I had every intention of attempting fresh gnocchi this week, but before I could get the ingredients on a shopping list my wife unprompted came home from Trader Joe's (RIP) with a big bag of theirs, so I took the lazy route to cook club solidarity. Here's Trader Joe's gnocchi sauteed with broccoli and spinach in a brown butter/romano/gorgonzola sauce.
Gnocci was good! A little too soft, if I'm honest, but I learned a lot about how the dough works. We made pesto for it that was supposed to be creamy buuuuuuut my cream went bad so I threw some butter and milk into it and it did okay. It's tasty!
Phew. Gumbo recipes are up! Though perhaps those forumers in or from Louisiana wouldn't mind sharing their own recipes / recommendations
I can't really recall where my personal recipe came from--some really old Geocities-like site that since has gone down or gotten pushed far off of Google's first page. I like adding tomatoes, occasionally add okra or filé (but often neither), usually include chicken thighs and shrimp and Wyborn always goes on a trip to the one of two places downtown where we can find andouille sausage.
I have my literal long lost uncle's recipe, who was raised in a suburb of New Orleans. Was adopted out in 1951 as a newborn and contacted my mother when he discovered he had cancer in 1992. My mother inherited his recipes, and among them is the following gumbo recipe:
1 1/4lb boneless skinless chicken breast
3/4lb andouille sausage
1 medium diced green bell pepper
1/2 medium diced onion (yellow or sweet)
3/4 cup diced celery
1 1/2 cup AP flour
1 cup vegetable oil
2 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp cayenne
1 tsp chopped thyme
1 tsp paprika
4 cloves minced garlic
8 cups chicken broth
Season the chicken with half the garlic powder, salt and cayenne. Mix remaining spices with flour. Heat oil in a saucepan until glistening (doesn't say heat, I'd say just below medium). Dredge chicken in the seasoned flour and add to oil, turning once, approximately 10 minutes per side. Remove chicken from heat and place on wire rack or paper towels.
begin heating chicken broth over medium heat in a stock pot. Add remainder of seasoned flour to hot oil in saucepan, constantly whisking, to form a roux. Continue cooking and whisking until the roux is dark brown in color. Remove pan from heat and add diced vegetables. Return to heat, continue whisking until vegetables have softened, approximately 15 minutes over medium heat. Begin incorporating the vegetable and roux mixture into the chicken stock (one ladel or about 1/3 cup at a time), mixing well after each addition. Once all roux has been incorporated, add minced garlic and andouille (diced or sliced to your preference, I like about 1/4" - 1/2" slices) to the stock. Lower heat to medium low and continue cooking for about 45 minutes. Skim fat from the top of the gumbo (there will be a lot, cup, cup and a half worth) and add the chicken (chopped or diced to your preferred size, I again like 1/4" - 3/8" cubes) to the gumbo, continue cooking for 10 minutes. Serve over cajun rice or dirty rice or red beans and rice, whichever you prefer.
It should also be noted this recipe is like 100 years old, and somehow contains no okra. If you like okra in your gumbo, cut down the celery to about 1/2 a cup and add a cup of diced okra and add it into the cooking process at the same step as the celery. Next time I make this I'll weigh everything out and do a gram conversion, but I don't think I'll be making it until next December or so. If you don't like green peppers, I'd recommend doing a really coarse chop on them and removing the chunks from the roux before incorporating into the stock, it's how I do it. I hate biting into a green pepper, but I don't mind the flavor a bit more evenly dispersed.
It's apparently a "rare tree" (whoa I didn't realize tree, I was imagining some sort of... climbing plant?) that can only grow as far north as Toronto. Young saplings were (re?)introduced into a giant park in the city about 7 years ago... I suppose I could go take a look!
they also grow by (I don't know the correct term) small saplings growing out of the root network of the adjacent trees. When I go walking, I'll occasionally stumble on an entire grove of sassafras in various stages of growth. In the fall, they'll be a whole forest of red and yellow
I should really find a recently dead or dying one to fashion into a guitar
Huh. I grew up occasionally foraging sassafras in the wild and making tea from it. But I've never heard of filé powder. It has a spicy flavor and acts as a thickening agent in okra-less gumbo? Cool!!
Huh. I grew up occasionally foraging sassafras in the wild and making tea from it. But I've never heard of filé powder. It has a spicy flavor and acts as a thickening agent in okra-less gumbo? Cool!!
it's definitely not spicy! It's got kind of a mellow root beer flavor to it. I can taste the difference when it's not present but I couldn't put my finger on the exact flavor it adds.
JedocIn the scupperswith the staggers and jagsRegistered Userregular
Re: Roman-style semolina gnocchi.
For the second round, I topped it with some marinara sauce, which made it even more delicious. And made it even more clear that this is not food that I would ever serve to anyone else. This is straight-up self-destructive hedonism, but not the kind that people thank you for.
