Looking for a festive dish, one that steals the show without being too heavy? Consider gumbo. This Creole Shrimp and Andouille Gumbo with Rice is a huge pot of deliciousness that can be partially prepared ahead, which makes gumbo ideal for entertaining.
Gumbo embraces many fine ingredients. In this version, shrimp, crab and andouille sausage are star players. (If there is time, order some andouille from a butcher in Louisianna.) Okra another essential ingredient and frozen is available year round. Oysters and their liquor make a nice addition if you and your guests enjoy them.
Many creole and Cajun recipes rely on a bold spice mixture for flavor. It tends to be heavy on garlic, thyme, paprika and salt. Make a batch from this recipe but add only half to start. Your taste may prefer something less salty.
As important is the Holy Trinity, chopped onions, green peppers and celery used to flavor the all-important roux.
Ask anyone and they will tell you that the secret to great gumbo is the roux. That is the cooked slurry of flour and oil that simmers on the stove until golden and burnished like molten lava. (While roux is commonly used as a thickener for sauces, in gumbo it stars as a flavor booster.
Making the roux is time consuming but easy.
Steps for Making a Dark Roux
I prefer a dark roux for the flavor it imparts, but you can stop cooking earlier for a lighter taste. The sequence of photos posted here represent 5 minutes from smoking oil to adding the vegetables to the roux. Here is the process:
1 Heat the oil in a heavy skillet that is deep enough to hold all the ingredients. Give yourself enough room because the oil bubbles and spurts as the mixture cooks. It’s easy to get burned.
2 Once the oil starts to visibly smoke, add the flour and start whisking continuously.
3 As the mixture cooks it will go from pale, to warm to toasty.
The roux will develop a deep aroma as the flour cooks and browns.
Finally the roux obtains a rich color almost like melted milk chocolate.
4 Add the vegetables, which will sizzle and soften in the hot oil mixture the moment they hit the pan.
As the vegetables cook in the roux, it darkens further.
5 Stir in the garlic using a wooden spoon, letting it cook only for a minute to release its fragrance before it burns.
6 Gradually add some hot stock and let the gumbo base simmer as its rich flavor emerge.
Here is the gumbo base after simmering with andouille , tomato and okra.
Here is the finished dish served with rice and cornbread, the way I like it best.
Kitchen Notebook
Like many, my introduction to Creole and Cajun cooking came via legendary chef Paul Prudhomme. In the later 1980’s, we enjoyed his rich gumbo at his K–Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen in New Orleans. At that time, you waited in line outside his tiny spot sipping dirty martinis from mason jars while waiting for a seat. Once inside, we ate at communal picnic tables in a noisy dining room with a low ceiling.
I brought home taste memories of that meal and made gumbo ever since, often pairing it with sweet potato pie for dessert. Flash forward a few decades, when a friend— then US Consul General in Naples— invited me to represent the US in a chef’s competition. Contestants were tasked with creating a three-course meal representative of a region from one’s country. As a Connecticuit Yankee, New England boiled dinner didn’t seem like a good fit. Instead I settled on a distinctly Louisianan menu that used ingredients familiar in Southern Italy.
Here is what I served:
Bitter Greens and Jalapeno Cornbread
Creole Shrimp and Andouille Gumbo with a timbale of fluffy Carolina rice.
Bourbon-Spiked Pecan Pie, which drove waiters at the event crazy. They hid a couple of the pies to eat in the kitchen when they thought backs were turned.
Ingredients
2 whole bay leaves
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
2 cups coarsely chopped yellow onions
1 1/2 cups chopped seeded green bell pepper
1 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon minced garlic
5 to 6 cups fish or vegetable stock
1 pound andouille sausage cut into 1/2-inch slices
1 cup diced ripe tomato
2 cups diced okra
2 scallions, trimmed, sliced thin
1 pound peeled large shrimp
3/4 pound crabmeat
10 ounces shucked oysters and their liquor, optional
3 cups long grain rice, cooked
sprigs of parsley and sliced scallions for garnish
Directions
- Combine Seasoning Mix ingredients and set aside. Combine the chopped onions, bell pepper and celery. Set aside.
- To make the roux: Heat the oil in a flat bottom heavy-gauge saucepan until the oil is smoking, about 5 minutes over medium high heat. Gradually add the flour whisking constantly. Cook, whisking constantly until the mixture turns a dark red-brown color, about 3 to 6 minutes. (It will have the color of milk chocolate.)
- Add half of the chopped onions, bell pepper and celery, switching to a wooden spoon to stir them into the roux if necessary. Cook the vegetables in the roux for about 1 minute. Add the remaining vegetables and cook until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the seasoning, holding back some if desired and cook, stirring for about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook in 1 minute. Remove from the heat.
- Bring the stock to a boil. Whisk in the roux gradually until as much as you need is incorporated. Add the andouille, tomato and okra. Simmer for at least 30 minutes to develop flavor. (You may hold the mixture at this point for up to a day under refrigeration.)
- Add the shrimp, crabmeat, oysters, their liquor and any additional ingredients. Simmer until the seafood is cooked through.
- Mold the cooked rice on each serving place. Spoon some of the gumbo, shrimp and vegetables onto each plate. Garnish with sprigs of parsley and more sliced scallion.
