Gumbo

10 quarts, serves 40
This gumbo is a soup thickened with fish and other seafood. It takes a very long time to prepare.

Ingredients
1 cup flour
1 1/2 cups olive oil
1 cup chopped celery
2 large red onions (diced)
5 quarts fish stock
6 pounds fish (combination of cod, red snapper, monk fish, halibut)
12 ounces crab meat
1 quart medium oysters
1 pound medium to large shrimp
4 bay leaves, crushed
1/2 cup chopped parsley
3 large Idaho potatoes, diced
1 tablespoon ground pepper
1 tablespoon tomato paste
5 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 tablespoon tabasco sauce
1 bottle dry white wine
1 pound scallops

Steps
1. Make a roux (by adding 1 cup flour to 1 cup of boiling olive oil). Cook until dark brown. Add roux to fish stock.

2. Cook chopped celery and onion in boiling olive oil until onion is translucent. Drain and add to fish stock.

3. Add 1/3 of the fish (2 lb.), 1/3 of the crab meat, liquor from oysters, bay leaves, parsley, potatoes, black pepper, tomato paste, garlic, tabasco, and 1/4 cup olive oil. Bring to a slow boil and cook for 4 hours, stirring intermittently.

4. Add 1 quart of cold water and remove from the stove. Refrigerate for at least 12 hours, until 2 1/2 hours before serving.

5. Remove from the refrigerator, add 1/4 cup olive oil, wine, and scallops. Bring to a light boil, then simmer for 2 hours. Add the remaining fish (cut to bite size), crab meat, and water to bring total volume to 10 quarts. Simmer for 2 hours. 10 minutes later, add shrimp. Serve immediately.

See: Cajun and Gumbo

I don't know what Gumbo is. Traditionally it was an Okra based soup, however many modern day recipes don't include Ocra. I tend to consider a Gumbo any soup which is based on a roux, although it's not much of a soup and is normally served over rice. So here is my gumbo recipe. This may be a bit generic, but good gumbo is an artistic expression so you are encouraged to experiment.

• 1 cup oil
• 1 cup water
• 2 onions, fine chopped
• 2 green bell peppers, fine chopped
• 2-3 celery stalks, chopped
• garlic (I put about 10 cloves in, if you don't like garlic try around 3)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 10 cups chicken stock
• salt and cayenne pepper to taste
• cajun seasoning
• Several lbs of meat
• 2 lbs sliced Okra

Like I said, this is a bit rough... Start off with making a roux as described at that node. Be patient, this is the base of your gumbo. While that's going, in another skillet you want to brown your meat if applicable. My personal favorites are sausage, chicken, and shrimp. For the sausage, I prefer Andouille if you can get it, otherwise plain smoked sausage will work (but it doesn't have as good a flavor). The sausage should be sliced and quickly browned. For the chicken, I generally get chicken fingers from the grocery, as they cut up nicely. Season them with cajun seasoning (I like Emeril's Essense myself) and then quickly brown them, then cut into bite size strips. For shrimp or other seafood, just season it.

Okay, once your roux is done add in the peppers, celery, and onion into the roux and let it simmer for a few minutes until they start to soften up. Next, add your chicken stock and seasonings (garlic, thyme, any other seasonings you want) and bring to a simmer. Add in the chicken or sausage. Now you need a bit of strategy. You don't really want to add any seafood if until you're done cooking it. Now, if you completely cook the chicken and sausage before adding them in, give them about 30 minutes to cook and then add the seafood and cook for around 10 minutes or until the seafood is done. I generally like to throw the chicken in mostly raw after a quick browning, so this means I have to cook the mix for several hours (I generally go four hours on high in a crockpot). I think doing it this way makes the chicken and veggies much more tender and flavorful. Either way, just don't add your seafood until late or it will overcook.

This is a great thing to make ahead of time too, I think it tastes even better the next day, plus if you put it in the fridge overnight, you will be able to easily skim off any fat the next day. Serve hot over rice. Oh, and don't tell anyone it has Okra in it, everything cooks together over a long period of time, and the flavors and textures tend to merge. They'll never notice.

