I don't know how long it's been since I made gumbo, but it's been too long, as the Zatarain's section in the grocery store reminded me. I'm making it today using the Zatarain's gumbo mix box instead of a homemade roux (I don't mind, I like Zatarain's).
I've been putting my gumbo together step by step throughout the afternoon while rereading this thread for fun and ideas, although not rereading as closely as I could, because I'm supposed to be working too.
I love the fact that gumbo can be different every time and that you can improvise with it and borrow ideas from other people.
I've also gone back and reread the
River Road recipes, and I'm a bit shocked that they call for 2 to 3 quarts of water, which is about double what I used, with in some cases half the total meat and veg amounts. I guess those recipes' owners like their gumbo very soupy. I read the recipes for ingredient ideas moreso than for the quantities.
At least one person upthread mentioned the
Paul Prudhomme Family cookbook, and I looked around for that. Apparently it's not too easy to get; a 1987 hardcover edition in good-at-best condition costs about $10, which is not bad at all, but new, it's upwards of $80. I have Paul Prudhomme's
Louisiana Kitchen and
Seasoned America, and I'm wondering, does the
Family cookbook have much of anything different in it? I'm willing to spend $10 and find out for myself, but I'm curious to hear from anyone who owns the
Family cookbook.
My gumbo today has bacon, chicken thigh meat, andouille sausage, and shrimp in it, along with okra, red bell peppers, celery, white onion, and green onion.
What I did with the meat this time was cook chicken thighs yesterday, save and cut up the meat in the glass casserole dish along with the chicken fat and juices, reheat the chicken/fat/juices in the oven, heat/brown the andouille sausage in the oven in the same dish, and finally, heat and brown the shrimp in the oven, again in the same dish. Everything is in the pot except the shrimp, which were cooked and browned in the oven; I'm saving those to add just before we eat.
As for the gumbo ingredients in the stockpot on the stovepot, I added a lot more of the onion, celery, and bell pepper than the Zatarain's recipe called for, and some more rice and more water, so I have a pretty full stockpot of gumbo.
Another thing I did was add about a teaspoon of BTB (Better Than Bouillon) chicken stock base and a teaspoon of BTB lobster base. The broth tastes wonderful.
My Zatarain's-based gumbo is not spicy at all, which will be just as well as far as Sweet Baboo is concerned, but I'm going to want some extra heat, so a bottle of Louisiana Hot Sauce is standing at the ready.
I know it's not cold weather yet, but it was a rainy day. If you haven't made gumbo in a while, think about it!
"Your swimming suit matches your eyes, you hold your nose before diving, loving you has made me bananas!"