Auntie Em’s Famous Gumbo

Cooler weather is finally hitting Southeast Texas, and that means GUMBO! Gumbo is a Cajun food, which you should always try if you get a chance! (In case you don’t know, Cajuns are the people of French from South Louisiana, chere, who are known for their good food and joie de vivre!)

I’ll print easy, all-in-one-place directions at the bottom.

Start with chicken pieces or, if you really want to be authentic, boil a hen. Hens are richer and the meat will hold its flavor. It’s more trouble of course, because you have the skin and bones to remove, but if you’ve got the time, it’s worth it! However, I used breasts and thighs. I boiled half, so I could get broth, and roasted the others, to hold on to more flavor. I had boiled the chicken the night before so I had it chopped and had the broth in a pitcher.

To boil, cover chicken completely with water in a tall stock pot. Salt and pepper liberally!

To roast chicken, line a jelly roll pan (a cookie sheet with tall edges) with parchment or foil for easy cleanup. Spray the roasting rack with Pam. If you don’t have one of these gizmos, get one ASAP! They are great for roasting meat and veggies!

Salt and pepper the chicken pieces, then roast at 400 35-50 minutes. Use a meat thermometer and make sure the meat gets to 180 degrees. Boneless meat like these thighs will cook faster than bone-in parts like the breasts. If you don’t have a meat thermometer either, you need to get to the store!

Next chop a large onion and 4 or 5 stalks of celery. My son the chef introduced me to a chef’s knife like the one above. I was a little scared to use one, till he brought his and gave me an inservice. Now I love it! You keep your fingers well out of the way- just rock it up and down and keep your hand on top. Along with a meat thermometer and roasting pan with rack, a good knife is a MUST in the kitchen! Go ahead and invest in a Wusthof or something comparable. It might run $100, but it will last forever. Keep it sharp. It’ll change your life.

You can see, you need a lot of onion!

You can chop a lot of celery with a big knife!

While you’re chopping the veggies, melt a stick of butter on medium-low heat in a heavy skillet, then add the veggies.

After the onion and celery cook a bit, add some garlic. Lay your knife on top of the clove and smash it! Then mince it.

You want to cook the veggies till they are soft and transparent– this will give you an idea:

While the veggies are cooking down, begin chopping up the meat. We like ours in fairly small bite sizes; cut them like your family likes. Again, with a big, sharp knife, you can make quick work of the chicken and sausage! This gumbo was a 3-night- affair, so most of my chicken was already cooked and chopped. I just had to debone and chop the roasted breasts. Here’s a handy hint: If you boil your chicken ahead of time, refrigerate the broth; the fat will solidify on the top and you can remove most of it easily.

Now I think the roux is what scares people about making gumbo. I’ve made traditional roux, roux with browned flour only, and jarred roux mix, and I promise, I like the jar as well as any other, and it’s much less time-consuming! There is a trick though, you must get your broth to a FULL, ROLLING boil when you add the mix, or it will never dissolve. Follow the directions for the amount to use. If you like thicker broth, add more; for thinner add less. Then stir, stir, stir! This is the color to expect when it’s blended: I’ve heard it described as a melted Hershey bar.

Once your roux is smooth, add the veggies and the meat, then let it simmer a bit.

Serve it up over rice, and if you are really feeling Cajun, plop some potato salad into your bowl! (I’ve talked to my Cajun friend Peggy and she says it’s so you can get your gumbo and potato salad, but have a free hand for your dessert!)

MMM! C’est si bon!

Auntie Em’s Famous Gumbo (serves at least 12– great for freezer meals!)

MEAT:

Boil 1/2 large pkg chicken breasts and 1/2 large pkg chicken thighs.

Roast the rest of the chicken at 400 degrees.

Chop all cooked chicken into desired size.

VEGGIES

Chop 1 large onion, 4-5 large stalks celery. Sautee with 1 stick butter in heavy skillet. Add a large clove of minced garlic. Cook till soft and transparent.

ROUX

Bring chicken broth to a full, rolling boil. Add roux mix. (I use Savoie’s or Tony Chachere’s.)

ASSEMBLING

When roux is smooth, add meats and veggies. Simmer, covered as long as you can stand it.

Serve over rice, and add potato salad for a Cajun experience! Find a Cajun music channel on Pandora and l’aissez les bon temps roulez, chere!

Today I’m linking with The Shabby Creek Cottage and The Lady Behind the Curtain– go visit and see what other goodies you can find!

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Auntie Em’s New Orleans Red Beans

Here at Auntie Em’s house we eat a lot of what Mr X calls “farm food.” It’s his favorite, and since it’s easy to cook, it fits in my schedule and lifestyle. We went to Nachtitoches, Mississippi in December and I bought their local Service League cookbook- I love to buy local cookbooks as souvenirs when we travel!

Here is one of my favorites (and I measured this time!):

1 small pkg red kidney beans

1 tsp salt and pepper (add more, or Tony Chachere to taste after they cook.)

1/4 c chopped onion

1/4 c chopped celery

1 large carrot, diced

1 large clove garlic, minced

2 bay leaves

1 hunk of tasso (That’s frozen tasso there- it looks bad, but tastes good! It’s a heavily seasoned pork, for cooking. I usually don’t use it up fast enough to keep fresh, so I freeze it and take it out as I need it.)

4-6 c water or broth (If you don’t have broth, add a bouillon cube or 2!)

Put in a large, heavy pan and add water or broth about 3 times the depth of the beans. (If you have 2″ of beans, add 4″ of water above the beans- make sense?) Bring to a boli, stir, cover, and let soak an  hour. Check on it periodically because you might need to add water during the soak time!

Then add water if needed, and simmer for 2-3 hours. Check often and add water. They should be tender. If you want to make it over the top, slice up some link sausage and stir in before you serve, or serve it with a link! Put it over rice or Granny’s Cornbread.

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