I successfully fed my husband, Eric, Dave Yates, Dave B., Sage, Alex, Danny, Heather, Heather's friend Christina (?), Logan, myself and Redd.
I added a whole chicken, 2 zucchini, 2 yellow squash, habanero spicy sauce and Louisiana cayenne sauce to the recipe. It tasted amazing!
I don't need to review too much. Anyone who's had gumbo knows what I'm talking about.
I used the stock from boiling the chicken all day (see: from 10 am til 4 pm). I then did what it said about boiling the shells with the stock water. I added the squashes after I put the stock and okra in. Otherwise, I did everything about the same. I never made roux before, but it was definitely just a creole alternative to corn starch and water, except corn starch and water doesn't brown soup. It'd be up to you if you wanted to brown oil and flour just to give a more caramel color to the gumbo. I could have skipped that and saved myself 20-30 minutes, but oh well.
A few people added more hot sauce, but no one needed more seasonings than that. I put more thyme in than it called for, but my measurements were all off. I also added chili powder instead of cayenne (cause I lost my cayenne apparently) and a Creole seasoning I found at BiLo, and I think that helped. The flavor was meant to have a more concentrated shrimp-stock flavor, but the chicken competed with that in a very good way. It was balanced, in my opinion, and I didn't hear anything even remotely similar to a complaint.
Everyone left full, at least if they left at all. Eric and Logan are still here.
I'm so excited this turned out to be so tasty! :D
I have photos, but they're on a camera that's busy charging. Go figure. I'll post up pictures eventually!
I try to share my whacky food ideas (I don't always like traditional meals) while working on a college student budget.
Enjoy!
Showing posts with label shrimp. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shrimp. Show all posts
Sunday, December 18
Recipe: seafood sausage gumbo
Let me preface this by saying that Heather donated a chicken from Earth Fare she said she'd never eat. I can't see why, but that means she used it as a buy in for this soup.
This soup is not cheap. So don't be angsty about my charging a buy-in. I've been pretty lenient this semester.
So, I am boiling the bird. Why? Because it was frozen. But I'll use that stock in with the gumbo. I can't see how that'd hurt anything. I do intend to de bone the bird, and if you choose to do the same thing then kudos -- it's a better soup, I think, when you go through the process like this. I know I love my turkey stock and I still have some left in the freezer.
As one can see from the recipe, this one is going to take me a lot longer. The roux will be 20-40 minutes; the shrimp shells simmer for 20; part 7 is 20 minutes; 8 is about 40-45. I'm sure I can multi-task, but some of that is a consistent bout of attention (see: the roux, which I'm scared I'll end up burning but such is how things go sometimes). I can definitely see this taking two hours. On the upside, my house should be quite warm. I'm also doing peppermint-brownies since it's so close to Christmas (a week!!) =)
It says it serves 10-12 - if you add a whole chicken this won't be the case anymore :P
3 lbs raw shrimp, in shell (yes, I'm boiling the shells with the water that the chicken's in right now.)
1.5 quarts water
4 onions, 2 quarters
4 bay leaves
3/4 cup veggie oil
1 cup all purpose flour
5 tb butter
2 green bell peppers
4 celery stalks
1.5 pounds polish or andouille sausage (we actually have some jimmy dean links that were on sale, so just about whatever sausage should work)
3 cups fresh okra (in my case, frozen, since it's December)
3 garlic cloves
1/2 ts thyme leaves
2 ts salt
Black pepper and white pepper
1 ts cayenne pepper
2 tb red pepper sauce
2 cups chopped plum tomatoes (or a sweet tomato of your choice)
1 pound fresh crab meat
boiled rice for serving
1: Peel and devein the shrimp. Keep the heads and shells. Cover and chill the shrimp while you make the sauce.
2: Place the shrimp heads and shells in a saucepan with the water, quartered onion and one of the bay leaves and let it boil. Partly cover the top and let it simmer for 20 minutes. Strain and set it all aside.
3: To make a Cajun roux, heat the oil in a heavy bottomed skillet. When the oil is hot, add the flour, a little at a time, and blend into a smooth paste.
4: Cook over medium low heat, stirring constantly for 25-40 minutes until the roux reaches the color of peanut butter. Remove the pan from the heat and continue stirring until the roux stops cooking and cools down.
