Creole Style Gumbo Recipes

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!)

CREOLE GUMBO

Steps:

• Boil chicken breasts and thighs with onion and bell pepper in a large pot of salted water, for about 40 minutes or until cooked through and no longer pink inside. Drain, debone chicken and set aside.
• In a large saucepan stir together flour and butter over low heat to make a roux; add boiled chicken, sausage and water and bring all to a boil. Cover saucepan and simmer over low heat for about 1 1/2 hours.
• Add shrimp and simmer for about 1 more hour, then add seasoning to taste and serve.

GUMBO STYLE CHICKEN CREOLE

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat. Stir in flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes or until mixture is the color of a copper penny. Reduce heat to low and stir in bell pepper and onion. Cook 10 to 15 minutes, or until tender, stirring occasionally.
• Add chicken, tomatoes with green chile peppers, mushrooms, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, soy sauce, sugar, salt, pepper and hot sauce. Stir together, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add chicken broth or water if mixture is too thick for your liking.

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.

AUTHENTIC CAJUN GUMBO

Steps:

• Place the first 11 ingredients in a stockpot; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1-1/2 hours., Remove chicken and allow to cool. Strain broth, discarding vegetables; skim fat. Remove meat from bones; cut chicken into bite-size pieces and set aside. Discard bones., In the same pan, cook and stir oil and flour over medium heat until caramel-colored, about 14 minutes (do not burn). Add finely chopped onion; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Gradually stir in broth. Bring to a boil., Carefully stir in sausage and reserved chicken. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Stir in okra and oysters. Simmer, uncovered, 10-15 minutes longer or just until okra is tender. Stir in file powder. Serve with rice.

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.

MRS. ELIE'S CREOLE GUMBO

Steps:

• Clean the crabs by removing the lungs, heart, and glands so that only the parts of the shell containing meat, including legs, swimmers, and claws, remain. Refrigerate the meaty parts and transfer the discarded parts into a 6 or 8-quart stockpot to which you also add the shrimp heads, shells and 5 quarts of water, then bring to a boil and leave to simmer for 30 minutes. When done, remove from heat.
• In a skillet cook the sausages in batches, turn them occasionally until they are slightly brown, and most of the fat has rendered. Before each new batch of sausage remove the excess fat from the skillet. Place the cooked sausage aside on a plate lined with a paper towel in order they drain. Once you finish with cooking of all the sausage, wipe all the excess oil from the skillet but do not remove any bits of sausage stuck to the bottom of the skillet.
• Next, heat in the skillet 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium heat and add to it okra. Cook okra on medium heat for 45 minutes while frequently stirring until slightly brown and dried.
• While the okra is cooking, to make the roux, heat ½ cup of vegetable oil in a 12-quart stockpot over medium heat. When hot, add to it ½ cup of flour slowly tablespoon by tablespoon while constantly stirring until all the flour has been added and the roux becomes medium brown, at about 10-15 minutes.
• Add the onions to the roux while constantly stirring until they have softened, then add the garlic, celery, parsley, green onions and bell pepper.
• Filter the seafood stock to a large stockpot, then add the browned sausage and bay leaves. Cook over medium-high heat until boiling, then reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking. Add to it the cooked okra, then cook for another 60 minutes. Proceed by adding the crab and shrimp that you've set aside and cook for 15 minutes more.
• Remove from heat and stir in the Creole seasoning and file powder, then leave to rest for 15-20 minutes. As gumbo cools oil forms on top that needs to be skimmed off with a ladle or a large spoon and discarded.
• Stir in the crab meat and then check the taste; if need be, add more salt and pepper. To serve, ladle gumbo over steamed rice.

