We cooked the below version (an adaptation from C.P. Love's recipe in the WWOZ cookbook That Sounds Good!) for our "Dans les Roux" event. The main difference is that we had to cut the shrimp heads out due to allergies, but we did a few other ingredient amounts differently and adjusted the process slightly.In his intro to the recipe he warns about the VERY bad voodoo gris-gris that he will send if he is not credited for referencing the hard work he put into perfecting this recipe! It is one hell of a recipe, so thank you C.P. Love! We also included you in our playlist for the evening.
CourseDinner, Lunch
CuisineCajun, Creole, New Orleans
Keywordgumbo, Okra
Servings12servings
Ingredients
Broth
1whole chicken or 6 bone-in chicken thighs
8ozonions, chopped
4ozcarrots, chopped
4ozcelery and tops, chopped
1headgarlic, chopped horizontally in half
1tspfreshly cracked black pepper
3stemsparsley
1bay leaf
1/2tspeach: thyme, tarragon, oregano and basil
shrimp heads and shells from 4 lbs of shrimphe calls this an absolutely critical part of his gumbo but sadly we had allergies to contend with!
Roux + Gumbo
1cupbutter, in chunks
1cupflour
Gumbo
4cupsonion, finely diced
2cupscelery, finely diced
2cupsgreen bell pepper, finely diced
1bunchgreen onions, chopped
5clovesgarlic, minced
3bay leaves
creole seasoning to taste
Tabasco sauce
2lbsfresh okra, tops removed and chopped into 1/2 inch roundsor frozen, but add to gumbo more towards end, if so!
16ozAndouille sausage, sliced into rounds
1/2cupclam juice(our approximation from missing shrimp heads)
16ozfrozen crab meat
parsley
Serving
Crystal hot sauce
green onionssliced (did he say how to serve)
Instructions
Broth
Skin chicken and cut into large pieces. Prepare vegetables, and the bouquet garni
Heat a large, heavy-bottomed pot to medium-high. When hot, add oil and brown chicken, in batches if needed so as not to crowd the pan. Add a bit of water to scrape up any browned bits. When the bottom of the pan is clear, add the remaining broth ingredients and add water to cover everything by an inch or two.. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for 3 hours. Skim and discard any foamy scum.
Remove the chicken to a bowl and cover. When cool enough to handle, de-bone and break into bite-sized pieces. Toss with creole seasoning and keep aside, covered.
Line a strainer with cheesecloth (or use a mesh sieve), and strain the remaining broth. [Note: the original recipe recommends chilling broth to skim the fat, or remove as much as possible in this straining process, but we didn’t worry too much about that and it was great.]
This makes more stock than you will use for this gumbo, but you can freeze it for later use.
Roux + Gumbo
Prepare yourself to be stuck at the stove for at least 45 minutes. Put some good New Orleans Tunes on (our Gumbo Playlist here!), and get a glass of whatever beverage is going to put you in the best mood for dancing while stirring (and stirring, and stirring). Depending on the time of day, this chef is probably doing red wine or Grady’s New Orleans style iced coffee (with milk and maple syrup of course).
Heat a heavy-bottomed pan to medium. When hot, add the butter. When the bubbling subsides, add the flour and stir vigorously with a flat-head wooden spatula until well combined. Continue stirring until it is at least the color of peanut butter noting that it will continue to cook a bit darker in the next step (also see note below).
When your nice brown color is reached, add the diced vegetables and garlic, continuing to stir until the vegetables begin to melt into the roux.
Then add 4 cups of broth (to start), tabasco sauce and bay leaves and simmer for 45 minutes. Taste and add salt as needed.
Meanwhile brown the sausage rounds in a bit of oil at medium-high heat. When done, remove from hot pan and keep covered until ready to use.
Add the chopped okra, and cook for 30 minutes. Then add the chicken and sausage, crab meat and clam juice and cook for another 15 minutes. Taste for seasoning and adjust cajun seasoning, clam juice, hot sauce and salt per your liking!
Keep warm until ready to eat, and the longer you can wait the better. The next day, slowly reheated is best.
Serve
According to C.P. Love, this *must* be served with the rice first placed first in the center of the bowl, and the gumbo spooned around it (see note below). Optional garnish: sliced green onions and Crystal hot sauce.
Notes
"New Orleans people tend to like a blond or peanut-butter-colored roux, so make it that way if you like. Cajuns tend to like it dark and so do I. If you feel comfortable that you won't burn the roux, cook it until it's a dark reddish-brown, almost, but not quite as dark as milk chocolate. The finished roux almost smells like roasted coffee-yum!" - C.P. Love in his recipe in the "That Sounds Good" cookbook by WWOZ."Remember the rice goes into the bowl first, and it is not an optional step, despite the trend among some New Orleans restaurants to serve a rice-less gumbo" - C.P. Love in his recipe in the "That Sounds Good" cookbook by WWOZ... Speaking of this cookbook that we love so much, did you buy the book already? Do it! The above is not an affiliate link; only a way to confirm the book. You may need to special order it through your community bookstore, but ThriftBooks has it available (at time of posting, anyway) but also try your favorite online used book store or lo or your favorite used book store!