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Saturday, May 14, 2011

Gumbowl - Gumbo in Bread Bowl

For May 2011 Daring Cooks challenge
Source Minimally adapted from My New Orleans: The Cookbook, by John Besh

Ingredients
- 1 cup (240 ml) (230 gm) rendered chicken fat, duck fat, or canola oil
- 1 cup (240 ml) (140 gm) (5 oz) flour
- 2 large onions, diced
- 1 chicken (3 ½ to 4 lbs.), cut into 10 pieces
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) (15 gm) (½ oz) Basic Creole Spices (recipe follows), or store-bought Creole spice blend
- 2 pounds (2 kilograms) spicy smoked sausage, sliced ½ inch (15mm) thick
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 2 green bell peppers (capsicum), seeded and diced
- 1 tomato, seeded and chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- Leaves from 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 3 quarts (3 liters) Basic Chicken Stock (recipe follows), or canned chicken stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 ounces (175 gm) andouille sausage, chopped
- 2 cups (480 ml) (320 gm) (11 oz) sliced fresh okra, ½ -inch (15mm) thick slices (or frozen, if fresh is not available)
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) Worcestershire sauce
- Salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Filé powder, to taste
- Tabasco, to taste
- 4-6 cups (1 – 1½ liters) (650 gm – 950 gm) cooked Basic Louisiana White Rice (recipe follows)
Total 10-12 servings

Inatructions
1. Prepare homemade chicken stock, if using (recipe below).
2. Prepare homemade Basic Creole Spices, if using (recipe below).
3. Season the chicken pieces with about 2 tablespoons of the Creole Spices while you prepare the vegetables.
4. Make sure all of your vegetables are cut, diced, chopped, minced and ready to go before beginning the roux. You must stand at the stove and stir the roux continuously to prevent it from burning.
5. In a large cast-iron or heavy-bottomed pan, heat the chicken fat, duck fat, or canola oil over high heat. Whisk the flour into the hot oil – it will start to sizzle. Reduce the heat to moderate, and continue whisking until the roux becomes deep brown in color, about 15 minutes.
6. Add the onions. Switch to a wooden spoon and stir the onions into the roux. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Continue stirring until the roux becomes a glossy dark brown, about 10 minutes.
7. Add the chicken to the pot; raise the heat to moderate, and cook, turning the pieces until slightly browned, about 10 minutes.
8. Add the sliced smoked sausage and stir for about a minute.
9. Add the celery, bell peppers, tomato, and garlic, and continue stirring for about 3 minutes.
10. Add the thyme, chicken stock, and bay leaves. Bring the gumbo to a boil, stirring occasionally.
11. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally, skimming off the fat from the surface of the gumbo every so often.
12. Add the chopped andouille, okra, and Worcestershire. Season with salt and pepper, several dashes of filé powder, and Tabasco, all to taste.
13. Simmer for another 45 minutes, continuing to skim the fat from the surface of the gumbo. Remove the bay leaves and serve in bowls over rice. Pass more filé powder at the table if desired.

Afterthoughts
- This was certainly the most challenging challenge I've participated in: stirring the stew non-stop for at least an hour - wheeeeew.... I don't think I can knowingly do that to myself again - will just have to do without a home made gumbo. But I will certainly treasure every bite next time I go to New Orleans and order it :-).
- I've made a lot of changes to the orignial recipes, and the final result is not worth reproducing, so I posted here the recipe just as it appeared on the Daring Cooks site, not my version. I could not rank the taste of this recipe, because the thing I have tasted was very different :-).

Blog-checking lines: Our May hostess, Denise, of There’s a Newf in My Soup!, challenged The Daring Cooks to make Gumbo! She provided us with all the recipes we’d need, from creole spices, homemade stock, and Louisiana white rice, to Drew’s Chicken & Smoked Sausage Gumbo and Seafood Gumbo from My New Orleans: The Cookbook, by John Besh.

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

I loved your bread bowl when I saw it on the forum..
I have to agree...all that stirring is hectic

Jocie's Mom said...

The final product looks delish. Love the bread bowl! Not sure I could devote an hour to stirring that puppy tho...exhausting! Thanks for sharing :)

Angie's Recipes said...

The bread bowl looks scrumptious!

Sarah said...

bread bowl with gumbo looks nice... though ive never had gumbo before.

Claudia said...

I like the bread bowl. I didn't stir continually, just in between doing other stuff.

Belinda @zomppa said...

Love this bowl!! Love the duck fat...

blepharisma said...

I love the idea of putting it all in a bread bowl! Good job!

Ruth H. said...

Your gumbo looks great, I am sorry that your adaptations were not to your liking, but I do hope you try it again. The bread bowl was a great idea, and I am so glad you shared with us.

Chef Dennis Littley said...

what a great idea!! I love gumbo and serving it in a bread bowl just takes it over the top!
thanks for such a wonderful recipe!

Jamie @ Wokintime said...

I love the rustic feel of putting soup in a bowl. What a great idea to go outside the box and do this with gumbo!

Audax said...

Sorry to hear that your changes didn't work out for you, but I have to say that your gumbo does looks marvellous and the bread bowl is stunning at a great idea.

Cheers from Audax in Sydney Australia.

Renata said...

I totally love your gumbo in a bread bowl :o)

Cooking Gallery said...

I've never had gumbo, but this looks so delicious I really have to give a try...! Thank you for sharing the wonderful recipe :)

Nami | Just One Cookbook said...

Haha I like the title! I haven't tried making gumbo myself, but this is a great way to enjoy it. So creative!!!

Jill@MadAboutMacarons said...

This looks fantastic: and great work-out, too!

Jessica @ bake me away! said...

The edible bowls really stuck, eh? :) Love how your gumbowl looks, but am sorry you didn't care for it, especially after all that stirring! Agreed, much easier to order it at a restaurant...

Liz That Skinny Chick Can Bake said...

Wow, what a lovely presentation!!! Sorry it wasn't your tastiest effort...especially with all that stirring.

chef_d said...

Beautiful presentation!

Xiaolu @ 6 Bittersweets said...

Great idea using the edible bread bowl. Looks yummmy!

Buttercream Blondie said...

I love gumbo and what a great idea to serve it in a bread bowl!

Alina said...

Sounds like a pretty complicated cooking project, but the result must be worth it! looks really delicious!

Xinmei @ Pudding Pie Lane said...

Oh how lovely, I've always wanted to try making food where I can eat the bowl afterwards!

Magic of Spice said...

What a fantastic way to serve up gumbo...love it! And love that photo as well, makes it quite tempting indeed :)

case lemn said...

Oh WOW, only this i can say when i saw this picture, It lookd delicious. Definetly i need to try your recipe, thanks a lot for sharing!