Big Daddys Louisiana Gumbo Recipes

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.

Steps:

• Make a roux by melting the butter in a small sauce pan over low heat and gradually sprinkling in the flour and immediately start stirring constantly until it reaches a nice golden brown color. This may take 10- 20 minutes. Remove from heat and continue stirring until cool. If black specks appear it is burned and you will have to start over.
• Add onions, celery and peppers and roux to a large pot over medium heat and saute until the vegetables are tender.
• Add in water, rice, tomatoes, okras, seasonings, Worcestershire sauce and tomato sauce.
• Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Add fish, raw shrimp and crawfish.
• Add more seasonings if needed.
• Continue cooking for an additional 10 - 20 minutes.
• Add the mussels and simmer an additional 5 minutes, once the mussels open, they are ready.
• The longer this cooks the better it tastes.

Steps:

• Place the chicken and water in a Dutch oven; bring to a boil. Skim fat. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 30-45 minutes or until chicken is tender. , Remove chicken; cool. Reserve 6 cups broth. Remove chicken from bones; cut into bite-size pieces. , In a Dutch oven or soup kettle, mix flour and oil until smooth; cook and stir over medium-low heat until browned, 2-3 minutes. Stir in the onions, peppers, celery and garlic; cook for 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in the sausage, ham and reserved broth and chicken; cover and simmer for 45 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. , Add the shrimp, okra, beans, salt, pepper and hot pepper sauce; cover and simmer 10 minutes longer or until shrimp turn pink.

Steps:

• 1. Cook chicken, sausage, vegetables (except okra), and seasonings with enough water to cover for one hour.
• 2. Add remaining ingredients, except frozen okra and cook an additional 30 minutes.
• 3. Make roux* of flour & shortening and add to gumbo.
• 4. Add okra and cook additional 5 minutes.
• 5. Serve with white rice.

Steps:

• Cut all chicken pieces in half except for the legs. Season to taste with garlic powder, seasoning salt and dust with 1/2 cup of flour.
• reserving remaining flour for making the roux. Heat butter and 1/4 cup lard in a large stock pot or dutch oven.
• Add chicken to the pot a few pieces at a time and cook until browned , about 10 minute each side.
• Remove from pan and set aside.
• Before starting the roux put your chicken stock into a pan and start to heat it up, you will want it warm to hot before putting it in the recipe.
• (The Roux).
• Add remaining lard to pan (see notes) and heat to smoking (about 5 minute or so), stirring with wire whisk constantly.
• to scrape up brown bits in the bottom of the pan. Carefully whisk in remaining flour and continue to cook and stir.
• over medium heat until mixture becomes brick red color in nature, about 20 minutes. Be careful to not let the mixture cook too fast or.
• let spatter on skin (southern napalm) as it is extremely hot and scorches easily.
• (The Hard Part is almost Over).
• Reduce heat to low, stir in onion, celery and green pepper, garlic, sausage, peppers, oregano, thyme, parsley and salt.
• Cook for 5 minutes or so until the veggies are soft but not brown.
• Gradually whisk in hot stock a few cups at a time until all the stock is in the pot.
• Return the chicken to the pan and bring the mixture to a boil over high heat.
• Reduce the mixture to medium or medium high and simmer covered for about 40 to 45 minutes.
• Add shrimp and simmer 5 minutes longer.
• Serve over hot cooked rice and if desired minced parsley and file powder.
• Put out a bottle of hot sauce for those who like a little more heat.
• Notes.
• 1) You can substitute any cooking oil for the lard in browning the chicken and in making the roux.
• Just remember in making the roux it is equal parts of flour to oil or lard.
• 2) You need to be patient in making the roux, if you burn it at all, just throw it away and begin again. I find if the roux is getting too hot remove the pan from the heat for a short period of time but always remember to keep stirring, that point can't be stressed enough.
• Creole cooks have been known to cook their roux for and hour or more depending on the consistency and the color of the roux that they wanted. For extra rich color and flavor cook and stir the roux
• over medium low heat for 45 minutes to an hour but keep stirring.
• 3) This is a big pot, lots of room , if you like more shrimp add more
• I have added split crab claws to the gumbo at the same time the shrimp is added.
• Enjoy and.
• Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez.

Steps:

• In a large (I mean large) stockpot boil chicken (completely covered by 2 inches of water), chopped okra, celery, sage, bouillon, oregano, black pepper until chicken is done. Remove chicken and set aside to cool, leave the stock in the pot. When cool debone the chicken and shred the meat. Set aside for now.
• Crumble sausage and fry in a skillet. Remove sausage and set aside. Reserve 1/2 cup of the drippings. Add flour and make a very dark roux (dark brown). Add the sausage and roux to the chicken broth and let simmer 10 minutes.
• Chop bell peppers and cayennes at this time. Add to pot and let simmer 10 minutes.
• Add shrimp, clam juice, crawfish tails to the pot and let simmer 15 minutes.
• Add the chicken and gumbo file to the pot and bring to a boil.
• I like to let this gumbo rest for a few hours and then reheat it before serving. Serve over rice with crackers and Louisiana hot sauce.
• This gumbo only gets better the next day. It freezes well to make a quick simple meal anytime.