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.”
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.















