From my recipe list, http://cooking.mikekski.net

Gumbo is an easy, great food to make. It does, however, take time.
It's a lot like the curry recipe on this site. There's not much to it,
if you do it right, but it takes a long time to make. Just like the
curry is all about the onions, the gumbo is all about the roux.

A roux is nothing more than flour and fat cooked together. In this
case, it's flour and vegetable oil. You can use peanut oil, but I
didn't have any for this recipe. This is the #1 most important
ingredient in your gumbo, so don't mess it up.

Luckily, there is a fool-proof way to make roux. Traditionally, roux
was made by putting flour and oil in a pan, and stirring like hell for
about 20 minutes. This is very time consuming, but it works. However,
the roux is very easy to burn, and burnt roux is good for only 1
thing. Throwing away.

That said, here's my gumbo recipe (the ingredients are in the order
they are used):

The roux:
1 Cup flour
1 Cup vegetable oil (or peanut, if you have it)

The trinity:
1 chopped onion (1 and 1/2 cups or so)
4 chopped stalks of celery (3/4 to 1 cup)
1 chopped green pepper

The spices:
1 minced jalapeño pepper
4-7 minced garlic cloves

The thickener:
1 1lb frozen pack of chopped okra

The liquid:
8-12 cups of chicken broth
3 large bay leaves

The meat (chopped into bite sized chunks):
1-2 lbs of chicken (I use boneless skinless dark meat, but breast
would work)
1 lb of andoullie sausage

Mix the flour and oil in an oven safe pan (I used a cast-iron dutch
oven), and put in an oven preheated to 350 F.

Cook for 2 hours, and stir about every 30 minutes. You will know it's
done when it looks like dark peanut butter.

When it's done, put it in a large pot on the stove, on about medium
high heat. Continue stirring, and never let it sit still for more than
about a minute. This is because if it burns, you have to start over.

Add the onion, green pepper, and celery, and continue stirring until
the vegetables are limp. This will take 5-10 minutes. Add the garlic/
jalapeño, and continue stirring. About 2 minutes after you get a good
whiff of the garlic cooking, add the okra. Keep stirring, and cook the
okra until it's well thawed. This is another 5-10 minutes. When it's
all glopping around in the pot, start adding stock (I warm the stock
in another pot, and pour it in so it boils quickly). Stir it up good,
and let it boil.

Bring to a good boil, and add about 3 bay leaves. Add the meat, and
let it return to a boil. After it boils, turn down the heat, cover,
and simmer for about 2 hours.

Ladle over rice, and enjoy. It should be served with a vinegar based
hot sauce (Tobasco, or similar), and some saltine crackers.

fred expressed precisely :
> From my recipe list, http://cooking.mikekski.net
>
> Gumbo is an easy, great food to make. It does, however, take time.
> It's a lot like the curry recipe on this site. There's not much to it,
> if you do it right, but it takes a long time to make. Just like the
> curry is all about the onions, the gumbo is all about the roux.
>
> A roux is nothing more than flour and fat cooked together. In this
> case, it's flour and vegetable oil. You can use peanut oil, but I
> didn't have any for this recipe. This is the #1 most important
> ingredient in your gumbo, so don't mess it up.
>
> Luckily, there is a fool-proof way to make roux. Traditionally, roux
> was made by putting flour and oil in a pan, and stirring like hell for
> about 20 minutes. This is very time consuming, but it works. However,
> the roux is very easy to burn, and burnt roux is good for only 1
> thing. Throwing away.
>
> That said, here's my gumbo recipe (the ingredients are in the order
> they are used):
>
> The roux:
> 1 Cup flour
> 1 Cup vegetable oil (or peanut, if you have it)
>
> The trinity:
> 1 chopped onion (1 and 1/2 cups or so)
> 4 chopped stalks of celery (3/4 to 1 cup)
> 1 chopped green pepper
>
> The spices:
> 1 minced jalapeño pepper
> 4-7 minced garlic cloves
>
> The thickener:
> 1 1lb frozen pack of chopped okra
>
> The liquid:
> 8-12 cups of chicken broth
> 3 large bay leaves
>
> The meat (chopped into bite sized chunks):
> 1-2 lbs of chicken (I use boneless skinless dark meat, but breast
> would work)
> 1 lb of andoullie sausage
>
> Mix the flour and oil in an oven safe pan (I used a cast-iron dutch
> oven), and put in an oven preheated to 350 F.
>
> Cook for 2 hours, and stir about every 30 minutes. You will know it's
> done when it looks like dark peanut butter.
>
> When it's done, put it in a large pot on the stove, on about medium
> high heat. Continue stirring, and never let it sit still for more than
> about a minute. This is because if it burns, you have to start over.
>
> Add the onion, green pepper, and celery, and continue stirring until
> the vegetables are limp. This will take 5-10 minutes. Add the garlic/
> jalapeño, and continue stirring. About 2 minutes after you get a good
> whiff of the garlic cooking, add the okra. Keep stirring, and cook the
> okra until it's well thawed. This is another 5-10 minutes. When it's
> all glopping around in the pot, start adding stock (I warm the stock
> in another pot, and pour it in so it boils quickly). Stir it up good,
> and let it boil.
>
> Bring to a good boil, and add about 3 bay leaves. Add the meat, and
> let it return to a boil. After it boils, turn down the heat, cover,
> and simmer for about 2 hours.
>
> Ladle over rice, and enjoy. It should be served with a vinegar based
> hot sauce (Tobasco, or similar), and some saltine crackers.

Whither the cajun cornbread?

fred wrote:

> Mix the flour and oil in an oven safe pan (I used a cast-iron dutch
> oven), and put in an oven preheated to 350 F.

You win the, "Most unnecessary requirement of pre-heating the oven"
award for this week.

-sw