We saw the Princess and the Frog today. It was pretty good. I passionately love New Orleans, the music was good and there were some funny parts, so overall it was a hit. But, of course, gumbo was a major plot point and we weren’t 5 minutes into the flick before I was seriously craving some.
So on the way home, we hit Whole Foods, which is always a dangerous stop, but the go-to place for indulgent ingredients. I didn’t feel too badly about it because technically, we’re still only on the third day of Christmas. We found pre-cooked Niman Ranch andouille sausage and also shucked fresh oysters, and frozen shrimp for $9 a pound. Fresh fish stock was $3 for a package.
I made a huge (expensive) batch of luscious gumbo that was dinner for the four of us and will be lunch for Cute Husband and me for the week.
1 package andouille sausage
1/3 pound good quality smoked bacon
1/4- 1/2 cup flour
1 package celery hearts, chopped, with leaves
1 large white onion, chopped
5 large cloves garlic
1 large bunch parsley, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
5-10 shucked oysters with liquid
1 pound frozen shrimp
1-cups frozen okra (to taste)
1 14-ounce can chopped tomatoes
Thyme
Bay leaf
Salt, Pepper, Tobasco
Juice of 1 lemon
Chicken stock and fish stock, in some combination, to equal about five cups.
1.) Chop the celery, pepper, parsley, onion and garlic. Set aside.
The "holy trinity" of NOLA cooking -- onion, celery, green pepper (and parsley and garlic, but, whatever, I'm a cook not a mathmatician.)
2.) Slice the sausage and bacon and place together in a heavy-bottomed casserole pan. Cook until carmelized. (Nice and dark). Remove meat, leave fat behind. Remove fat from heat until it cools and is not smoking. Lower burner to medium heat before putting pan back.
3.) Make the roux: Whisk the flour into the fat, slowly. You want to add enough flour that you have equal parts fat and flour (err on the side of too much fat). Whisk constantly while the flour cooks and browns. You want it to become a shade darker than peanut butter. *IF IT BURNS EVEN A LITTLE, toss it and start again. Burnt roux makes the entire gumbo taste horrible.
Do you have any idea how hard it was to take this shot without burning the roux?
4) Add the vegetables, toss to coat and heat, and then add liquid in a gradual stream, stirring constantly. You want the soup to be thick, so add broth as needed as you go, but not too much.
5) Simmer. Skim the foam off the top as it cooks.
6) While the soup simmers, put a small frypan over medium high heat. Salt and pepper the shrimp. Add butter and olive oil to the pan, toss in the shrimp. Sear on high, keeping the shrimp moving until it is just seared on both sides. Toss with tobasco and lemon.
7.) When the vegetables are almost done and the broth is a little on the thick side, add tomatoes and okra, and the reserved bacon and sausage. Very last add the shrimp with pan juices and oysters in their juice and simmer until just cooked through. Remove from heat.
Because it was Whole Foods, and I can’t control myself in there, I was tempted by this jar of “Smokra.”
This stuff is freaking delicious, and awesome with gumbo
I served the gumbo over hot rice, hitting each plate with a squeeze of lemon juice and a few shaked of Tobasco. I topped it off with the Smokra.
The kids ate the gumbo plain, and Mare even had a few of the oysters.
Of course, once we’d had the gumbo, I really really needed Bananas Foster. The first time I ever had this it was prepared tableside at Brennans in New Orleans. It became one of my all-time favorite desserts. This is one of those super-simple dishes that doesn’t get in its own way. Very few ingredients, very easy preparation, but looks and tastes like it took hours.
3 bananas, sliced in half lengthwise, and again crosswise
1/2 stick or more unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
healthy dash cinnamon
1/4 cup good rum
1) Add bannanas and butter to saute pan and cook until bananas start to soften. Season with a dash of salt and healthy hit of cinnamon.
2) Add brown sugar and stir until sugar melts and bubbles.
3) Warm rum in the microwave about 10 seconds. Pour over the bananas. Lower a match just over the top. The fumes will ignite, and everything will turn a pretty blue, while the sugar bubbles.
It turned out to be way harder to photograph blue flames than simmering roux. Sorry.
4) Once the rum has stopped burning, turn the heat off and pour bananas and sauce over good quality vanilla ice cream.
Delcious with a sweet dessert wine, a sip of rum, or just a tall glass of milk.
Oh sweet Liz! My heart pitter.pattered when I read this post. You see, I’m a Louisiana girl and certainly don’t need a reason to love you more… but you just gave out a recipe for gumbo. A really GOOD recipe for gumbo. You totally took a pic of the roux mid.frantic.stir. You had me at fresh.shucked… *sigh*
When I saw that you were going to ‘go there’ I prepared myself for a ‘good effort’ but nothing more… But you nailed it.
Come back and visit Nola. We miss you. How long can you stay away from chargrilled oysters? I mean, really? xo
I never had Gumbo …… this recipe is really tempting! Not sure I where I can buy okra though.
