Vlasta Polakova. Here is my grandmothers gumbo recipe. I am at work now. I will post my story of its reconstruction later in the day. JEAN GOUDEAU’S AUTHENTIC CAJUN SEAFOOD GUMBO THE ROUX ½ cup of vegetable oil ¼ cup of butter ¾ cups of flour THE BASE 2 cups chopped onion ¾ cups chopped green pepper 1/3 cups thin-sliced green onion (tops and bottoms) 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (or Italian parsley) 1 large can of chopped tomatoes (about 15 oz.) 1 tablespoon of finely minced garlic 1 large can of tomato sauce (about 14 oz.) ½ of a large, packaged kielbasa 2 lbs of shrimp, peeled and de-veined 3 cans of crabmeat (this makes it easy, although our clan might miss the whole crabs that Jean used to use. If you use fresh crab, leave it in the shell for flavor, and use about one pound.) ¼ pound of okra, stems and tips removed, sliced into 3/8 inch thick slices. (Julian, you might be tempted to skip this step. Don’t. 1) your grandmother loves okra; and 2) all along I thought that this was just a taste preference, but now after I have studied all these recipes and old N.O. cookbooks, I understand that okra is a THICKENING agent, and adds to the thickness of the soup. Don’t leave them out: ‘twill make for runny “soup” and not “gumbo.”) ½ pound of scallops ¼ of oysters (sliced into bite-sized pieces. I didn’t like the flavor of this. I think I will skip the “ersters” the next time.) ¼ pound of chicken breast (this is filler meat. If you have enough $$ to seafood it up, don’t worry about the chicken. If you use this chicken, prepare it first—grilled, fried, or whatever, and then toss it in the pot at the proper time.) ½ pound of any old white fish you might have hanging round. Jean used carp, because that is cheap fish, easily available in Chicago. I used tilapia here. Fresh orange roughy is also cheap and plentiful in Chicago, though not available in Seattle. Catfish tastes “gamey” in soup. Don’t use it. Will take over the flavor of the pot. Any additions you happen to have hanging round: bacon bits; pork chop bits; lobster (haha)… on and on. Experiment. But start with the basic recipe so that you know how it tastes before you extrapolate on it. THE LIQUID AND SEASONINGS 2 1/2 quarts of canned chicken stock. (Of course, if you know how to MAKE chicken stock, you’ll want to do that the night before. But, Julian, you can just used canned, low sodium.) 3 whole bay leaves 1 ½ teaspoons dried thyme 4 teaspoons salt 1 ¼ teaspoons of fresh ground black pepper ¼ teaspoons cayenne (substitute crushed red pepper if no cayenne) 4 teaspoons of lemon juice 1 tablespoon allspice ½ teaspoon mace ¼ teaspoon cloves 2 tablespoons brown sugar 2 tsp Filet Powder Preparations: If using homemade chicken stock, make in advance. Chop, prepare, assemble the ingredients for the base and have them ready to toss in the pot as soon as the roux is done. Melt/ heat the butter and oil together in the bottom of an 8 quart kettle, over medium heat. Gradually add the flour to the oil, stirring constantly. Cook over low heat until a medium-brown roux is formed. This takes about 20 mins. The trick is to get it as brown as possible, without burning. However, if you don’t want to tempt fate, (because it burns too, and that’s nasty) truly, as soon as the flour is all folded in, and it looks about the color of a shelled peanut, it is ready to go. Save the deep, dark browning for another time, another cooking lesson. As soon as you’ve reached the color that you’re satisfied with, immediately add the: onion, green pepper, green onion, cilantro, and garlic. Cook for about ten minutes, constantly stirring, looking for the vegetables to lightly brown. Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, kielbasa, seafood, all seasonings (except the brown sugar) and water. Mix thoroughly. Raise the heat slightly, bringing to a boil. Then, heat to low and simmer for an hour, stirring from time to time and scraping down the sides and bottom if necessary. After the simmer time, turn off the burner (although you can let it sit on the cooling burner.) Stir in the two tablespoons of brown sugar and 2 tsp. of filet powder while it is still hot but no longer cooking. Bon Apetit!
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 19:12:57 +0000
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