andouille or Chapel Hill jalapeno sausage
3 Tb spoons of cooking oil
1 med white onion, chopped
3-5 cloves garlic, chopped
3 bay leaves
3-5 Tb cayenne pepper
3-5 Tb white pepper
6-12 oz Frank's Red Hot Wing Sauce (it’s actually a mild heat so no worries about fire!)
1-2 Tb Tony Chachere's or Prudhomme’s Cajun Spice
Kary's roux (jar) 3 large spoonfuls
2    48oz boxes of chicken stock
File powder (ground sassafras root for flavor and thickening agent)
Shredded cabbage (fine or medium shred is good)
1 package of frozen “Cajun holy Trinity” (onion, celery & green bell pepper) 

**Creole Variations: Include 4 Tb Creole Mustard, 2 cups of diced tomatoes, 1 cup of dry white wine**
 
Cooking instructions:
Cut up chick and sausage.  Combine with chopped onion and garlic, sauté in oil in large skillet.
Cook on med high until chicken is cooked.  Add other veggies and cook for 10 min.
 
Pour in one container of chicken stock (48oz) and all seasonings except for file powder and wing sauce to the meat and veggies.  Cook on med/high with a lid.
 
In separate pan, pour 24-36 oz of stock, bring to boil, whisk in 3 huge spoonfuls of Kary's roux (1 spoon worth at a time) until solids are completely dissolved.
 
Pour roux mix into main skillet and then add the remaining stock.  Add white pepper and or wing sauce to taste.
 
Simmer w/lid on medium for 1 hr 20 min
Remove the lid for 15 min and continue to cook on medium to reduce slightly
 
Serve over rice.  Sprinkle on file powder and 1 handful of shredded cabbage.  Enjoy!!!!   

[Gamplayerx]

I don't even know what a few of those things are. 

Sounds good, but very salty. 

[grace]

Several people have asked me about this the last few weeks so I printed a copy.  I thought I'd share it with you guys here.

CAJUN GUMBO

Ingredients: (serves 5-8 medium sized bowls)
1-2 Lbs chicken (peeled shrimp can also be added)
1 full package of polish, Andouille or Chapel Hill jalapeno sausage
3 Tb spoons of cooking oil
1 med white onion, chopped
3-5 cloves garlic, chopped
3 bay leaves
3-5 Tb cayenne pepper
3-5 Tb white pepper
6-12 oz Frank's Red Hot Wing Sauce (it’s actually a mild heat so no worries about fire!)
1-2 Tb Tony Chachere's or Prudhomme’s Cajun Spice
Kary's roux (jar) 3 large spoonfuls
2    48oz boxes of chicken stock
File powder (ground sassafras root for flavor and thickening agent)
Shredded cabbage (fine or medium shred is good)
1 package of frozen “Cajun holy Trinity” (onion, celery & green bell pepper) 

**Creole Variations: Include 4 Tb Creole Mustard, 2 cups of diced tomatoes, 1 cup of dry white wine**
 
Cooking instructions:
Cut up chick and sausage.  Combine with chopped onion and garlic, sauté in oil in large skillet.
Cook on med high until chicken is cooked.  Add other veggies and cook for 10 min.
 
Pour in one container of chicken stock (48oz) and all seasonings except for file powder and wing sauce to the meat and veggies.  Cook on med/high with a lid.
 
In separate pan, pour 24-36 oz of stock, bring to boil, whisk in 3 huge spoonfuls of Kary's roux (1 spoon worth at a time) until solids are completely dissolved.
 
Pour roux mix into main skillet and then add the remaining stock.  Add white pepper and or wing sauce to taste.
 
Simmer w/lid on medium for 1 hr 20 min
Remove the lid for 15 min and continue to cook on medium to reduce slightly
 
Serve over rice.  Sprinkle on file powder and 1 handful of shredded cabbage.  Enjoy!!!!   

that sounds like an awesome winter dish, thanks

[VikingJuice]

I don't even know what a few of those things are. 

Sounds good, but very salty. 

The majority of the salt comes from the Andouille sausage and the cajun seasonings.  If you go lightly on the cajun seasonings and substitute some sort of spicey polish style sausage for the Andouille, it can cut the salt considerably.  Andouille is particularly salty for some reason.  It isn't my favorite.  I usually choose a local Texas specialty called Chapel Hill.  It's fairly salty too but OH SO GOOD!!

