Mightyros Gumbo Recipes

GOOD NEW ORLEANS CREOLE GUMBO

Steps:

• Make a roux by whisking the flour and 3/4 cup bacon drippings together in a large, heavy saucepan over medium-low heat to form a smooth mixture. Cook the roux, whisking constantly, until it turns a rich mahogany brown color. This can take 20 to 30 minutes; watch heat carefully and whisk constantly or roux will burn. Remove from heat; continue whisking until mixture stops cooking.
• Place the celery, onion, green bell pepper, and garlic into the work bowl of a food processor, and pulse until the vegetables are very finely chopped. Stir the vegetables into the roux, and mix in the sausage. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-low heat, and cook until vegetables are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat, and set aside.
• Bring the water and beef bouillon cubes to a boil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot. Stir until the bouillon cubes dissolve, and whisk the roux mixture into the boiling water. Reduce heat to a simmer, and mix in the sugar, salt, hot pepper sauce, Cajun seasoning, bay leaves, thyme, stewed tomatoes, and tomato sauce. Simmer the soup over low heat for 1 hour; mix in 2 teaspoons of file gumbo powder at the 45-minute mark.
• Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons of bacon drippings in a skillet, and cook the okra with vinegar over medium heat for 15 minutes; remove okra with slotted spoon, and stir into the simmering gumbo. Mix in crabmeat, shrimp, and Worcestershire sauce, and simmer until flavors have blended, 45 more minutes. Just before serving, stir in 2 more teaspoons of file gumbo powder.

AUTHENTIC NEW ORLEANS STYLE GUMBO

Steps:

• Make the Roux*: In a large, heavy bottom stock pot combine flour and oil. Cook on medium-low heat, stirring constantly for 30-45 minutes. This part takes patience--when it's finished it should be as dark as chocolate and have a soft, "cookie dough" like consistency. Be careful not to let it burn! Feel free to add a little more flour or oil as needed to reach this consistency.
• Brown the sausage. In a separate skillet on medium-high heat place the sausage slices in one layer in the pan. Brown them well on one side (2-3 minutes) and then use a fork to flip each over onto the other side to brown. Remove to a plate.
• Cook the vegetables in broth. Add 1/2 cup of the chicken broth to the hot skillet that had the sausage to deglaze the pan. Pour the broth and drippings into your large soup pot.
• Add remaining 5 1/2 cups of chicken broth. Add veggies, parsley, and roux to the pot and stir well.
• Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil for 5-7 minutes, or until the vegetables are slightly tender. (Skim off any foam that may rise to the top of the pot.) Stir in cajun seasoning, to taste.
• Add meat. Add chicken, sausage, and shrimp.
• Taste and serve. At this point taste it and add more seasonings to your liking--salt, pepper, chicken bullion paste, garlic, more Joe's stuff or more chicken broth--until you reach the perfect flavor. Serve warm over rice. (Tastes even better the next day!)

VALERIE'S VERY BEST GUMBO

Steps:

• Warm 1 cup oil over medium heat in a large Dutch oven until hot. Add the flour to the pot all at once, whisking until the consistency is uniform. Cook the roux, whisking occasionally, until it is the color of a tarnished penny, about 20 minutes. Do not let it darken any further. Carefully add the celery, bell peppers, onion, chopped scallions and garlic to the pot, working away from you as the hot roux may spatter. Stir with a wooden spoon until the onions begin to soften, about 5 minutes.
• Add enough stock to just cover the vegetables, about 1 quart, and stir to combine. The roux may separate. Add the tomatoes with their juices, andouille and smoked sausages, cayenne, bay leaves, 1 1/2 tablespoons salt, 1 tablespoon black pepper and the remaining stock, about 1 more quart. Partially cover and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a medium skillet over high heat. Add the okra and cook, stirring, until the gel dries out slightly, about 3 minutes. Add to the Dutch oven.
• Taste the gumbo for seasoning and adjust as desired. Add the chicken, cook until warmed through and serve, or simmer up to 2 hours more to concentrate the flavors, adding the chicken 20 minutes before serving.
• Sprinkle with the reserved sliced scallions and serve over rice. Serve with hot sauce and file powder if using.

GUMBO

Steps:

• In a large pot, heat the oil. Fry the okra, stirring constantly, for 10 to 12 minutes or until most of the slime disappears. Season with Essence. Add the tomatoes, onions, and celery, stirring occasionally, cook for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are wilted. Season with salt and cayenne. Add the bay leaves, thyme, garlic and water. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Add the shrimp and cook for 30 minutes. Serve with rice and garnish with green onions and Essence.
• Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container.
• Recipe from "New New Orleans Cooking", by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch. Published by William and Morrow, 1993.