5: Melt the butter in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Finely chop the remaining onions and add to the pan with the peppers and celery. Cook over medium-low heat for 6-8 minutes until the onions are soft, stirring occasionally.
6: Add the sausage, stir well, and cook for 5 minutes longer. Add the okra and garlic, stir, and cook until the okra stops producing white 'threads'.
7: Add the remaining bay leaves, thyme, salt, peppers, and make sure it's to taste. Stir well and then stir in 1.5 quarts of the shrimp stock and the plum tomatoes. Bring to a boil, partly cover the pan, lower the heat and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.
8: Whisk in the Cajun roux. Raise the heat and bring it to a boil, whisking well. Lower the heat again and simmer, uncovered, for 40-45 minutes,
9: Stir in the shrimp and crab meat. Cook for at least 3-4 minutes or until the shrimp turn pink.
10: To serve, put a mound of hot, boiled rice in each serving bowl and ladle the gumbo over, making sure everyone gets a little of everything. =)
This soup is not cheap. So don't be angsty about my charging a buy-in. I've been pretty lenient this semester.
So, I am boiling the bird. Why? Because it was frozen. But I'll use that stock in with the gumbo. I can't see how that'd hurt anything. I do intend to de bone the bird, and if you choose to do the same thing then kudos -- it's a better soup, I think, when you go through the process like this. I know I love my turkey stock and I still have some left in the freezer.
As one can see from the recipe, this one is going to take me a lot longer. The roux will be 20-40 minutes; the shrimp shells simmer for 20; part 7 is 20 minutes; 8 is about 40-45. I'm sure I can multi-task, but some of that is a consistent bout of attention (see: the roux, which I'm scared I'll end up burning but such is how things go sometimes). I can definitely see this taking two hours. On the upside, my house should be quite warm. I'm also doing peppermint-brownies since it's so close to Christmas (a week!!) =)
It says it serves 10-12 - if you add a whole chicken this won't be the case anymore :P
3 lbs raw shrimp, in shell (yes, I'm boiling the shells with the water that the chicken's in right now.)
1.5 quarts water
4 onions, 2 quarters
4 bay leaves
3/4 cup veggie oil
1 cup all purpose flour
5 tb butter
2 green bell peppers
4 celery stalks
1.5 pounds polish or andouille sausage (we actually have some jimmy dean links that were on sale, so just about whatever sausage should work)
3 cups fresh okra (in my case, frozen, since it's December)
3 garlic cloves
1/2 ts thyme leaves
2 ts salt
Black pepper and white pepper
1 ts cayenne pepper
2 tb red pepper sauce
2 cups chopped plum tomatoes (or a sweet tomato of your choice)
1 pound fresh crab meat
boiled rice for serving
1: Peel and devein the shrimp. Keep the heads and shells. Cover and chill the shrimp while you make the sauce.
2: Place the shrimp heads and shells in a saucepan with the water, quartered onion and one of the bay leaves and let it boil. Partly cover the top and let it simmer for 20 minutes. Strain and set it all aside.
3: To make a Cajun roux, heat the oil in a heavy bottomed skillet. When the oil is hot, add the flour, a little at a time, and blend into a smooth paste.
4: Cook over medium low heat, stirring constantly for 25-40 minutes until the roux reaches the color of peanut butter. Remove the pan from the heat and continue stirring until the roux stops cooking and cools down.
5: Melt the butter in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Finely chop the remaining onions and add to the pan with the peppers and celery. Cook over medium-low heat for 6-8 minutes until the onions are soft, stirring occasionally.
6: Add the sausage, stir well, and cook for 5 minutes longer. Add the okra and garlic, stir, and cook until the okra stops producing white 'threads'.
7: Add the remaining bay leaves, thyme, salt, peppers, and make sure it's to taste. Stir well and then stir in 1.5 quarts of the shrimp stock and the plum tomatoes. Bring to a boil, partly cover the pan, lower the heat and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.
8: Whisk in the Cajun roux. Raise the heat and bring it to a boil, whisking well. Lower the heat again and simmer, uncovered, for 40-45 minutes,
9: Stir in the shrimp and crab meat. Cook for at least 3-4 minutes or until the shrimp turn pink.
10: To serve, put a mound of hot, boiled rice in each serving bowl and ladle the gumbo over, making sure everyone gets a little of everything. =)
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