[Dry then Catch]

seriouspost: how long has it been in your family

[swolt]

this makes me happy

[grace]

i am recruiting help to chop/ make this happen...sausage makes the difference! SALT&SPICE is soo very good! yumm....unhealthy is OK in moderation.

[VikingJuice]

seriouspost: how long has it been in your family

Not for sure but I think around 100 years in some form or another.  My family on my dad's side were mostly poor farmers.  They'd cook various incarnations of this with okra and chicken parts-even if not the actual chicken meat.  I've got a whole book of old family recipes from that side of the family.  Each dish has evolved over time and the version I posted here has improvements on the old version.  The old version has a good foundation but can be kind of bland and uninspiring.  My grandmother added a bit.  Then my dad added a bit.  Then I've added a few touches myself based on another recipe from a cooking class I took.

I really like this final version.  I think it compares very favorably with what I've eaten at just about every restaurant I've tried gumbo at.  I'm not saying it's the best because there's so much good stuff out there but it'll bring a smile to your face on your first bite.

[VikingJuice]

i am recruiting help to chop/ make this happen...sausage makes the difference! SALT&SPICE is soo very good! yumm....unhealthy is OK in moderation.

Really the only unhealthy part of the whole dish is the sausage if you trim the fats off your chicken.  Figure one link in a batch for 6-8 people, you're only getting about 12.5-16% of the total unhealthy content in your portion.  The rest is chicken, juice, salts, spices and veggies.

[grace]

unprocessed food is good, no matter what some so-called, unhealthy ingredients it may contain, within reason.  i don't think a body can digest processed foods as easily as it can, unprocessed products. my grandmother told me this and she cooked and we all ate nothing but her own stuff.... and she lived to be 108 yrs? my uncle died at 98?

hey, i don't necessarily want to live to be 108 and all that entails, but i do love real food.

[Dry then Catch]

seriouspost: how long has it been in your family

Not for sure but I think around 100 years in some form or another.  My family on my dad's side were mostly poor farmers.  They'd cook various incarnations of this with okra and chicken parts-even if not the actual chicken meat.  I've got a whole book of old family recipes from that side of the family.  Each dish has evolved over time and the version I posted here has improvements on the old version.  The old version has a good foundation but can be kind of bland and uninspiring.  My grandmother added a bit.  Then my dad added a bit.  Then I've added a few touches myself based on another recipe from a cooking class I took.

I really like this final version.  I think it compares very favorably with what I've eaten at just about every restaurant I've tried gumbo at.  I'm not saying it's the best because there's so much good stuff out there but it'll bring a smile to your face on your first bite.

i hope your relatives aren't turning in their graves with the Frank's Red Hot Wing Sauce, I bet they made it with their own two hands back in the day

[VikingJuice]

seriouspost: how long has it been in your family

Not for sure but I think around 100 years in some form or another.  My family on my dad's side were mostly poor farmers.  They'd cook various incarnations of this with okra and chicken parts-even if not the actual chicken meat.  I've got a whole book of old family recipes from that side of the family.  Each dish has evolved over time and the version I posted here has improvements on the old version.  The old version has a good foundation but can be kind of bland and uninspiring.  My grandmother added a bit.  Then my dad added a bit.  Then I've added a few touches myself based on another recipe from a cooking class I took.

I really like this final version.  I think it compares very favorably with what I've eaten at just about every restaurant I've tried gumbo at.  I'm not saying it's the best because there's so much good stuff out there but it'll bring a smile to your face on your first bite.

i hope your relatives aren't turning in their graves with the Frank's Red Hot Wing Sauce, I bet they made it with their own two hands back in the day

That's a secret ingredient I got from a cooking class.  The fam never used that stuff at all.  It does give a whole different dimension to the flavors.

[VikingJuice]

On a slightly different note, I'm making chili tonight for a Chili Cookoff tomorrow at work.  I'm using the Wick Fowler's recipe and adding Santa Maria Tri Tip seasonings, Bell Pepper, Black Beans, Buffalo Meat, and Shiner Bock Beer.

It's got another 40 minutes to go but so far, early tastes are pretty darn good!

[Jessie]

Buffalo is gross.

[VikingJuice]

Buffalo is gross.

The animal or the meat?  Cause my chili kicks ass right now and I've also had Buffalo Burgers that I really liked too.  They're a touch sweeter and slightly more rich than cow.

