Don’s Fall Gumbo

Working the rue (roux)

Don loves cooking a good gumbo, but has never written it down. So every time it’s a bit different, and maybe that’s the way a good gumbo should be. But for the sake of passing down the tradition, here’s his gumbo recipe, we’ll call it Fall/Halloween Gumbo, because this is (in Florida) usually the first time of the year it’s cool enough to enjoy a gumbo.

Gumbo takes time. One person can spend a couple hours on this. It’s worth it. Don’t rush it.

Most recipes just line everything up and expect you to cook it. I’m not doing that. It diminishes the rue. So, here’s your rue. Cook it and go on vacation, if you’d like. It’ll wait in the fridge. You get the point, don’t rush and burn the rue.

It’s all about the Rue (roux)

Rue is flour and oil, cooked slowly to a chocolate brown on a medium heat. Sounds easy. Pull up a chair, put on some music and get ready to spend about 45 minutes stirring a pot. BUT, if you nail it, you got a great base for gumbo. If you don’t. Start again. For our Rue…

Ingredients

1 cup flour

1 cup vegetable oil

That’s it. I start with the pot that everything will be cooked in. So this is generally a large stock pot. For stirring, I like a large wooden spoon. It won’t transmit heat and it has a soft touch. NEVER be in a hurry making rue. This takes a long time. And the spoon should NEVER stop moving. In about 30 minutes you should see a peanut-butter color, in about 40 you should see the tone deepen. In 45, it should be about right, if your heat is low. If you get clumping or burning, toss it out and begin again. Every stove is different. It should be smooth.

Your rue will be the heart of your gumbo. Rush it, and you will have a bad gumbo quicker.

Game plan

OK, time for the rest. Yes, in a normal world you will cook your rue while you prep the rest. The timing is about right…but it takes two people if you want to do both at the same time. If not, that’s fine. Just chop everything, then do your rue and then combine as noted. But you can’t do both if you’re alone…the rue needs to be stirred constantly. Plan accordingly

Gumbo Ingredients (other than the rue)

Rue (Roux) 2 cups

2 cups diced onion (1 big onion, Vidalia or sweet)

1 cup diced celery (3 stalks)

1 Red bell pepper

1 TBS minced garlic

3 Quarts chicken stock (low sodium)

2 lbs andouillie sausage (we like a mix of italian and spicy, 3 of each, cut 1/8th”)

1/4 tspn cayenne (for shrimp)

3/4 tspn fresh ground black pepper

2 lbs cooked shrimp

1 handful of green onions tops, chopped

1/2 cup flat leaf parsely, chopped

2 TBS thyme leaves, (chopped, but really just pulled)

1/4 cup basil leaves chopped (handful)

2 TBS heaping of file powder

4-8 chicken thighs

4 TBS olive oil

Shimp Seasoning (apply to taste)

Garlic powder (few shakes)

Paprika (few shakes)

Onion powder (few shakes)

1 tsp dried oregano

Cayenne (few shakes)

Brown Rice as needed (we do 4 cups rice, 4 cups water…NO SALT, cook this last)

Directions

Pull the skin of the chicken thighs and cook them in the olive oil slowly. We pan-fry them slowly, takes about half an hour with constant turning. While that’s happening, you’re chopping.

In a mixing bowl combine your chopped onions, celery and bell pepper.

Chop up your green onions, parsley, thyme and basil, put in a bowl.

When your rue is the right color, pour in the bowl with the onions, celery and red bell pepper, cook over medium heat for about 8 minutes.

While that happens, with a small pour of olive oil in a hot skillet, toss in your shrimp and your bowl of green onions, parsley, thyme and basil. Sprinkle on the “Shrimp Seasoning” to taste. You can do this with fresh shrim too, but I’ve been using pre-cooked/frozen because it’s easy. We also put on some Mexican cayenne, which is nutty-hot and brings up the temp of the whole dish.  After a couple minutes, put a handful of the shrimps on a plate and hand around to those waiting to eat. Always a favorite moment. I buy extra shrimp just for this.

When the rue and onion/pepper mix looks good, slowly wisk in the chicken stock. It will clump, don’t panic. It’ll be OK once the broth reaches temperature. Just keep stirring.

Then, put in your shrimp, chopped sausage and cut-up chicken.

With everything in the pot, bring it to a medium low heat and stir on occasion. It will be ready to serve in an hour, but it really wants about 2 or 3 hours (with an occasions stir) to get all the flavors to meld.

Cook the rice as needed before serving. We use instant brown rice and cook it about 30 minutes (20 to cook, then 10 to set) before time to serve.

SALT NOTE: We don’t add salt to anything. Still, we feel this dish comes out too salty, it may be because we’re not used to salt and the sausage ans some seasonings add the ‘salt’ to it. You may be different and find it bland. Adjust accordingly. We use “low sodium” everything, such as the ‘chicken stock’.

That’s it. After a couple/few hours, serve on top of the rice.

And enjoy.