Think I'm gonna try a seafood gumbo this weekend, maybe do Shrimp and Scallop if I can. I don't like okra much though (its fine I guess but not my favorite) so I'll try and get my hands on some filé
I used the Cafe Delites recipe. Eyeballed all the ingredients since I had nearly double the amount of chicken thighs. It's a bit spicy but not too spicy! And... goodness, I used a lot of whipping cream, and you can taste that too. Very enjoyable.
There is 0% fenugreek unfortunately--I couldn't find any at the store I went to! It's definitely an ingredient I can buy elsewhere in the city so I'll have to pick some up next time.
Changes:
Used ghee bc I had it left over from the curry week
Added sage to fried veggie stage
Doubled spice (accidentally)
Used bacon ends instead of ham hock
Notes:
Took way too long to make the ruex, would start hotter next time to get it Browning faster, I'm not sure if the ghee had anything to do with it.
Maybe too much spice...maybe
Would use more bacon and sage next time
Oh, just finding this thread. I'm happy that you are including a vegetarian option. Will be giving that Vegetarian gumbo a shot on saturday, tempted to add Tony's to it but I will stick to recipe at first.
I have sausage making in my blood, but I've been hesitant to dive in myself
It was money up front because I didn't like my manual grinder so I got an electric. the electric does great grinding but is terrible for linking so I got a stuffer by LEM which is a god send.
all told, it was probably $200 up front, but I can make 5lbs of the best sausage I've ever had for maybe $7
Oh, just finding this thread. I'm happy that you are including a vegetarian option. Will be giving that Vegetarian gumbo a shot on saturday, tempted to add Tony's to it but I will stick to recipe at first.
No problem! If there are other food specifications people have, just let me know.
edit: chicken is roasted and stripped. bones and skin are currently simmering with onions, carrots, celery, pepper corns, thyme, an apple, one dried cascabell pepper, and a glug of brandy to make fresh stock
I went shopping for gumbo ingredients and my grocery store does not sell andouille. I ended up buying some chorizo but it's clearly not the same. I was also unable to get okra. I even checked a small grocery store that normally carries it, but they were sold out. This combined with the fact that I was planning on omitting celery because celery sucks and I hate it, means I'm kind of short on ingredients. I'm not sure if it's worth it to make.
We'll see. It doesn't matter to me if the sausage is exactly right but I wanted okra in my gumbo.
Yeah, I was mad that I forgot the okra when I got ingredients today, but to be fair grocery shopping in Seattle is a little unnerving right now. Good news is social distancing means I have all the time in the world to stand over the stove and try to get the roux right.
If I can find some smoked sausage, I'll try this one out today. If not... I won't! But it sounds delicious.
Edit: Update, found some linguica! It'll have to do. The grocery store was out of quite a bit of stuff. Went ahead and grabbed some dry goods and canned items to have on hand. It's getting a bit eerie.
Might have to take a rain check on that gumbo, grocery shopping wasn't as successful as I'd hope. A lot of vegetables were sold out, maybe i'll wait a few days to pick up some stuff.
My gumbo that has no okra, no celery, and no smoked sausage is simmering now. I added a couple drops of liquid smoke, because I had some in my cupboard and why not? Not enough to really taste. I'm sure my chorizo is just fine, but it feels like I'm not making proper gumbo.
Posts
I can't really recall where my personal recipe came from--some really old Geocities-like site that since has gone down or gotten pushed far off of Google's first page. I like adding tomatoes, occasionally add okra or filé (but often neither), usually include chicken thighs and shrimp and Wyborn always goes on a trip to the one of two places downtown where we can find andouille sausage.
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1 1/4lb boneless skinless chicken breast
3/4lb andouille sausage
1 medium diced green bell pepper
1/2 medium diced onion (yellow or sweet)
3/4 cup diced celery
1 1/2 cup AP flour
1 cup vegetable oil
2 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp cayenne
1 tsp chopped thyme
1 tsp paprika
4 cloves minced garlic
8 cups chicken broth
Season the chicken with half the garlic powder, salt and cayenne. Mix remaining spices with flour. Heat oil in a saucepan until glistening (doesn't say heat, I'd say just below medium). Dredge chicken in the seasoned flour and add to oil, turning once, approximately 10 minutes per side. Remove chicken from heat and place on wire rack or paper towels.
begin heating chicken broth over medium heat in a stock pot. Add remainder of seasoned flour to hot oil in saucepan, constantly whisking, to form a roux. Continue cooking and whisking until the roux is dark brown in color. Remove pan from heat and add diced vegetables. Return to heat, continue whisking until vegetables have softened, approximately 15 minutes over medium heat. Begin incorporating the vegetable and roux mixture into the chicken stock (one ladel or about 1/3 cup at a time), mixing well after each addition. Once all roux has been incorporated, add minced garlic and andouille (diced or sliced to your preference, I like about 1/4" - 1/2" slices) to the stock. Lower heat to medium low and continue cooking for about 45 minutes. Skim fat from the top of the gumbo (there will be a lot, cup, cup and a half worth) and add the chicken (chopped or diced to your preferred size, I again like 1/4" - 3/8" cubes) to the gumbo, continue cooking for 10 minutes. Serve over cajun rice or dirty rice or red beans and rice, whichever you prefer.