That looks so good! It’s funny, I never make gumbo because it’s so much easier and yummier to get it here in restaurants, but I really should make it one day. I will say my heart broke for you just a little at the $9 per lb. frozen shrimp. We are so spoiled here in NOLA with our fresh, usually cheap seafood!
Thanks for the shout-out so to speak. I needed some love after our poor Saints got so beat up on yesterday!
Making gumbo is usually pretty daunting to me but I think I might just try this! It would totally score some major points with my husband (his bday is coming up!).
Bananas Foster rocks! Anywhere I’ve ever had it, even in Mexico!
I’ve always wanted to try gumbo. I also wanted my first taste to be a GOOD gumbo, so I waited for the right time and place. Now that I’m allergic to quinolones, an antibiotic they feed to shrimp and pork* on a very regular basis here in USA, I’m afraid I may have left my run too late.
I can find wild caught shrimp..but even certified organic pork may have eaten the antibiotic at some point in its life, so that’s a complete no go.
Hoping I’m not committing sacrilege by even contemplating this idea…but is it possible to use vegetarian versions of the sausage and bacon? Or should I just give up on the idea of doing more than smelling good gumbo at some point in the f uture?
*poultry also gets it, so turkey-based versions of the meats are out too.
Ok, just to be clear, I meant shout-out to the city not to me personally. I really have to stop commenting before caffeine!
Delicious!
Gumbo is really the only place for okra–otherwise it is either slime or fried coating. This looks like a great recipe! Couple it with hearty peasant bread baked on a stone, and it sounds perfect (especially with the bananas foster–one of my favs as well).
Oh, I get so nervous doing regional dishes! I am thrilled to pieces to have the NOLA stamp of love. Thanks, guys!
My guess on the vegetarian version, Kada, is to just stick with a more fish-based stock. There might be vegetarian andouille, but I think the two important elements of the ingredient are the fat and the spices. For the fat, I think you could use vegetable oil and before you add the flour, toast some whole garlic cloves in there with some pepper to get the flavor. Take those spices out and then start your roux. Add some cajun seasoning at the end of cooking to cover the spices from the andouille. Use those spices on your shrimp, too. Try that. Good luck!
My favorite part of this post? The several different ways you spelled bananas. Bannanas? I bet those are better than plain old bananas.
Now, I’m off to bug my husband about making me some gumbo. Or his special lentil stew. I am craving good sausage dishes for winter.
DAMN I was hoping no one noticed my little bannana probem. Sigh.
Hot damn, this makes me hungry! I love your inspiration to put the pickled okra on the gumbo!! I may have to steal that idea. I was considering making a dill garlic okra pickle myself, because its the only way I like to eat okra. Did your frozen okra get slimy at all?
Call me old fashioned, but Rick’s Picks are so expensive! I can’t bring myself to spend $6 or more on a single jar of pickles, especially when I know how easy they are to make. All you need is vinegar, salt, seasonings (like fresh garlic, red pepper flakes or chipotle peppers), water, veggie and a fridge.
I just pickled & canned my own beets, garlic dill brussels sprouts, and apple cranberry chutney. Then again, this is why my husband thinks I am a 70 yr. old woman trapped inside the body of a 28 yr old. So I like to can for FUN. And the occasional 4:30 dinner. No biggie, right?
Leena! — yes, I felt terrible about the amount I spent on the Smokra, no doubt. But? – SO. FREAKING. GOOD. I woud love to jar and can, and maybe some day I will. Post about it! I’ll read!
I did not find the frozen okra to be slimy, but I happen to really love okra so I wouldn’t have noticed.
Leena- Do not feel bad! I also enjoy canning, for fun. On top of that, my favorite thing to do is make homemade pasta. And bake. And scrapbook. I am a 70 year old Italian woman trapped in a 29 year old Native American woman’s body!
Liz- Thank you for the NOLA post. I loved NOLA before Katrina, but I have gone down there every year AK to help in one form or another. I love the town and the people more and more each time. In fact, recently I have been dreaming (yes, dreaming, literally) about taking my hubby down there this year (5 year anniversary of Katrina), since he has NEVER been! Ah… the roadtrip is fabulous from here: Memphis, Clarksville, Natchez Trace, even some stops at Poverty Point, Vicksburg, etc. We could make one heck of a trip out of it!
Now I am hungry. Not for Gumbo. Jambalaya…
Sarah-Thank you from NOLA, you’ll never know how much it means to have people still coming down to help!
cbs- You do not understand how much it means for me to come down and help. NOLA has changed my life.
I have a Gumbo recipe from a friend who learned to cook at the hands of an old Creole woman in NOLA–it’s a lot like yours! As he put it, “Everything that touches the roux is golden”.
I am a bit choked up after reading this. You are an amazing women and have amazing friends and family. I wish you the very best of everything in 2010 and will continue to follow your journey with interest.