What Did You Cook For Dinner Tonight?

[NORE]

I have been experimenting with different dishes and decided to make gumbo. So I looked at a few youtube vids and over the past year or so have come up with my own conglomeration of a recipe. I use:

Boneless chicken breasts
Medium sized shrimp
Blue crab claws
Almost any sausage (sage, kielbasa, hot links, etc.) haven't found Andouille
Green bell peppers
Red bell peppers
Scotch bonnet peppers
Frozen cut okra
Onion
Garlic
Celery
Bay leaf or two
Stewed or whole canned tomatoes
Cajun spice
Cayenne pepper
Black pepper
Salt
Mustard powder
Garlic pawder
Chicken stock (or broth)
Thyme
Parsley
Fresh cilantro
EVOO
Flour

I dice up the onion, celery, bell peppers, garlic cloves, 1 Scotch bonnet pepper, and set aside. Then I cube the chicken breasts and cut the sausage into thin slices while it's still almost frozen (makes it easier to cut). Season the chicken cubes with salt, pepper, garlic powder, mustard powder, parsley, cayenne pepper & cajun seasoning and brown it in a skillet.

In another skillet I brown the sausage. I use the oil rendered for the roux.

Make a roux. EVOO, sausage oil rendering, and some flour. Constantly stir to a tan or peanut butter color.

While that is happening, add the vegetables (not the okra) to the chicken in the skillet. So you have the cubed chicken in a large skillet browning with the veggies, the sausage in a smaller skillet browning, while constantly stirring your roux.

When the sausage is done (I like mine almost burnt) add that to the chicken pan. Simmer on low while stirring your roux. Add water if necessary to keep it moist.

When the roux is a tan or peanut butter color add some chicken stock. Keep stirring and bring that up to a low boil. Add the chicken/sausage/veggie mix and stir. Add more chicken stock to the desired consistency (liquid or thick, your choice. Note that this will get thicker as you cook it). Then add your can of stewed tomatoes. Stir.

Add half of the shrimp. Stir.

If you're like me you're drinking Scotch while you're making this so add some.

Add 2 whole Scotch bonnets (if you pierce them the heat will go into the dish so leave them whole so you get the flavor).

At this point your chicken should be almost fully cooked as well as your sausage. Your veggies have softened when you added them to the chicken pan so you are just making everything meld. Note: it's time to add the okra.

Stir.

Add the rest of the shrimp and the crab claws (I add crab claws for that seafood taste and visual effect).

Let it cool and serve with white (or your choice of color) rice.

My wife recently hosted a "girls night" where I was the maitre d' complete with towel and the gumbo was one of the items on the menu. This was from last night:

Enjoy!

 

[coolpapa]

I am from SW Louisiana so I make it in the traditional Cajun way:
Roux, darker is better
Trinity added to the roux
Cold water or chicken stock
Browned chicken, with bones
Sausage, always smoked, sometimes add fresh also
Andouille
Seasoning
Green onions to finish

I will usually take the chicken out when it's done and debone, then add the meat back in.

 

[NORE]

I so wanted to make my latest one with bone-in chicken but thought I should just stick to boneless. But your way does sound worth a try. I think I will next time.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Renton]

Try baking your roux instead of whisking on the stove. I went to a cooking class with Frank Brigsten and he explained that every night they make a giant batch of roux at the beginning of the night and let it bake through the end of dinner service.

You have to stir every half hour or so, but you get even heat and very little chance of burning your roux. If you have the patience, you can leave the roux in the pan overnight and pour off the oil in the morning. It saves a lot of time skimming the oil off your gumbo.

For the sake of stewing, I'd go with dark meat chicken on the bone over white.

 

[SkinnyGoomba]

Looks good! I might give this a go this week.

 

[NORE]



Try baking your roux instead of whisking on the stove. I went to a cooking class with Frank Brigsten and he explained that every night they make a giant batch of roux at the beginning of the night and let it bake through the end of dinner service.
You have to stir every half hour or so, but you get even heat and very little chance of burning your roux. If you have the patience, you can leave the roux in the pan overnight and pour off the oil in the morning. It saves a lot of time skimming the oil off your gumbo.
For the sake of stewing, I'd go with dark meat chicken on the bone over white.

Sounds good, I will def give the dark meat on the bone a try but with the heat we've been having I might have to hold off on baking the roux until late fall/winter.

 

[NORE]

Tonight I will be making Stew chicken Trini style. Will post pics later.

 

[tropics]

why did you not put this in the existing dinner thread? are you angling for a "special flower" badge?

 

[b1os]

I think the original thread title was different?
Just checked my history and it was in fact "How Do You Make Your Gumbo?", which I guess deserves its own thread because its about a specific meal... who changed the title? (edit: didn't see post #7 which may suggest that OP changed the title and #8 asks a legitimate question)

 

[NORE]

I did change the title because it originally focused on one specific dish and I thought I'd open it up to others, not knowing there was an existing thread.

No pics of my stew chicken, it's all gone