CREOLE GUMBO WITH CORNBREAD

Steps:

• To make the gumbo, heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat and add the chicken and sausage. Brown on all sides, remove and set aside.
• Heat a little more oil if needed in the pan and add the onion, celery and pepper. Fry for 5-10 minutes, stirring regularly until softened. Add the garlic, Cajun seasoning and thyme and stir continuously for about 20 seconds or so, until aromatic.
• Return the chicken, sausage and any juices back to the pan. Add the flour and stir to coat all of the ingredients. Add the stock (you will only need half of it if you don't include the okra), tomatoes and okra, if using, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer with the lid on for 15-20 minutes until cooked. Season with salt and pepper. Add the prawns (do not add prawns now if you are freezing the gumbo, see tip) and cook for a few minutes until they are pink and just cooked.
• To make the cornbread, preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6 and grease two 6-hole muffin tins or one 12-hole muffin tin with a little melted butter.
• Heat about a tablespoon of the butter in a small frying pan. When it starts to foam, add the spring onions, sweetcorn and chilli and fry for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until the sweetcorn is golden.
• In a small bowl, mix together the polenta, flour, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, whisk the soured cream with the eggs, milk and remaining melted butter until smooth. Fold the dry polenta mixture into the soured cream mixture until you have a smooth batter and then stir in the sweetcorn mixture until evenly mixed. Divide the mixture between the holes in the muffin tins and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until golden and cooked through.
• Garnish the gumbo with the amaranth and spring onions and serve with the lime wedges and muffins alongside. Store any leftover cornbread in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

NEW ORLEANS CREOLE GUMBO

Steps:

• Melt 2 ounces of margarine in a large soup pot. Add chicken and saute until cooked half way. Add sausage and vegetables and cook until vegerables are tender. Add chicken broth and seasonings and bring to a simmer. Make a black roux in a seperate pan. Heat butter very hot and add flour. Turn heat down to medium. Stir frequently until roux beomes very dark, almost black in color but not burnt. (This takes practice) Slowly alternate soup into roux and roux into soup whipping until thickened and smooth. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add shrimp and okra. Simmer until shrimp is cooked about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Dissolve Gumbo file powder in water. Slowly stir into soup. Serve plain or with white rice

CREOLE GUMBO

Steps:

• Cook onion and garlic in butter until onion is tender.
• Stir in flour.
• Cook, stirring constantly until flour is browned.
• Stir in the tomatoes, water, green pepper, bay leaves, oregano, thyme, salt and hot sauce.
• Bring to boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.
• Remove bay leaves.
• Stir in the okra.
• Bring to boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Stir shrimp and crab meat into okra mixture.
• Cook about 5 minutes longer or until heated through.
• Serve gumbo over hot rice.
• (Traditionally, rice is mounded in heated soup plates and the gumbo is spooned around it).

SLOW COOKER GUMBO

Steps:

• Optional: Make a roux using the optional butter and flour. On the stovetop add the butter to a skillet over medium heat. Once melted and starting to bubble add the flour to the butter. Whisk to combine and continue to whisk until the mixture becomes a dark brown color about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat, set aside until you are ready to add the the crockpot.
• Add the diced red bell pepper, onion, celery, diced tomatoes, chicken thighs, sliced andouille, cajun seasoning, salt, thyme, broth, minced garlic, and if you are using it the optional roux from step one. Do NOT add the shrimp yet.
• Stir to combine and cook on LOW 6-7 hours or HIGH 3-4 hours.
• During the last 15 minutes of cooking stir in the shrimp. I recommend leaving the shells on for maximum flavor but it isn't absolutely necessary. Once the shrimp is pink and no longer translucent the gumbo is ready to eat. Serve over a bed of rice.

GUMBO STYLE CHICKEN CREOLE

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat.
• Stir in flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes or until mixture is the color of a copper penny.
• Reduce heat to low and stir in bell pepper and onion.
• Cook 10 to 15 minutes, or until tender, stirring occasionally.
• Add chicken, tomatoes with green chile peppers, mushrooms, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, soy sauce, sugar, salt, pepper and hot sauce.
• Stir together, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.