Gumbo

Gulyás
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Post by Gulyás » Mon Sep 22, 2014 11:40

I think gumbo always have okra in it, not always shell fish. It can be made from all kind of meat, depending on taste. I love it.
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Post by rgauthier20420 » Mon Sep 22, 2014 14:47

Gumbo can be made with almost any kind of meat. Okra is not a must, but it's definitely used a lot. Personally, I never add okra because I'm not a fan of the texture and flavor. Also, given the fine hobby most of us partake in, I make my own Andouille for my gumbo.

Gulyas, my typical gumbo is just a chicken and andouille gumbo. Here's the link to a step by step of my mom's recipe that I use. To be honest, I'm more of one of those creative fly by the seat of pants kind of cook, but this recipe I follow to the T.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/1678 ... sage-gumbo

And here's a pic of the latest batch of Andouille I made yesterday. Woke up at 3am to take them out of the smoker and into the water bath :shock:

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Post by el Ducko » Mon Sep 22, 2014 16:13

Duck Family "Catch-All" Gumbo Recipe
"What's caught goes into the pot"
Digging around in my collection of recipes... (oof!)... over here... (unh!)... behind the stack (crash!)... of cast iron pots... (Ow!)...

All decent gumbo recipes, all of 'em, start with a roux, 2/3 cup of oil and 2/3 cup flour, combined, stirred constantly in a cast iron pot or enameled dutch oven, medium heat, for 20 to 25 minutes, according to color. (We like ours dark red to dark brown. Others prefer to go farther, but Beloved Spouse says it tastes burned.)

Next, add the "Cajun Holy Trinity," 2 cups of coarsely-chopped onions, 1/2 cup of chopped bell peppers, and 1/2 cup chopped celery. You can toss in a teaspoon each of cayenne and salt at the same time, plus "other seasonings." (We can discuss these later, if you want. "Celebrity" chefs sell their mostly-salt mixes at several hundred percent markup. Don't be a sucker. Read, then come up with your own.) (If you come from Massachusetts, you can pretend to be Cajun, too.) Add a bit at a time, sauteing the veggies until soft. Add sliced sausage or any other meat that you want browned, at this point.

Until now, you have been operating in a high temperature, oil-based environment. Time to gradually (so it won't splatter and burn you) add two to four quarts of broth & water (at least half of it broth), plus whatever seasonings (such as bay leaves) work best in a water-based (cooler) soup environment. The broth should preferably be whatever predominant meat you are using, chicken or seafood, with chicken being the default broth (works fine with anything). Meats should be added according to how long it takes to cook them. Chicken, turkey, rabbit, or duck take longer (one or two hours simmering) compared to fish, shrimp, crab meat, crawfish, or oysters (one to three minutes). Add okra 10 to 20 minutes before the end, depending on if you like it firm or soft. (Yeah, you can leave it out, but what a shame!)

Some people add chopped green onions or parsley at the last minute. Serve the gumbo over rice, in a bowl. Gumbo filé (powdered sassafras, primarily a thickener but it has a bit of flavor itself) can be added at the table by each diner, according to personal taste.

So, that's our family recipe. Yup, it varies all over the map. The commonalities are (1) "First you make a roux" and (2) next, you add the "Cajun Holy Trinity" of onions, bell pepper, and celery.

I'd close with a joke, but... I get... kinda sleepy... on a full... tummy...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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Last edited by el Ducko on Mon Sep 22, 2014 16:20, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by rgauthier20420 » Mon Sep 22, 2014 16:16

el Ducko wrote:Yup, it varies all over the map.:
Exactly! And that's the beauty of this dish. I love tasting different gumbos whenever I can.
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Post by Butterbean » Mon Sep 22, 2014 17:44

Well put Duck. Gumbo is not really a recipe but the end result of a technique used to make the most of what you have on hand. Key is the roux and after that its all about timing. Putting the foods in the pot based on the time it takes to cook them to your liking. The end result is gumbo.

Seafood gumbo with booDAN

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Gumbo with lobsterettes

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Post by Gulyás » Mon Sep 22, 2014 19:52

Holy-molly, lots of goodies here. Thanks guys and girls, I know you are very big help. :mrgreen:
Duk, sometime I sleep till I get hungry, and than a eat till I get sleepy.....Now I'm hungry.
There are all kinds of taste, just like people. Or is it sausages? Hmmmmm I know for sure 2 kinds of people, the ones who are looking good, and the ones who are good looking..... :mrgreen: :mrgreen: I used to read here too, because I get this magazine.

http://www.saveur.com/find/gumbo

I like okra, I fry them with bacon, onions, garlic, peppers, and eggs.
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Post by markjass » Tue Sep 23, 2014 10:40

