Gumbo and Gandules

Mary's Chicken and sausage gumbo

The first time I made gumbo, the product was 15 gallons for a benefit cook-off.  My work plan included roasting 5 chickens, making stock, and roux at home.   We chopped on site and cooked in a 20-gallon stockpot over a portable gas burner – the wooden stirring spoon was 3 feet long.  This particular incarnation involved sausage, crawfish, and altar wine.  A Catholic priest of Louisiana origins was on our team…  People’s choice award!!  Not bad for the first time out.

However, I don’t recommend this scale as a rule.   These days, I make about a gallon at a time, with some efficient shortcuts.  My favorite remains a dark roux-based chicken and sausage gumbo with okra.  Seafood rarely makes an appearance.  While I’ve tried file for thickening, the taste is not my favorite, so I stick to a roux/okra combination to do that job.  For a terrific history of gumbo’s origins and the introduction of okra, filé or roux as thickeners, see Robert Moss’s article on the topic at Serious Eats.

My current recipe:

¾ cup flour

¾ cup vegetable oil

1 green pepper

1-2 large yellow onions

1 or 1½ cup celery

1-2 Tbsp. garlic

1 lb. Conecuh spicy hickory smoked sausage

~ 1-2 Tbsp. of Emeril’s Essence

2 quarts chicken broth

3 cups chopped okra

1 cooked rotisserie chicken

It’s best to do the chopping prep work in advance.  Chop the green pepper, onions, celery and garlic.  Then chop the sausage and the chicken stripped from the rotisserie bird.  Cover the sausage and chicken and refrigerate separately until needed. 

To begin the roux, stir together the flour and oil in a large, heavy pot – you want the mixture to thinly coat the bottom of the pot.  Cooking the roux can be quick, but you need to guard against burning.  I have a gas range with a hood vent, and use an enameled cast iron pot and a straight-edged spatula.  From start to finish, this roux takes about 12 min on medium-high heat, with constant stirring.  If you are cautious, turn down the heat – the roux will take a lot longer, but the chance of burning will decrease.  Regardless, the stages of roux development are shown below. 

If the roux burns, you should discard and try again, as the burned roux results in a gumbo with burnt taste.  When the roux reaches the color intensity you prefer, add all the chopped vegetables, turn down the heat and add the chopped garlic (I purchase jarred chopped garlic for this purpose).  Stir frequently.  Burning is still a risk until the vegetables have softened.  When the vegetables have softened well, add the sausage and seasonings and stir.  After the sausage has heated through, add the chicken broth (I use low salt broth in a box).  Stir to make sure the roux is incorporated. 

Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 1 hr.  Skim off the excess oil, then add the okra (I use frozen chopped okra for year round access).   When the okra is cooked down, add the chopped chicken.  Taste and adjust seasonings.  Gumbo is often served with rice, though I typically serve as is. 

Gumbo is basically a stew, so ad lib to your taste.  I like onion/garlic more than green pepper and tend to not add additional salt other than that in the spice mix.  If you don’t have access to Conecuh sausage, Andouille or other smoked sausage would work as well.  Similarly, instead of the Emeril’s seasoning, you can make your own mix of paprika, cayenne, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, oregano and thyme to taste. 

The recipe is scalable – if you make less, cut back on the roux but maintain proportions of equal amounts flour and oil.  Alternatively, make a large batch of roux and keep the remainder in the refrigerator (for a week or two).  Like most stews and soups, this gumbo improves with time and reheating.  It also freezes well.

Enjoy!

 

Meg’s Response

Mary – I always thought that Gumbo was a seafood dish and was prepared to offer a very simple and delicious dish of warm Dungenous crab with a dipping sauce of butter and lemon.  After reading your recipe (I cannot imagine 15 gallons of anything short of filling the gas tank of our van) I came up with a simplified version of Caribbean Arroz con Pollo (Chicken and Rice) with a story about how the Hubs grandmother made the dish for a family gathering using one chicken but increased the amount of rice depending on the number of those gathered (about 15).  But it didn’t seem special enough. So I looked at the ingredients of gumbo and thought since few people north of the Mason Dixon line eat okra (although we can get it frozen all year long here) I decided to share a recipe for Arroz con Gandules (Rice with Pigeon Peas).  It is the national rice and bean dish of Puerto Rico.  A quick search on the internet didn’t come up with other dishes using Pigeon Peas which is surprising because I find canned and dried Pigeon Peas in our local grocery stores out here in the Wild West where there are few Puerto Ricans… I have offered substitute ingredients to simplify the recipe.

Arroz con Gandules

Serves 4

Recaito – make ahead and add as instructed)

½ medium yellow onion, diced

1 Italian (yellow) pepper, seeded and diced (use a low-heat chili)

2 garlic cloves, peeled

2 TBSP cilantro leaves

1 TBSP vegetable oil

Blend all the ingredients in a blender or food processor.

2 TBSP annatto oil (oil heated with achiote seeds) substitute vegetable oil

¼ cup sliced Spanish sausage (do not use Mexican chorizo) or any smoked sausage

¼ cup diced smoked ham

1 small ham hock (optional)

Recaito (see above)

1 cup tomato sauce

1 can gandules (pigeon peas), drained or 1 14 oz bag frozen

2 cups long grain white rice

3 cups water

¼ cup green olives stuffed with red peppers

1 TBSP capers

1 tsp salt

In a large lidded pot, heat the oil.  Add the sausage and smoked ham and fry lightly.  Add the recaito, gandules and tomato sauce. Mix well and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes.  Add rice and stir to blend with the ingredients.  Add the water, ham hock, olives, capers and salt.  Stir and bring to a boil.  Lower heat to low and cover the pot.  Cook until rice is tender – about 30 to 45 minutes