It should also be noted this recipe is like 100 years old, and somehow contains no okra. If you like okra in your gumbo, cut down the celery to about 1/2 a cup and add a cup of diced okra and add it into the cooking process at the same step as the celery. Next time I make this I'll weigh everything out and do a gram conversion, but I don't think I'll be making it until next December or so. If you don't like green peppers, I'd recommend doing a really coarse chop on them and removing the chunks from the roux before incorporating into the stock, it's how I do it. I hate biting into a green pepper, but I don't mind the flavor a bit more evenly dispersed.
I dunno that I’ll be doing the Gumbo this week, we planned to do green curry for the week.
I go out during the last full moon in August every year to pick enough sassafras leaves to make a years worth of file
(I wish filé was easier to get up here too... I picked up an extra bottle when we went to Louisiana last week)
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pretty sure sassafras grows in the 48 lower states
edit: nope
It's apparently a "rare tree" (whoa I didn't realize tree, I was imagining some sort of... climbing plant?) that can only grow as far north as Toronto. Young saplings were (re?)introduced into a giant park in the city about 7 years ago... I suppose I could go take a look!
They turn a lovely red in the fall, looks like!
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they also grow by (I don't know the correct term) small saplings growing out of the root network of the adjacent trees. When I go walking, I'll occasionally stumble on an entire grove of sassafras in various stages of growth. In the fall, they'll be a whole forest of red and yellow
I should really find a recently dead or dying one to fashion into a guitar
Steam profile.
Getting started with BATTLETECH: Part 1 / Part 2
it's definitely not spicy! It's got kind of a mellow root beer flavor to it. I can taste the difference when it's not present but I couldn't put my finger on the exact flavor it adds.
edit: and it does thicken the gumbo a bit
For the second round, I topped it with some marinara sauce, which made it even more delicious. And made it even more clear that this is not food that I would ever serve to anyone else. This is straight-up self-destructive hedonism, but not the kind that people thank you for.
I'll probably fall back on my usual andouille-chicken thigh-shrimp combo, though I've been meaning to make a better base using shrimp shells
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ohh that reminds me I made a bunch of shrimp stock from the shells leftover from gnocchi
(Is this cheating?
Chicken Tikka Masala
I used the Cafe Delites recipe. Eyeballed all the ingredients since I had nearly double the amount of chicken thighs. It's a bit spicy but not too spicy! And... goodness, I used a lot of whipping cream, and you can taste that too. Very enjoyable.
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This is important.
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Don't feel like linking and smoking this weekend
but I'm definitely going to make gumbo
Gallery:
http://imgur.com/a/w5mWqpt
Changes:
Used ghee bc I had it left over from the curry week
Added sage to fried veggie stage
Doubled spice (accidentally)
Used bacon ends instead of ham hock
Notes:
Took way too long to make the ruex, would start hotter next time to get it Browning faster, I'm not sure if the ghee had anything to do with it.
Maybe too much spice...maybe
Would use more bacon and sage next time
Nintendo ID: Pastalonius
Smite\LoL:Gremlidin \ WoW & Overwatch & Hots: Gremlidin#1734
3ds: 3282-2248-0453
It was money up front because I didn't like my manual grinder so I got an electric. the electric does great grinding but is terrible for linking so I got a stuffer by LEM which is a god send.
all told, it was probably $200 up front, but I can make 5lbs of the best sausage I've ever had for maybe $7
No problem! If there are other food specifications people have, just let me know.
edit: Also it's always worth adding Tony's!
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also, I'm building a larger one this fall
edit: chicken is roasted and stripped. bones and skin are currently simmering with onions, carrots, celery, pepper corns, thyme, an apple, one dried cascabell pepper, and a glug of brandy to make fresh stock
edit2: stock is strained and smells amazing
gonna smoke them tomorrow!
We'll see. It doesn't matter to me if the sausage is exactly right but I wanted okra in my gumbo.
But right now we’re going to get peppers and buns to make cheese steaks because I saw a picture in my Facebook feed.
Between travel the past couple weeks and the virus I can't catch a cook club break
Edit: Update, found some linguica! It'll have to do. The grocery store was out of quite a bit of stuff. Went ahead and grabbed some dry goods and canned items to have on hand. It's getting a bit eerie.
Nintendo ID: Pastalonius
Smite\LoL:Gremlidin \ WoW & Overwatch & Hots: Gremlidin#1734
3ds: 3282-2248-0453
It's OK not to have okra--I tend to not add it all that often, despite liking it. The roux will make things plenty thick
The one of two places that sells andouille here was out, but Wyborn got recommended the house smoked sausage, which honestly smells amazing.
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I'm using this recipe