Thanks for inspiring me. The pictures look good, love the look of the Gumbo with lobsterettes, but no I know what this would do to my big toe. Reading el Ducko's recipe and the link provided by rgauthier20420 suggests that I can give this a go. All I need to do now is to decide on a sausage type (find a recipe, may be adapt it a little), make it and then make the gumbo.
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Post by rgauthier20420 » Tue Sep 23, 2014 14:16

markjass wrote:Thanks for inspiring me. The pictures look good, love the look of the Gumbo with lobsterettes, but no I know what this would do to my big toe. Reading el Ducko's recipe and the link provided by rgauthier20420 suggests that I can give this a go. All I need to do now is to decide on a sausage type (find a recipe, may be adapt it a little), make it and then make the gumbo.
markjass, here's a thread that I've been keeping updated where I've made my own Andouille 3 times now. The recipe I've used is also linked below. It's pretty mild, so I usually add a bit more black pepper and cayenne to it. The whole process is outlined in the thread and on the recipe page. It's really an amazing sausage. I've got 3 lbs sitting in my fridge that I made on Sunday waiting to be vac packed tonight.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/1671 ... -andouille

http://www.nolacuisine.com/2005/11/14/a ... ge-recipe/
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Post by markjass » Wed Sep 24, 2014 09:57

I have found a recipe for gumbo in a book that I have neglected for a couple of years. 'the spicy food lovers bible' by Dave DeWitt & Nancy Gerlach.

Thanks rgauthier20420 for the links. I would like to clarify a few things from your recipe.

2 tsp of Cayenne or to taste (Remember, if you make it too hot, every dish you make with it will be too hot! I enjoy hot food, but not for the sake of it. I have a Filipino colleague who asked me to make some of sausages for him and his parents who were visiting. It was an ancestors secret recipe. I was taken back, to tell the truth gob smacked by the amount of chilli in it. There is no way that I would be able to eat the sausages. His parents loved them).

1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper

Do you use both?
Is crushed red pepper (a description I am not aware of) Chilli flakes?
I will probably use a spanish smoked paprika (I have 2 spanish paprikas, sweet and bitter sweet, both are smoked and 2 Hungarian Paprikas).

I will convert the measures for weights (by weighing a teaspoon of xyz). I will then put them on my sausage, salami and goodies spreadsheet. This will save me having to do calculations when I make the sausages again. I know I will because the ingredients are what I like. If I was sent to Mars and there was only one spice I could take it would be pepper. I would not need to take a grinder as I am sure a space ship would have a wrench on it.

re- gumbo.
Here is a guess. el Ducko. The herbs are going to be thyme and oregano (my favourite herbs). Do people ever use marjoram (oregano's little brother). As for spices apart from chilli would you use cumin or coriander?

I will start the sausages off on Friday and smoke them on Sunday. It will be Wednesday or Thursday that I will make a gumbo. I will let you know how it goes.

thanks

Mark
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Post by rgauthier20420 » Wed Sep 24, 2014 11:54

Mark,

Here's the updated recipe that I am using. I was just looking for it for you.

Pork Butt - 2 kg
Cure #1 - 4.38 g
Salt - 28.06 g
Pepper - 10.52 g
Garlic Powder - 20 g
Thyme - 5 g
Cayenne - 6 g
Red Pepper Flake - 2 g

As you can see, it's per 2 kg of pork butt. The crushed red pepper from that NOLA recipe is Red Pepper Flakes. The very first time I made my Andouille, I substituted about 10% of the pork for 10% straight pork fat. I ground the fat through a slightly larger die and separately and then mixed it all back in with the ground meat and diced meat. It produced a visually stunning and deliciously textured final product.

The beauty of gumbo is the spicing lies with the cook. As duk has described, there are a couple techniques, the roux and the holy trinity, that are needed to be able to call is a gumbo. I've never used marjoram in mine, but by all means go ahead! Let us know how you like it.
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Post by markjass » Thu Sep 25, 2014 01:56

Thanks for the recipe. It looks great. The hottest sausage I make has 4 g per kg of cayenne (most I like). Which is about the same volume that you use when combining the flakes and cayenne.

Lots of garlic, pepper and thyme. Yes I will go with your recipe.
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Post by markjass » Thu Sep 25, 2014 03:11

Do you still use milk powder as a binder?

Mark
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Post by rgauthier20420 » Thu Sep 25, 2014 15:57

I don't use a binder for making this sausage. I give the cold mixture a nice mix by hand until it's sticking to my fingers, and then into the stuffer. It always comes out tender and tasty.
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Post by markjass » Sun Sep 28, 2014 06:37

Sausages are made and cold smoking at the moment. I made 2 kg. I fine ground 1 kg of pork (Even though it was butt it was very lean - so I added used 600g of pork belly - difficult getting back fat). I cubed the other kg into 5-7 mm cubes. That was a job and a half (had part frozen it). I would no go that much bigger as my stuffer was not that keen on it. I suppose if I had added more water to the mix it would have been easer to stuff, but why add it if you do not have to.Will make the gumbo on Wednesday. Will post pictures then.
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Post by rgauthier20420 » Mon Sep 29, 2014 15:32

It's great that you went through the extra trouble to dice half of the meat by hand. Believe me, you will not regret. It makes for an amazing texture and flavor. For me, this sausage is best 2 days after the smoking and cooking process is complete and it's been chilled thoroughly. Enjoy cooking the gumbo...I hope you like it!
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