Bonjour my friends, I'm Frankie and welcome to Club Foody! There are many places in North America
I want to visit and one of them is New Orleans. I love their food, culture and their mentality
with this popular phrase that describes them so well... "Laissez les bon temps rouler"!
Today is Mardi Gras and I thought it would be an excellent idea to showcase another one of my Louisiana recipes...
In today's episode, I'll show you how to make my New Orleans Gumbo! Is there a stew, a soup?
To me is a delicious combination of both! It can be made either with meat or seafood. I make mine with
both! (giggling) giving this recipe flavorful twists on this southern classic... So my friends, let's get cooking!
In a dutch oven over medium heat, we'll add 2 tablespoons of oil and when it gets hot, we'll
add cubed chicken breast. Then we'll season with ground sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
We'll sauté the meat until no longer pink about 2 to 3 minutes.
Next using a slotted spoon, we'll transfer the cubes to a bowl
and set aside for now. Back to the Dutch oven... We'll add the sliced andouille sausage and sauté for 3
minutes. If you want to make your own sausage, click on the top right corner of your screen.
Same thing with the sausage, we'll scoop them and transfer to the bowl with the chicken cubes.
Now we'll add a 1/4 cup of oil to the pot as well as butter. We'll reduce the heat to medium low
and stir the ingredients well. We'll now add the flour and whisk constantly until the roux turns
deep brown similar color to chocolate - this can take about 15 to 30 minutes
so be patient. Next, we'll remove the pot from the heat to cool off for 5 minutes - this will help
to thicken it. There are people who prefer to add the trinity to the pot to help cool off the roux...
I'd rather doing this instead. All right, so 5 minutes later, we'll return the pot back on the
burner and set the heat to medium - it won't take long as the roux is still very hot. When we see
some smoke coming up from the surface, we can now add the onions followed by the celery. Then
we'll stir very well so the vegetables are coated and continue stirring for 1:30 minutes.
To this, we'll add red peppers and yellow peppers - traditionally green peppers are a
key ingredient in a gumbo but this is my take on it so if you prefer adding green,
go ahead! So we'll stir until the peppers are well coated and cook for a minute and a half as well.
Now we'll add a teaspoon of pressed garlic and only sauté it for one minute.
Next, we'll return the meat back to the pot including any accumulated juices and we'll also
add diced tomatoes. We'll stir the ingredients until well combined. Oh my guys! This smells
amazing! All right, we're not done yet... To this we'll add chicken broth, fresh chopped thyme
then Creole Seasoning. To make this amazing spice blend, click on the top right corner of your screen.
We'll also add smoked paprika, hot sauce of your choice - I'm using Frank's here - then Worcestershire
sauce and some raw sugar. We'll give a good stir so the ingredients are well blended before
adding a couple bay leaves. We'll turn the heat to high and bring it to a boil, scraping the bottom of
the pot to dislodge any brown bits - there's great flavor there! When the mixture is boiling, we'll
reduce the heat to medium and let it simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. When time is up.
we'll add gumbo file and large shrimp or prawns. We'll stir to combine before adding
chopped green onions. We'll give another good stir and cook for 2 minutes - if you cook longer,
the shrimp will turn rubbery. A couple minutes later and the shrimp should look like this
and that's it, we're done! To serve, we'll place some cooked rice in a bowl, spoon the gumbo around it
and garnish with fresh chopped parsley... And my friends, this is our New Orleans Gumbo!
This is such a flavorful and hearty dish! There's a delicious combination of vegetables, proteins
and spices that will satisfy your taste buds. This is a recipe you can enjoy anytime
but I prefer serving it during the cold months of the year... I hope you give it a try soon and
be sure to visit clubfoody.com for ingredient amounts, directions and more info...
Until next time my friends, bon appétit!