CHICKEN GUMBO

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium high heat. Add the chicken and cook in batches for about 5 mins to brown all over. Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon and set aside.
• Add the onion, green pepper and celery to the pan, put on the lid and cook for 5 mins, stirring occasionally until softened a little. Stir in the garlic, spices, thyme and bay leaf and cook for 1 min until fragrant. Return the chicken and any juices to the pan with the flour, stirring to coat everything. Pour in the tomatoes and stock, and bring to the boil, cook for 5 mins, then add the okra and half the sage. Turn down to a simmer, put on the lid and cook for 10 mins. Then season and serve, scattering the rest of the sage over.

SEAFOOD GUMBO

Steps:

• Make the spice mix: Place all ingredients in a bowl and stir until combined. Set aside 2 tablespoons to add to the gumbo and reserve the rest for another use in an airtight container.
• Make the gumbo: In a heavy 4- to 5-quart pot, heat the butter and oil over medium heat. Once the butter begins to bubble slightly, add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula to form a smooth paste.
• Cook the mixture, stirring continuously, for 10 to 13 minutes to make a chocolate-colored roux. Make sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the pot to avoid burning. It is important to keep a very close eye on the roux during this step. The roux can go from a nutty color and aroma to burnt beyond repair in a matter of minutes. Lower the heat as needed.
• Immediately add the onion, garlic, celery, bell pepper and tomatoes and stir well. The vegetables will stop the roux from overcooking and burning. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables start to stick to the pan, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the dried shrimp, if using, tomato paste and 2 tablespoons spice mix and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes.
• While whisking, slowly add the stock and whisk until the stock is completely blended with the roux and vegetable mixture. Add the okra, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce and let simmer for 50 minutes over very low heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Add the lobster, crab, scallops and shrimp and simmer just until cooked through, about 10 minutes more.
• Season the gumbo to taste with salt and pepper and serve over rice.

BAYOU GUMBO

Steps:

• Mix flour and oil in 1-quart heavy saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat 5 minutes, stirring constantly; reduce heat to medium. Cook about 10 minutes, stirring constantly, until mixture turns reddish brown.
• Place flour-oil mixture in 3 1/2- to 4-quart slow cooker. Stir in remaining ingredients except rice, water and shrimp.
• Cover and cook on low heat setting 7 to 9 hours or until okra is tender.
• About 25 minutes before serving, cook rice in 3 cups water as directed on package. Meanwhile, stir shrimp into gumbo. Cover and cook on low heat setting 20 minutes. Serve gumbo over rice.

GUMBO YA-YA

Steps:

• Heat 1/2 cup of the oil an 8-quart heavy-bottomed pot over medium to medium-high heat. Coat the chicken wings with 2 tablespoons of the Creole seasoning in a large bowl. Pour 1/4 cup of the flour over the chicken and coat evenly, then slowly add additional flour as needed until all of the chicken is completely coated (see Cook's Note). Working in batches, fry the chicken wings until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer the wings to a paper towel-lined plate and set aside.
• Carefully add the remaining 1/4 cup oil to the pot and heat until smoking (there should be a thin faint white smoke coming off the oil). Whisk in the remaining 3/4 cup flour and cook, whisking continuously, over medium-high heat until it turns into a dark chocolate brown roux. If the roux is browning too quickly, remove the pot from the heat and continue whisking until the roux reaches the desired color. Turn the heat down to low and stir in the celery, onions and peppers with a wooden spoon, scraping the bottom of the pan, until the vegetables are coated with the roux, about 1 minute. Add the garlic, cayenne, bay leaves, thyme and 2 teaspoons Creole seasoning and turn up the heat to medium-high. Whisk in the chicken stock in three parts to make sure it's fully incorporated. Add the chicken wings, sausage, Worcestershire sauce and 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Creole seasoning. Stir to combine.
• Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, using a ladle to skim off any foam that rises to the top, until the gumbo is slightly reduced and thickened, about 1 hour. Stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons Creole seasoning, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Combine the green onions and parsley in a small bowl or on your cutting board.
• To serve, ladle the gumbo over bowls of cooked white rice and garnish with the green onion and parsley mixture.

MIGHTYRO'S GUMBO

Steps:

• Heat oil and flour in a Dutch oven on medium heat. Cook and stir to keep from burning until it becomes a medium brown. This takes about 30 minutes.
• Add vegetables, cook and stir about 5 minutes. Pour in tomatoes, chiles, and seasonings. Simmer for 30 minutes, add sausage and continue to simmer for 15 minutes.
• Add chicken, simmer for 10 minutes, add shrimp and scallops. Cook until shrimp is pink and scallops are opaque. Stir in okra. Serve with rice.