Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Gumbo!


Inspired a year ago by The Princess and the Frog, and having a strong desire to conquer another region of cooking, I decided to try making gumbo tonight! I've eaten it plenty of times, and I love the thick, spicy stew mixed with rice, sausage, chicken, peppers, and shrimp! So satisfying in cold weather, and delightfully spicy during the summer!

 I used this recipe by Paula Deen as a guideline, modifying it a bit to use a bit more interesting peppers (yes, I know messing with the holy trinity of Cajun cooking (celery, onion, and bell pepper) might gain some dirty looks), but I _had_ jalapenos, and no bell peppers, so I improvised. The jalapenos added a nice, spicy kick, so that might be my method from now on!

Here's the recipe!

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pound Andouille sausage, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, chopped

8 cloves garlic minced
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
3 stalks celery chopped
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp parsley
4 cups vegetable stock
1 (14-ounce can) stewed tomatoes with juice
1/2 pound small shrimp, peeled, deveined
1.5 cup uncooked brown rice
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Directions


Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken until browned on both sides and remove. Add the sausage and cook until browned, then remove. Sprinkle the flour over the oil, add 1 tablespoons of butter and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until brown, about 10 minutes. Let the roux cool.


Return the Dutch oven to low heat and melt the remaining tablespoon butter. Add the onion, garlic, jalapeno, and celery and cook for 10 minutes. Add Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, to taste and the parsley. Cook, while stirring frequently, for 10 minutes. Add stock, whisking constantly. Cut the chicken into 1-inch squares, and add the chicken and sausage to the pot. Add the cayenne and the rice. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes. Add tomatoes. Cover and simmer for 1 hour. Add the shrimp, cooking for another 5 minutes, until shrimp is nice and pink. Serve hot with lots of water!

3 comments:

LaraAnn said...

This seems like it would be good. I only wish that I could handle spicy foods. Maybe I'll cut back on the spice and use a regular pepper. thanks for sharing.

Wandering Appalachian said...

You can also replace the Andouille sausage with regular smoked sausage to reduce the spiciness. Thanks for reading! :)

Fazlina Firdaus said...

hi ..i am from malaysia .
i really love watching princess and the frog . and i really want to make a GUMBO . thank you for the simple recipe .