A healthier version of gumbo, taken from the "Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook" - but it sure doesn't taste healthy! Now I've never had real gumbo, so it may not be nearly as good as the real thing. I do think it is quite delicious though.

Ingredients:
4 Tsp margarine
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
6 scallions, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 14 1/2 oz. can crushed tomatoes
2 C low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup okra, trimmed and sliced
1/2 Tsp. dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1/8-1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper (to taste)
1/2 C regular long-grain rice
1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 lb boneless chicken breast, cut into 1/2" pieces
One 2" piece kielbasa, sliced

Directions: In a large non-stick skillet, melt the margarine. Saute the bell pepper, celery, scallions, and garlic until softened, about 5 minutes.

Stir in tomatoes, broth, okra, thyme, bay leaf, and cayenne; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer, 15 minutes.

Stir in the rice and simmer, covered, for 15 more minutes.

Add the shrimp, chicken, and kielbasa; simmer, covered, until the shrimp and chicken are cooked thoroughly. Remove the bay leaf.

Now, we've always done more garlic than it calls for (usually 3-4 cloves), but then again, we really have a thing for garlic. We've also left out the celery, neither of us is a big fan of it.

We have also made it without the okra. Yes, I can hear you say "you can't make gumbo without okra!" Well, it's still tasty, but it is definately much better with the okra, I wouldn't recommend leaving it out.

I would love to see someone comment on how this compares to real gumbo.

Vegan Gumbo

I've been to New Orleans, Louisiana and I've had real gumbo. Many times. The hardest thing about making "real" seafood gumbo vegan is that there aren't currently any decent meatless analogues for shellfish, such as shrimp, crawfish or scallops. I know of some meatless substitutes for shrimp that can be found in markets that specialize in Chinese cuisine, but these are merely cosmetic substitutions — they have absolutely no flavor to them. I've tried adding them to this recipe but it didn't impart anything to the flavor, so it didn't seem worthwhile. One time I tried adding white hominy corn to the recipe to represent the missing shellfish, and that was interesting but not really worth repeating. Fake crab is a thing, but it's pretty nasty. Various vegan substitutes for fish are widely available, but to my knowledge these are all breaded cutlets that are meant to stand in for dishes like fish and chips, and are not readily suitable for stews or or other types of preparation. Alas, there really is no such thing as vegan seafood gumbo. At least, not yet.

However, just like there are many different ways to make spaghetti (or at least a lot of pasta-with-red-sauce recipes that could be called that name, lacking any better term), there are many ways to make gumbo. The most essential ingredients are the roux and the okra. I don't care who you ask, if it ain't got those two things, it ain't gumbo. Anyway, the following recipe is one I adapted from several different others I've used prior to eschewing animal products from my diet many decades ago.

I prefer to shortcut on the roux using an easily sourced brand (in the US anyway) of roux mix, but if you want to make your own from scratch, have fun. Where I come from, roux is made with beer. Any old domestic pilsner will do, no need to go wasting good microbrew in a recipe. When made from scratch, the term "One Beer Roux" has a dual meaning: You add one to the roux, and the amount of time it take to make it is roughly equivalent to the time it takes the average person to drink one beer. So a bit of Julia Child, if you will: one for the dish, one for the cook.

Beer-based Roux

1 cup Tony Chachere's instant roux mix
1 12 oz. beer
4 oz. water, or more to thin roux as needed
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
¼ tsp. liquid smoke (a few drops is generally sufficient)

Ingredients

½ cup vegetable oil (evoo or something neutral like safflower is best)
2 cups celery, chopped (4-6 stalks)
2 cups large red onion, diced
2 cups bell pepper, cut into strips
2 lb. cut okra, fresh or frozen
5 cloves garlic, diced
28 oz. crushed tomatoes (one large or two small cans)
2 medium fresh tomatoes, cubed
3-4 medium potatoes, diced (Russet, Yukon, new, red — whichever you have on hand is fine)
1 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 lb. black-eyed peas, cooked (approximately 1 cup when dry)
½ loaf Field Roast®, diced (8 oz.) or seitan sausage, crumbled
1 cup Soy curls, dry - reconstitute using...
2 cups vegetable stock (imitation chicken flavor if possible)
1 tbsp. Louisiana Hot Sauce, or to taste
4 whole bay leaves, or 1 tsp. ground bay leaf
1 tsp. gumbo filé
1 tsp. Rendezvous dry rub (or generic "cajun" seasoning)
1 tsp. poultry seasoning
2 tsp. fresh ground pepper

