Gumbo makes it better

Happy Mardi Gras! For those of you who don't know, I used to live in New Orleans, and miss it early and often. Living elsewhere is a bummer, especially during Mardi Gras and JazzFest, mostly because there's no question that you are missing out on amazingness, but particularly because it's not even like the festivity isn't as good - there's just nothing doin'. As they say, "Everywhere else, it's just Tuesday." And that is by far the worst part - fighting the overwhelming urge to run around shaking people and saying "don't you know what today is? It's MARDI GRAS." Of course, as my friend Erin noted on her blog, this often leads to the annoying process of explaining that TV/tourist Mardi Gras and actual Mardi Gras have next to nothing in common. 

Anyway...I digress. This year, there was a little extra New Orleans attention in the form of the Super Bowl, so I seized the moment and EPB and I, having zero interest in either team playing, had a little NOLA-themed Super Bowl gathering. The main purpose was to have a lot of food. Obviously. I gave some thought to making a king cake, but people who haven't been previously exposed to king cake and/or Mardi Gras sometimes don't respond as well as one would hope, as I learned during an unfortunate encounter with a colleague in 2011. So: no king cake. Instead, I decided to swap out the traditional chili for gumbo. I couldn't find a recipe I liked, so I combined a couple and tweaked it into my own. It's not totally by-the-rules traditional, so I expect some actual New Orleanians will be distressed, but it's also not an all-day project and it disappeared pretty quickly, so I think I was not the only one pleased with the end result. It's adjustable, as all good recipes should be. Unfortunately no photos accompany this, but I'll add some next time. Notes: I did a fish-free version of this, for two reasons - we already had quite a bit of seafood on the menu, and with a lot of little kids coming I didn't know if there were allergies, etc. I think a shrimp version would be tastier and plan to do that next time. Also, this is one of those recipes where you really ought to do the chopping, measuring, etc before you do anything - your own little meez, as Anthony Bourdain calls it. There's no time to chop them without burning the roux or otherwise causing chaos unless you happen to have your very own prep chef doing it for you, and then what are you doing reading blog recipes anyway? 

Superdome Gumbo

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 4 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
• 2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
• 2 green bell peppers, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano, crumbled
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper 
• 32-40 ounces of liquid: chicken stock, canned clam juice, etc, depending on which main ingredients you're using. I think 40 is too thin and 32 is just barely enough - if you plan on simmering it for a long time, 40 is probably the way to go.
• 1 28-ounce can plum tomatoes, drained, chopped
• 1 pound smoked andouille, halved lengthwise, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1/2 pound okra, trimmed, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices (frozen works too if you can't find fresh)

• Roughly 2 lbs of shrimp uncooked, peeled and cleaned shrimp; or cooked meats like chicken if going seafood-free. [*note from your blogger: In this case for convenience I got a rotisserie chicken and picked the meat.*]
• Long-grain rice 

Heat the oil in a heavy large Dutch oven over high heat until almost smoking. Add flour and stir until dark red-brown, about 8 minutes. [*note from your blogger: a little research suggested that you can do it that way or you can do medium-to-medium-high heat and cook it more slowly - which is what I did, and it was fine and less odorific in the kitchen. I read a direction from a highly recognized New Orleans chef, one who has a Louisiana country inspiration in much of his food, saying that he was raised with the lesson that a good roux should take as long as drinking two bottles of beer. I think that's a touch too long, but then my roux was a caramel color and I was okay with that, so if you want dark dark, maybe tipsy is the way to go. Of CRUCIAL importance, though: you must keep stirring. A whisk is best, and if you're fancy you can use a whisk designed specifically for roux. I can see it being helpful. Keep stirring, and do not look away - it is very easy to burn and ruin it. Put on some music, like the livestream of WWOZ, and settle in with your whisk.*] 

Immediately add celery, onions and bell peppers. Cook 5 minutes, stirring and scraping bottom of pan often (switch to a wooden spoon for this part - much easier). Mix in bay leaves, salt, oregano and cayenne. Add your liquids, canned tomatoes and sausage. 

• Option A, with shrimp & fresh okra: Boil 15 minutes. [This is a good time to get going on the rice, by the way - it'll be done around the same time.] Add okra, reduce heat and simmer until okra is tender, about 15 minutes. Add shrimp to gumbo and simmer until just cooked through, about 3 minutes. 
• Option B, with precooked chicken and frozen okra: Bring the liquids to a boil, and add the chicken. Being pre-cooked it can be a little dry, so this both softened it back up and added some extra flavor to the gumbo. After roughly 15 minutes, add the okra while it's still boiling, since it's frozen. Then reduce it to a simmer, and simmer it, honestly, for as long as you want until it's the consistency you want. Should be at least 15 minutes, but if it looks too thin you can keep it going. 

That's it! Takes a while with all the stirring and simmering, but it's not super complicated. Various recipes also suggest that you can make this the day before and bring it back up to a simmer before serving. If you do this with the shrimp version, don't add the shrimp until the day of so they don't overcook. 

To serve, put a mound of rice in each bowl and ladle the gumbo over it. Set out your Tabasco, your Crystal, your Tony's - and enjoy!

“What is New Orleans? New Orleans is Creole gumbo, filé gumbo, cowan gumbo, chicken gumbo, smoked sausage gumbo, hot sausage gumbo, onion gumbo.”

– Kermit Ruffins, New Orleans vocalist and trumpeter