Gumbo time!

Chicken goes in!

Get the chicken nicely browned.

Repeat for the Andoullie.

Browned and ready to go.

Cut up the boudin and have it ready to go, but don't brown it.

Get the rest of your ingredients ready.

The green stuff is parsley. The brown stuff in the bottom left is good strong homemade beef stock.

Notice we have no okra or file powder (heresy!) That's because the boudin will thicken the gumbo.

Time to make the roux. One cup lard, one cup flour.

Keep cooking and stirring. It's not done yet; you want the color of a tarnished old penny. Stir constantly so it doesn't burn.

Here it is almost done; the shiny pot & flash makes it look lighter than it really is.

Add the trinity & the garlic.

Sweat down the veggies in the roux until the onions go translucent. This is a critically important step! You need to fully sweat down the trinity, and you need to make sure it doesn't burn. Stir very often for about 10 min.

When that's done add 1/4 cup Worcestershire and a big handful of chopped parsley. Keep stirring for another 2-3 minutes.

It should look something like this. Make sure it doesn't burn!

At this point we can add the stock, tomatoes, chicken, andoullie and boudin. I used 4 cups of stock.

Get that on a low simmer and cook for about an hour. Make sure you stir it every few minutes so it doesn't stick. Meanwhile, get some green onions.

Slice 'em up.

When the gumbo has cooked for about an hour add the green onions and give it another 3-4 minutes.

Season to taste with salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Then serve!

(And yes, there is rice under the gumbo in the bowl, I just didn't bother to photograph that since I figure everyone knows how to cook rice)

That roux looks great! How long did it take and at what temp was it cooked?

I would estimate about 10 minutes on a medium-high setting on my crappy electric stove. Perhaps a little longer (I'm guessing here, I didn't time it). The knob goes from 1 to 10; I cook roux around a 7.

>an actual cooking thread on Veeky Forums that doesn't involve cooking in plastic bags

This is shocking

Why don't you post some of your cooking, user?

Looks really tasty! But I can't resist okra so that's what I would put into it as a thickening agent for sure, but to each their own.

Looks good

My word! A proper Cajun gumbo. May have to make me some. Great thread OP and photo's as well.

clean your stove :(

>One cup lard

Mais dats a good gumbo, cher

>not browning your andoille FIRST so you can then brown your chicken in the rendered fat for flavor
>not seasoning the roux flour and coating the chicken in it before browning
>not using cast iron to create a fond with the proteins
>not using the fond and rendered fats as the base for your roux

I'm just fucking with you, OP.

I give it a solid 7.5 / 10.

I used lard because I was all out of bacon drippings.

Use vegetable oil if it makes you feel better, but it's still the same fat content.

Given that there are over a dozen servings in that pot the amount you're actually consuming isn't all that much.

>>not browning your andoille FIRST so you can then brown your chicken in the rendered fat for flavor
I've tried that before, but it made my chicken stick like mad in the pot. These photos are quite old; my current procedure is to brown the andoillie in the pot and use that as a base for the roux, and I brown off the chicken separately in a deep fryer.

>>not seasoning the roux flour and coating the chicken in it before browning
I find that the high heat from cooking the roux degrades the flavor of the seasoning. I prefer to add the seasoning later so it's flavor isn't ruined by the cooking out of the roux.

>>not using cast iron to create a fond with the proteins
Believe me, that stainless pot generates plenty of fond. Not to mention the fact that since I use tomatoes in my gumbo I'd rather not simmer it a long time in my CI. Since those photos were taken I have bought a Demeyere Atlantis dutch oven. That's my new gumbo pot and it's fucking amazing.

>>not using the fond and rendered fats as the base for your roux
You got me there. Normally I use reserved bacon drippings for cooking the andoullie and making the roux. I didn't have any at the time so lard was a substitution. I buy Benton's bacon which creates some fucking amazing drippings.

>brown off the chicken separately in a deep fryer.

I think ol' Chef Paul has one of the best approaches to gumbo, and I stole his technique pretty much completely. He shallow fries his chicken and then uses the remaining oil for the roux. I like to do the same, but I brown off the andoille first before adding enough oil to shallow fry the chicken in order to get that flavor into the chicken as well. G'damn it's good....but fattening as fuck.

Gumbo: 26:34
youtube.com/watch?v=M5XXU47q9js

I'll take more trinity and chop it larger and wait to add it until I get everything else cooked up and am ready to add my stock, then I'll toss them in for the final simmer, as it gives an added texture to enjoy along with the proteins and the softened veggies already in the mix.

Gumbo is the bomb!

Fuck yes, I love Paul Prudhomme.

