Gumbo Recipies

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Macabre:
Becca asked for the recipe I used last week, which was a hit and one I'll use again. It's vegetarian, so not authentic gumbo. For that, add shrimp and sausage.

Mac's Gumbo

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium poblano pepper, chopped (recipe called for green bell, but I don't eat them. Poblanos don't do evil things to me. It's a wee bit spicy.)
1 (16 ounce) package frozen okra, thawed and sliced
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
1 small can tomato sauce (it called for a 6.5 oz can of tomato paste. I grabbed the wrong can, but it worked out well)
It needed more than the original recipe called for, so I added:
1 can of Rotel (you can just add more diced tomatoes if this makes it too spicy--it didn't seem spicy to me.
1-2 cups of water--see how things go

Spices:
2 bay leaves
thyme--I don't remember how much I added. The original recipe didn't call for it, but it's typical in real gumbo.
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

The original recipe called for okra and file, but my understanding of authentic gumbo is that you have okra OR file. So I didn't use the file.)

Roux---this is essential for a gumbo--don't skip or it's not gumbo
2 tablespoons butter (original recipe called for vegetable oil
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Directions

In a pot that you might cook a big soup in, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in garlic, onion, and poblano pepper, and saute until tender. Stir in okra, mushrooms, diced tomatoes and their liquid, tomato sauce, thyme, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, 40 minutes.

Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Stirring constantly, add flour, and cook 2 to 5 minutes, until a golden brown roux has formed. (DH did this and it was a darker brown.)

Spoon the roux into the okra mixture, and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, 5 to 10 minutes, until thickened.

We served over rice (but not dirty rice--just a basmati).

PREP: 15 mins
COOK: hr
READY IN: hr 15 mins

I started out with this recipe but used a couple of cookbooks.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/okra-gumbo/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=okra%20gumbo&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e13=A%3aSearch%20Results-List%28control%29&e7=SM%20Sign%20Up

This had a LOT of flavor--was yummy. The okra wasn't slimy. But if you're worried about slimy okra, some folks soak it in milk first, but you do that with fresh. Don't know about frozen. Just be bold and use it w/o the milk. It's not slimy.

DS loved this.

This recipe above is a very good one on its own, and I'm sure you could add meat (really you should add shrimp and sausage to have real gumbo). Do a bit of googling.

GoingNuts:
Sounds so yummy, and brings back memories of my building superintendent who had a little garden, and grew more okra than he knew what to do with. He always left a bag hanging on my door. I'd make beef stew, and bring him a big container of it. How I miss him, may he RIP. :'( :heart:

Anyhoo... What is file? Something us Yankees wouldn't know about?

momtoAidenDeclan:
file (w/an accent over the e - but I can't seem to do that) is an herb used as a thickening agent in gumbo....and now I'm hungry for gumbo...

becca:
Thank you, McC!

I had to google file, myself. Though I hear it in that song and never knew what it was:

Jambalaya on the Bayou - Hank Williams

Macabre:
About file---if you use okra, you don't use file. MommaB and Mama2Aidan can correct me if I am wrong, but my understanding is that if you use okra, you don't use the extra thickening agent.