Seafood Gumbo

Another recipe from our quarantine kitchen time that y’all loooved watching— I had friends reply to the Insta Stories from this cook time that I couldn’t believe were interested in a full seafood serving!

Mom and I have been grocery shopping quite strategically, to say the least. We get in line for Central Market with a laser focused list, and have very much improved on only buying what we need for the next week of cooking *pats self on the back*. When we started getting bored with our menu brainstorming and the beginning of April was wildly cold, I reminded her that she’s been talking about fixing gumbo for probably 2+ years (no joke). No time like the present!

We used this recipe from Paul Prudhomme, and just like I did with the homemade cinnamon roll recipe, I added a few notes alongside it based on what we did differently / would do differently next time.

We garnered the approval of a few real, verified Louisianans, in case you care about that sort of thing. Bon Appetit!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups chopped onions (Dallas folks – my favorite is to grab the prechopped from Central Market for the onions, celery, etc.)
• 1 1/2 cups chopped green bell peppers
• 1 cups chopped celery
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (we actually didn’t have dried thyme or oregano so we used fresh at the following ratio: 1 tbsp of fresh herbs for every 1 tsp of dried herbs)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon minced or pressed garlic (we always use fresh minced from Central Market)
• 5 1/2 cups seafood stock
• 1 pound andouille, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (if you watched in stories, you saw me have a hard time cutting the raw sausage like this! use a serrated knife)
• 1 pound peeled medium shrimp (raw before going into the soup)
• 9 ounces medium-large oysters in their liquor (about a dozen)
• 3/4 pound crab meat (picked over)
• 2 1/2 cups hot cooked rice (we used jasmine rice)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine onions, bell peppers, and celery in a medium-size bowl and set aside. In a small bowl combine next 7 ingredients for seasoning; mix well and set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet (we used a Le Creuset Dutch Oven instead) over high heat until it starts to smoke, about 5 minutes.
   • For next time we would probably do a 1:1 oil to butter ratio versus all oil. We might also add a bit more flour, maybe up to a 1/4 cup max (in step 3), because our roux did not get quite as thick as we were expecting.
3. Gradually add the flour, whisking constantly with a metal whisk. Continue cooking and whisking until roux is dark red-brown to black, 2-4 minutes.
4. Immediately add half the vegetable mirepoix (new word for us!) and stir well, switching to a spoon if necessary, 1 minute.
5. Add the remaining vegetables, continuing to stir, about 2 minutes. Add the seasoning mix and continue to cook, about 2 minutes.
6. Add garlic, stirring well for another minute. Remove from heat.
7. Place the stock in a 5 1/2-qt saucepan or Dutch oven and bring to boil. Add roux mixture by spoonfuls, stirring until dissolved in between each addition. Bring back to boil.
8. Add andouille and return to boil again; continue boiling for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.
9. Add the shrimp, undrained oysters, and crab meat. Return to boil, stirring occasionally.
10. Remove from heat, skim oil from surface, and serve over rice.

It seems like a lot of add, reboil, simmer, add, reboil, simmer, but that’s how all those intense flavors cook meld together so let it work for you! A few of the 10-minute increments we just went ~7 minutes, so its flexible. And don’t forget— all gumbo is better the next day!

—M