Chef Andrew Zimmern provides information on gumbo, then shows how to make it.
- New Orleans was settled by the French in 1718 and then ceded to the Spanish in 1766. These two groups of colonists intermarried and their offspring became Creoles. Creoles combined their food and spices with those of Africans, American Indians and West Indians to create a new type of cuisine that included gumbo.
- Gumbo is commonly thickened with a dark roux and file (ground sassafras powder). Okra is a mandatory ingredient that indirectly thickens the stew.
- There are many different ways to prepare gumbo. It can contain chicken, sausage, seafood, catfish or even any blend of those meats, but it is always slow-cooked and has roux as a base.
- To begin, make a roux by stirring together 1/3 cup flour and 1/3 cup oil in a two-quart sauce pan until it's smooth. Place over medium-high heat for about five minutes, making sure to stir consistently. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 15 minutes until it becomes a dark red/brownish color. Set aside to cool.
- Saute vegetables in the roux and be sure to brown meats before adding them.
Here is a gumbo recipe that can serve six to eight as a main course:
Gumbo
Ingredients:
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup minced carrot
2/3 cup minced celery
2/3 cup minced onion
1/2 cup minced red bell pepper
2/3 cup diced tomato
1 Tbs. thyme
2 Tbs. paprika
3 Tbs. file powder (ground sassafras root)
4 sliced garlic cloves
4 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
3 quarts shellfish stock, or fish stock, or at the very least homemade chicken stock
1 cup sliced tasso ham, cooked
1 cup (or more to taste) thinly sliced andouille sausage, cooked
2/3 cup sliced okra
3 blue crabs
6 Tbs. minced parsley
1 scotch bonnet or habanero chili, roasted and minced
1 lb. shrimp, 15-count, cleaned and sliced in half lengthwise
18 freshly shucked clams with liquids
18 freshly shucked oysters with liquids
long-grain rice
Preparation:
Place a large iron soup pot over medium heat. Add the oil and the flour, stirring to mix. This is the roux. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally until the roux is reddish brown. Add the carrot, celery, onion and red pepper. Stir while it cooks for five minutes.
Add the tomato, thyme, paprika, sassafras and garlic. Cook for several minutes then add the Worcestershire sauce and the stock. Bring to a boil and add the ham and sausage, which have already been browned.
Reduce heat to the lowest possible flame needed to maintain the barest simmer possible. Simmer for one hour, then add the okra and simmer for two more hours. If the liquid reduces by more than 1/3, add stock to bring it back up to 2/3 of the original mixture.
Add the crabs and simmer for 10 minutes, then remove from the gumbo and clean and quarter them. Return crabs to the pot along with the remaining ingredients. Bring back to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Season and serve with rice.
Use long-grain rice, and cook with a two-to-one ratio of water to rice. Do not wash the rice.
Guests Andrew Zimmern
Professional Chef and Culinary Expert, Food Works, Inc.
649 Grand Ave. Suite 4
St. Paul, MN 55105
Phone: 651-225-8442
E-mail:
andrew@andrewzimmern.com
Website:
www.andrewzimmern.com
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