Be all that as it may, we had game food tonight. First of all, we had skins, because that's what we do:
Because this was a night game, the game food represented a late dinner and thus needed to be something more dinner-like than we sometimes might have. Since we were watching -- and rooting for -- the Saints, gumbo seemed like the natural choice. So gumbo it was. The benefit to you, dear reader, is that I am now going to share with you how to make gumbo. Lucky you, huh?
You will start with some vegetable oil, flour, 2 pounds of okra (fresh okra is expensive this time of year, so two cans of okra is acceptable), 1 large onion, 1 bell pepper, two stalks of celery, one quart of tomatoes (recipe says two cans, I use one quart of my own jarred tomatoes -- feel free to use the canned), 1 pound of shrimp, peeled and deveined, 1/4 teaspoon of thyme, 1 tablespoon of basil, 1 tablespoon of parsley, 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce, one pound of polish sausage, and two quarts of water.
I realize not everything is pictured here. It was getting crowded. Live with it.
OK, so first, slice up your kielbasa -- that's the polish sausage, people -- and brown it in your pan:
Put the sausage in some kind of container and set it aside once it is browned. Into your pan, put four tablespoons of flour and four tablespoons of vegetable oil. Mix them up right, and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly:
Keep stirring and cooking this roux until you get a nice golden color, like so:
You will now slowly add the two quarts of water:
Keep stirring as you add the water about a cup at a time. The roux-water mixture should get pretty thick at first:
By the time all the water is in, it won't be so thick, but roux is a thickener, so it will contribute to the eventual proper thickness of the gumbo. Next, you should chop up your vegetables. I used two medium onions instead of one large, so first I chopped up the celery and one of the onions:
Then I chopped up the bell pepper and one of the onions:
It adds flavor to sautee the vegetables in butter before adding to the gumbo, so I did that:
Meanwhile, add the okra to your aspiring gumbo, which right now is pretty much just roux and water:
Cook over medium heat while the vegetables sautee, then add the vegetables to the mix:
Add your seasonings, including Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning to taste. The recipe calls for salt and pepper to taste, but you should use Tony Chachere's if you want this to taste like gumbo. If you don't have Tony Chachere's, I'm not sure what's wrong with you. Anyway, also add the sausage your browned and set aside earlier, then mix it up right, cover that sucker and simmer over low to medium-low heat for about an hour:
While that's simmering, peel and devein a pound of shrimp. The recipe calls for 2 pounds, but I substituted a pound of kielbasa for one of the pounds of shrimp. You can do what you like. It's OK to use frozen shrimp. I won't judge you for that, since I did. I will, however, judge you for not using Tony Chachere's. What the hell is wrong with you people? If you did use Tony Chachere's, never mind. Anyway, peel the shrimp and put it into the refridgerator until I say so.
Yeah, it's pretty damn good. Bon appetit.
You will start with some vegetable oil, flour, 2 pounds of okra (fresh okra is expensive this time of year, so two cans of okra is acceptable), 1 large onion, 1 bell pepper, two stalks of celery, one quart of tomatoes (recipe says two cans, I use one quart of my own jarred tomatoes -- feel free to use the canned), 1 pound of shrimp, peeled and deveined, 1/4 teaspoon of thyme, 1 tablespoon of basil, 1 tablespoon of parsley, 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce, one pound of polish sausage, and two quarts of water.
I realize not everything is pictured here. It was getting crowded. Live with it.
OK, so first, slice up your kielbasa -- that's the polish sausage, people -- and brown it in your pan:
Put the sausage in some kind of container and set it aside once it is browned. Into your pan, put four tablespoons of flour and four tablespoons of vegetable oil. Mix them up right, and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly:
Keep stirring and cooking this roux until you get a nice golden color, like so:
Keep stirring as you add the water about a cup at a time. The roux-water mixture should get pretty thick at first:
By the time all the water is in, it won't be so thick, but roux is a thickener, so it will contribute to the eventual proper thickness of the gumbo. Next, you should chop up your vegetables. I used two medium onions instead of one large, so first I chopped up the celery and one of the onions:
Then I chopped up the bell pepper and one of the onions:
It adds flavor to sautee the vegetables in butter before adding to the gumbo, so I did that:
Meanwhile, add the okra to your aspiring gumbo, which right now is pretty much just roux and water:
Cook over medium heat while the vegetables sautee, then add the vegetables to the mix:
Add your tomatoes to the mix:
Add your seasonings, including Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning to taste. The recipe calls for salt and pepper to taste, but you should use Tony Chachere's if you want this to taste like gumbo. If you don't have Tony Chachere's, I'm not sure what's wrong with you. Anyway, also add the sausage your browned and set aside earlier, then mix it up right, cover that sucker and simmer over low to medium-low heat for about an hour:
While that's simmering, peel and devein a pound of shrimp. The recipe calls for 2 pounds, but I substituted a pound of kielbasa for one of the pounds of shrimp. You can do what you like. It's OK to use frozen shrimp. I won't judge you for that, since I did. I will, however, judge you for not using Tony Chachere's. What the hell is wrong with you people? If you did use Tony Chachere's, never mind. Anyway, peel the shrimp and put it into the refridgerator until I say so.
Once the gumbo has simmered for at least an hour, turn up the heat a little bit and add the shrimp. Give it about 10 minutes (don't overcook unless you like tough shrimp) and then serve the gumbo over rice:
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