My favorite is his original recipe for "blackened" dishes. Many places will coat a piece of fish (or whatever) in "blackening seasoning" and then pan-fry it and call it "blackened". It's not bad, but that's not the real thing. It's nowhere near as good as his original method.

The key is that you need to get an iron skillet amazingly hot. So hot the seasoning burns clean off and all you see is a thin layer of white ash in the pan. If you were in low light the pan actually glows red hot. This means that the fish never actually touches the pan, but instead floats above it on a thin layer of steam (aka Liedenfrost effect). It makes for a nice crust and an amazingly tender interior. Alas, you can't do that indoors. You either need a full-on commercial ventilation system or you need to do it outside.

Pic related; 18" skillet on a 240,000 BTU wok burner for blackened catfish. 45 seconds per side.

Looks even better with the flash off.

>he fell for the 'fat is da ebil' meme

So what the fuck did you do with the boudin?

Shit's already cooked, bro. Did you just crumble it and toss it in?

And what about the spice?

Don't tell me you're the sensitive type.

Good job, nonetheless.

EVERY American should know how to make a gumbo, a jambalaya, and an etoufee.

quality thread OP. thanks. needs some shrimp or crawfish though.

I agree.

I'm also from south Louisiana. About 45 minutes south of New Orleans. This food is literally engrained into our culture. My dad makes a top tier gumbo and jambalaya. Better than any I've had anywhere else.

I'm still perfectly my own take on it, but his outdoes mine 100% of the time. I think he's holding out on some secret ingredient or something.

I'm leaving this obesity ridden, hot/humid state as soon as I finish uni. I'm going to make sure I take the only good part with me: the cooking.

>And what about the spice?

What about it? Yes, blackening spices are used. I figured that was a given so I didn't bother to mention it. I was discussing the cooking method, not the seasoning.

I love a good seafood gumbo, but in this particular case I was cooking for some picky fucks who didn't like seafood so I stuck with the basics.

Also, I have a question for my fellow Cajun cooks out there. I know many Cajuns and I am told there is quite the heated debate as to wether or not it's acceptable to mix seafood and "land based" meats in gumbo. Some of them claim you can make one or the other but you should never combine seafood with poultry or pork. Others have no problem combining the two. I'm curious what ya'll think about that.

Personally I have no problem combining them, but that said I find that I usually tend to make either a full-on seafood gumbo (shrimp, crabs, fish, perhaps some crawfish...), or I make a basic poultry and sausage (but I often use duck and/or quail in addition to the chicken).

I'm in the no seafood in Cajun gumbo camp, it should consist of sausage, poultry, foul, or any other game. And no tomatoes, that belongs to Creole gumbo, as does seafood. But you do you.

I made gumbo batches 2 times this last month (chicken and sausage/ ya ya) as well OP. I did it a bit differently and used emerils.com/123010/gumbo-ya-ya as a basic, but tweaked it a bit added some file powder and what not. It ended up pretty good overall, but not like what I've had in restaurants. Secret ingredients are being held from me I know it.

>uni
What school, fellow south Louisiana bro?

This.

Regardless, make it how you want with what you want.

I think the secret to a really good gumbo is to brown everything before you make your roux, and then make your roux using the same fats you used to brown everything.

OP here.
The biggest problems I see people having with gumbo is:
1) Fucking up the roux by either undercooking it or burning it.
2) Using crappy stock, or worse: water.
3) Not sweating out the Trinity correctly. This is the step that gave the me the most trouble when I was learning. It seems so simple but it has a very profound effect on the finished product.

>Not sweating out the Trinity correctly.

I don't sweat them anymore.

Now, I mince about 2/3 and chop 1/3 of my trinity and carmelize the minced in the fats rendered from the andoille and chicken thighs I use so they practically melt into the roux / stock. Then I add the chopped trinity when I top off with my stock to simmer. Great combination of flavor from the mince/carmelized veggies combined with a crunchier texture from the simmered.

I do the same for my jambalaya.

>Notice we have no okra

Stopped reading here. Fuck off you colossal faggot.

ULL studying mechanical engineering.
And you?

>not sweating trinity correctly
I add mine in the roux (Cajun style) just when it's getting that chestnut color. It has to be monitored closely but the sweating of the veg serves to deglaze. If it looks a little dry add a slurp of the beer you should be drinking. It'll look like a ball of shit when it's ready for the stock. Add in a ladle at a time to your desired consistency.

andouille is a very dry and lean sausage, and you won't get much fat out of it

I just use some of the oil needed for the roux to cook everything else, and then just top up on oil if the roux gets too stiff.

>no okra

no bump