Method

1. Make a roux in a small sauce pan as per instructions on the roux mix container, or in the absence of roux mix, gradually whisk 1 cup of flour into 1 cup of boiling olive oil and cook until dark brown, or use your favorite roux recipe. Set aside. It will thicken as it cools and you can use the beer to thin it as needed.
2. Microwave cubed potatoes on high for 5-6 minutes to pre-cook. Set aside.
3. Heat oil in cast iron Dutch oven (6 qt. minimum, 8 qt. is better). Add okra, coating thoroughly with oil. Cover and cook slowly on medium heat until okra is tender. Remove okra with slotted spoon and set aside, leaving remaining oil.
4. Add celery, onion and bell pepper to oil and sauté until soft. (You may need to add a bit more oil depending upon how much was transferred to the okra.) Add garlic and simmer three minutes more. Add roux and tomatoes, mixing until well blended. Add okra reserved from previous step.
5. Add soy curls with remaining stock, potatoes, peas, parsley, fake meat and spices. Mix gently until all ingredients are evenly distributed in the pot. Bring to a slow boil and reduce heat, simmering for one hour and stirring periodically. Add water or beer to thin as necessary, and salt to taste.

Serve over steamed long grain rice, with fresh garlic bread. You will need to make two dry cups of rice minimum, but three is better if your rice cooker is big enough. Depending upon how much rice you make and what ratio of rice to gumbo you opt for when dishing it up, this recipe will typically make between eight and twelve servings.

There's a man in a southern town who makes gumbo every day.
He wakes and washes, takes the bus to the store he works in.
He spends the day adding to what he added to the day before.
All day long he does this and the gumbo never varies.

It did vary at the start, whenever the supermarket decided,
or a member of the middle management of the supermarket decided,
that amongst the prepared soups they would henceforth offer their customers gumbo.

He reminds us a little of the train conductors E. B. White wrote of.
The men for whom there is a modest celebration when they hang up their whistle
after thirty or forty years of going up and back on the local line.
He makes us think of all this journey without real travel.

The man in the southern town has read E. B. White,
or at least the collection 'One Man's Meat'
wherein Mr. White comments upon the singularity
that attends these train people as regards their customers
feeling a certain sentimental attachment to them that
by and large, most folks hearts don't conjure when the butcher
decides to hang up his knives or a local lawncare specialist
puts down his scythe for the last time.

He didn't recognize himself in the piece, nor do most of us perhaps,
but then in the main we have little personal connection
with the sanctity of train schedules (or the making up
of gumbo by the monstrous daily gallon).

It must be said that if the store decided one day
to stop offering their customers the option of gumbo to purchase
there would be an outcry and perhaps discussions of boycotting
the place altogether, but this will never happen.

The gumbo is prodigious in its popularity and a pretty profit
is made by it directly and by all the other purchases that people make
because of coming to the store in the first place because of the gumbo in question.

However, if the man who makes it each day,
following the same steps pretty much exactly,
because that's the gumbo the way that people like it,
was replaced (as this man indeed once replaced another man
who was the previous in the line of men who have made the gumbo)
no one -save his wife at best- would spare a thought for him
or wonder absently to other shoppers all waiting patiently at the deli counter
whether shouldn’t there really be a gathering of some kind
or even a ceremony of appreciation (if that isn't, on second thoughts,
perhaps going a little too far).

Gum"bo (?), n. [Written aalso gombo.]

1.

A soup thickened with the mucilaginous pods of the okra; okra soup.

2.

The okra plant or its pods.

© Webster 1913.