Seafood Gumbo

About: first try

Well practice makes perfect ... well almost. I followed the big oven recipe and this time i didn't leave out the okra. It was thicker too, perhaps i used too much flower, but it was really really good and brought praise from my better half. I still didn't have cyan peppers ... let me know where you find those ... used 2 fresh Jalapenos and cyan powder instead. It was served over Basmati rice boiled in chicken stock. Only other variations was that i added the juice of a small lemon and a teaspoon of sugar ... am addicted to that sweet-sour lick. I made the fish stock the same way as last time. It was thickening too fast so i ended up adding an extra quart of chicken stock, otherwise it would have been way too thick ... did i confuse a cup for a half cup of flower ... hmmm ?

Oh and i used Philippine Longanisa instead of the recommended andoullie sausage and Louisiana Crystal instead of Mad Dog ... nbd.

I am definitely thinking of adding this to my on the menu.

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Seth says

C 2011-02-18 15:22:20 14987

HOW TO MAKE ROUX

(Flour and butter or oil is 1 to 1 ratio.) Melt ... dispose of the Roux and start over. ... and stock to make various sauces and gravies. Pronounced "Roo"

... fat & grease same ratio. Okra thickens, File powder also thickens as well as tomato paste. It's all a delicate balancing act. I've been making Gumbo for several years & it's one of my favorites all times of the year. Too bad I don't live up near where you live with the seafood fresh.

Actually the instructions for making the roux over at big oven was quite unique in my experience ...

source: bigoven.com

1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup all-purpose flour

In a large heavy stock pot, heat oil over moderately high heat. Reduce heat to medium and whisk in flour. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until it's dark brown with an intensely nutty aroma. This can take a while. If you see black specks it is burned and you have to start again.

... and yes it does get very brown. But this got thicker and thicker before i even added any okra. In the end i had added a whole quart of stock but i was quite satisfied with the final thickness. But next time i think i'll defenitely cut down the amount of flower.

Yeah, you should come up here to Washington and we can have a gumbo smackdown !

Seth says

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Do it again we like it

. This time i used just chicken stock with some added fish sauce. Fish as shrimp and some talapi with Louisana hot links and fresh okaa. Basically i used the same Big Oven recipe but i always seem to add stock at the last minute to thin it out.

The Red Lobster biscuits are pretty much plug in and grind out; but this time i didn't even blend in the butter with the flour ... i just cut it in 1/8 cubes and threw it in ... then added the milk and cheese and then got in there with my hands.

C says

Is this the cyan powder you used?

(*)

Seth says

, no, it was this one, featured here front and center on my pepper shelf. I'm always amazed how little you need to get that characteristic scratch in the throat ... really just a light sprinkle in a dish ... a hint. I don't even remember when i bought that bottle ... and i expect it to last out the year ... or more.

Seth says

zoom to album The picture was uploaded to Picassa automatically ... didn't even need to plub in my camera. Only thing i did was to go to my private upload album, crop a bit, caption, then save to my current cooking album.

... didn't have any shrimp or crab but had some frozen chicken brests. It made a delicious Chicken Gumbo. This time i used Jasmine rice, that worked too; but i would like to try white Basmati next time if i have it.

The biscuits were baked on the stone

... better i think.

Seafood Gumbo

About: first try

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