Red Creole Crawfish 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.

CREOLE REDFISH GUMBO

Steps:

• Prepare the roux: In a large pot, heat the oil over medium-high until it's just shy of smoking. Slowly shake the flour into the oil, whisking until smooth. Reduce the heat to medium and continue whisking until the roux is a deep dark brown, 20 to 30 minutes, adjusting the heat as necessary to prevent burning.
• Using a wooden spoon, stir in the onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic. Cook another 10 minutes, stirring constantly.
• Stir in the stock. Bring to a boil and add the crabs (if using whole blue crabs), gumbo filé, bay leaves, salt, thyme, Worcestershire sauce and cayenne. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the flavors have melded, skimming off any foam or skin on the surface, about 1 hour.
• Toss the shrimp and fish with the Creole seasoning and stir into gumbo, along with the oysters and crab meat (if using). Simmer until the shrimp and fish are cooked, about 10 minutes. Add the hot sauce. Taste and season with more salt and hot sauce if necessary. Divide among soup bowls and top with rice and scallions.

SPICY RED FILE-THICKENED GUMBO WITH CRAWFISH AND ANDOUILLE

Steps:

• In a bowl blend together the crawfish seasoning mixture. Add the crawfish tails, and reserve in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours. Make the gumbo: Place the vegetable oil in a heavy skillet over high heat. When it's smoking, add the flour, about 1/3 at a time, whisking well after each addition. Cook over fairly high heat, whisking constantly, until the roux reaches a dark, reddish brown, about 10 minutes. If the roux seems about to burn (you'll start to notice a burning smell), move the pan off the heat for a few minutes continuing to whisk. When the roux is ready, add the garlic, onions, celery, bell peppers, and scallions. Place the pan over low heat, and cook the vegetables in the roux for 5 minutes. Bring the stock to a boil in a large soup pot. When the vegetables have cooked in the roux, add the roux-vegetable mixture to the boiling stock by 1/4 cupfuls, blending well. Crush the tomatoes in your hands, and add them, along with the liquid in the cans, to the soup pot. Add the bay leaves, thyme, oregano, allspice, cayenne, cloves, hot sauce and lemon juice. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for20 minutes, partially covered. Add the andouille and simmer the gumbo for another 20 minutes, partially covered. Add the seasoned crawfish tails, and simmer for 5 minutes. Off the heat, blend in the file powder, blending until the desired thickness is reached. Taste for seasoning. Serve immediately over rice. Garnish with the whole, boiled crawfish.;