Texas Gumbo

California Gumbo

I made gumbo last week, because a friend brought me some andouille sausage back from Louisiana. I'm not a Cajun cook and I don't claim it was authentic, but it was good anyway.....

Roux:
butter, 1/2 cup
cooking oil, 1/2 cup
flour, 1 cup

Meat:
chicken thighs, 3 lbs
andouille sausage, 2 lbs
oysters, 2 cans @ 8 oz ea (optional)

Trinity
green bell peppers, 2
yellow bell pepper, 1
red bell pepper, 1
celery, 6 ribs
large sweet onions, 2
garlic, 6 cloves

Misc:
Ro*Tel Tomatoes and Chilies, 3 cans @16.5 oz ea
frozen cut okra, 2 lbs
fresh cilanto, 1/2 bunch
juice from one lemon

Cajun spice mix to taste. I used two heaping tablespoons of Pappy's Louisiana Hot Spice Seasoning (made in California).

Simmer chicken in water to cover, for about one hour. Remove skin and debone; cut into bite-sized pieces. Save stock.

Brown andouille sausage well in pan; slice into 1/4" rounds.

Chop bell peppers, celery and onions; mince garlic.

Make roux: heat the oil and butter in a large skillet. Add flour and cook until it's almost the color of milk chocolate, stirring constantly. If the roux gets black flecks in it, it's burned. Throw it out and start over. If you don't want to play chicken (or you lack patience), you can settle for Creole-style roux--about the color of peanut butter. Dump trinity in to keep roux from overcooking, and stir until the onions are translucent.

Put roux and trinity into a stock pot; add Ro*Tel, okra, and stock from chicken. Simmer for 1/2 hour; if necessary add more water or chicken stock.

Add chicken and sausage; simmer for 1/2 hour.

Add oysters, chopped cilantro and lemon juice; simmer for 10 minutes.

Ladle over bowls of steamed rice; add a little Tabasco Sauce if you like.

This would have fed an army. But I didn't have one handy, so most of it went into various-sized Tupperware containers to be frozen. Then I slipped the frozen chunks into bags, vacuum-sealed them, and stacked them back in the freezer.

edit: I probably should have mentioned that I drained the oysters before adding them; I didn't want them to overwhelm the other flavors.

 

Califonia: Get a Rope.

It sounds good, similar and yet much diferent. I'll post mine this weekend.

 

I'm looking forward to your version. Mine was based partly on what a friend showed me years ago, partly on a quick flip through the internet looking at recipes, and partly on my own cooking habits.

 

Troy, thanks for the recipe. Being allergic to crustaceans, this looks healthier for me. I may substitute sea scallops for oysters.