[swolt]

I'm making this gumbo next Friday for poker night

[Jessie]

Buffalo is gross.

The animal or the meat?  Cause my chili kicks ass right now and I've also had Buffalo Burgers that I really liked too.  They're a touch sweeter and slightly more rich than cow.

If your buffalo meat is different than buffalo the animal you may want to rethink things. 

The meat made from the animal is blech.  Too gamey.

[Beefy]

Buffalo burgers are much better for you in terms of health, and I've not had any issues with their taste.

[Gamplayerx]

I've been wanting to try buffalo burgers, but don't know where to look for them.  Perhaps at the new Fresh Market that just opened last weekend.

[BigDun]

I think Fudruckers has a buffalo burger on their menu.

[VikingJuice]

I think Fudruckers has a buffalo burger on their menu.

They do, and they're great!

[VikingJuice]

I've been wanting to try buffalo burgers, but don't know where to look for them.  Perhaps at the new Fresh Market that just opened last weekend.

If you can find them and want to cook them at home, you'll run into a minor problem.  Buffalo lacks the majority of the fat that comes with most beef so it doesn't bind well for grilling.  I've tried two different solutions with equal success:
1) mix in some raw egg as you mold your buffalo burgers so they'll stick.
2) mix half and half, lean ground beef with buffalo and they stick nicely.  Plus you get a mix of the great flavors!

[swolt]

The Gumbo is still cooking but I got a taste.

HO. LY. SHIT. This is good stuff. Like really good. Like I might cancel poker night just so I can eat it all myself.

I couldn't find roux in a can so I got the powder mix and it seems to be just as good. Also I don't like bell peppers so I left those out. And I couldn't find white pepper so I used Cheyenne instead.

[VikingJuice]

The Gumbo is still cooking but I got a taste.

HO. LY. SHIT. This is good stuff. Like really good. Like I might cancel poker night just so I can eat it all myself.

I couldn't find roux in a can so I got the powder mix and it seems to be just as good. Also I don't like bell peppers so I left those out. And I couldn't find white pepper so I used Cheyenne instead.

Next time, this is the container you should be looking for.  Kroger's carries it and I know they have those in Louisiana.  Look for it in the seasonings section of the store.  At my store, it's on the top shelf above where you normally would look.

Glad you liked the recipe.  Modification is always the name of the game when it comes to personalizing a recipe.  I'm not a bell pepper fan either but I've found that if I use the pre-packaged/pre-cut bell pepper/celery/onion packs in the frozen food section, you can't taste the bell pepper itself but it sure makes a nice little accent in the overall flavor.

I making it again tomorrow night for a date.  At my place.  This will be date number 5.  Things are going well so far. 

I've got a nice bottle of wine picked out to compliment the gumbo flavors and heat.  I'm going with a Dry Riesling.  It's light, fruity, a touch of pear and citrus, medium acidity, and gently sweet on the edges of your tongue but not so much that overpowers you.  Many Rieslings are like pure syrup, this one will never be confused with that description.

[BigDun]

The Gumbo is still cooking but I got a taste.

HO. LY. SHIT. This is good stuff. Like really good. Like I might cancel poker night just so I can eat it all myself.

I couldn't find roux in a can so I got the powder mix and it seems to be just as good. Also I don't like bell peppers so I left those out. And I couldn't find white pepper so I used Cheyenne instead.

Next time, this is the container you should be looking for.  Kroger's carries it and I know they have those in Louisiana.  Look for it in the seasonings section of the store.  At my store, it's on the top shelf above where you normally would look.

Glad you liked the recipe.  Modification is always the name of the game when it comes to personalizing a recipe.  I'm not a bell pepper fan either but I've found that if I use the pre-packaged/pre-cut bell pepper/celery/onion packs in the frozen food section, you can't taste the bell pepper itself but it sure makes a nice little accent in the overall flavor.

I making it again tomorrow night for a date.  At my place.  This will be date number 5.  Things are going well so far. 

I've got a nice bottle of wine picked out to compliment the gumbo flavors and heat.  I'm going with a Dry Riesling.  It's light, fruity, a touch of pear and citrus, medium acidity, and gently sweet on the edges of your tongue but not so much that overpowers you.  Many Rieslings are like pure syrup, this one will never be confused with that description.

Try the Chateau St. Michelle Riesling. It is a semi-sweet wine, but has pepper overtones that make it awesome.