{"id":380,"date":"2011-08-29T14:05:59","date_gmt":"2011-08-29T18:05:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.eatcooklive.com\/?p=380"},"modified":"2011-09-12T23:01:22","modified_gmt":"2011-09-13T03:01:22","slug":"come-on-irene-lets-make-some-gumbo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.eatcooklive.com\/?p=380","title":{"rendered":"Come on Irene – Let’s Make Some Gumbo"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I’m glad to report that I’m alive and well after Irene blew through. \u00c2\u00a0Nick and I prepared for the storm the only way we know how to do things: in excess; and invited over some friends from low lying areas. \u00c2\u00a0With 6 people, one dog, one bird, and one hurricane turned tropical storm it was more party than shelter.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Gumbo<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Staring down the risk of a multi-day power outage our\u00c2\u00a0brilliant idea was to make gumbo. \u00c2\u00a0An insane amount of very perishable seafood gumbo. Nick had picked-up sausage and shrimp so, in Irene’s first burst of rain to hit Brooklyn, I made an 11th hour run to Union Market<\/a>. \u00c2\u00a0After trying to shop through the chaos for 5 minutes I realized that the line snaked through the whole New York sized store (aka small and cramped compared to anything in MN). \u00c2\u00a0So I got in line and shopped the shelves around me as the line inched forward. \u00c2\u00a0A pound of okra here, some canned clams there, a little ahi tuna jerky because the guy behind the fish counter was MIA, some seafood stock, and over 3 lbs of bone in chicken legs and and thighs.<\/p>\n

The thing about gumbo is that there really\u00c2\u00a0isn’t a “right way” to make it. \u00c2\u00a0 The stuff basically came about when people started throwing whatever was around into a pot before it could spoil. \u00c2\u00a0So I scoured the fridge,\u00c2\u00a0freezer, and cabinets and found some great additions. \u00c2\u00a0There was the frozen\u00c2\u00a0chicken stock I had made a while back. \u00c2\u00a0Some lamb bones that I have had sitting in the freezer forever waiting for a chance to turn them into stock. \u00c2\u00a0Some onions. \u00c2\u00a0Some cherry tomatoes. \u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0A bunch of mushrooms. \u00c2\u00a0It was time to get things rolling.<\/p>\n

Oh, one other thing. \u00c2\u00a0Two visitors, who will remain nameless to protect their shameful tastes, don’t like strong seafood flavors and said they won’t be able handle the clams or the other fishy goodness–despite my assurances that the gumbo would be more savory than seafoody. \u00c2\u00a0The solution: two pots; one purely chicken and sausage based the second having chicken, sausage, and the seafood elements.<\/p>\n

To start the gumbo, cook the sausage (cut into circles) \u00c2\u00a0in a big pot using a little oil. \u00c2\u00a0Once the sausage is done, pull it out of the pot, set it aside and give the chicken (you should really be only using bone in dark meat<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0here) a solid little fry in the oil. Once the chicken is done or doneish pull it out and set it aside. \u00c2\u00a0Now make a little rue with the oil in the bottom of the pan. \u00c2\u00a0It’s the rue and the okra that thicken the \u00c2\u00a0gumbo. \u00c2\u00a0Once the rue has cooked nicely (maybe 5 minutes or so), add some stock, whatever kind works. \u00c2\u00a0Or just use water, there are plenty of flavors coming to go around. \u00c2\u00a0In this case, I used a mix of the seafood broth I picked-up in my shopping adventure, chicken broth, and some water. \u00c2\u00a0Next add a bunch of Orka, cut into about half to quarter inch pieces–don’t bother being\u00c2\u00a0delicate, they completely vanish after a few hours of cooking. \u00c2\u00a0Oh, and don’t forget to put all that meat back in along with whatever else you’ve found laying around.<\/p>\n

Then you let it cook and cook and cook. \u00c2\u00a0As the rain fell and we tapped into the large provisions of beer the gumbo cooked away. \u00c2\u00a0Every 15 minutes or so it’s important to stop by and give it a good stir and scrape the bottom of the pot. \u00c2\u00a0Slowly but surely everything in the pot becomes one. \u00c2\u00a0First the okra just vanishes. \u00c2\u00a0Then you notice the shrimps have gone and some meat is falling off the chicken bones. \u00c2\u00a0Suddenly there is no more meat on the chicken bones. \u00c2\u00a0The main solids left are the sausage\u00c2\u00a0chunks and what looks like pulled chicken. \u00c2\u00a0This is one of the reasons I highly recommend having a little crab or something to throw on top before eating. \u00c2\u00a0Another, as of yet untested, thought I have is to retain another batch of shrimp and fish to put in for the last 30-45 minutes of cooking–that way after the base has it’s amazing flavor from the\u00c2\u00a0disintegration\u00c2\u00a0of\u00c2\u00a0ingredients\u00c2\u00a0there’ll still\u00c2\u00a0chunks\u00c2\u00a0of those\u00c2\u00a0delicious\u00c2\u00a0ingredients\u00c2\u00a0to be had.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Cornbread<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Of course, with all of these hours of\u00c2\u00a0simmering\u00c2\u00a0the gumbo, it would be wrong to not make a little corn bread and rice to go along with the meal. \u00c2\u00a0 Personally, I’m not a fan of really dry cornbread. \u00c2\u00a0Some would say that means I’m not really a fan of cornbread. \u00c2\u00a0I’m okay with that, but here is how you make the stuff the way I like it:<\/p>\n

Ingredients:<\/em><\/p>\n

    \n
  • \u00c2\u00a01\/2 cup butter<\/li>\n
  • 2\/3 cup white sugar<\/li>\n
  • 3 eggs (most would have use only 2)<\/li>\n
  • 1 cup buttermilk<\/li>\n
  • 1\/2 teaspoon baking\u00c2\u00a0powder<\/li>\n
  • 2 cup cornmeal<\/li>\n
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour<\/li>\n
  • 1\/2 can of creamed corn<\/li>\n
  • 1\/2 cup\u00c2\u00a0shredded\u00c2\u00a0sharp\u00c2\u00a0cheddar<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Directions<\/em><\/p>\n

    First, in a medium bowl whisk the eggs so that you get some air bubbles in the mix. \u00c2\u00a0Next add some buttermilk (if you don’t have buttermilk around you can make a good substitute by mixing one cup milk with a tablespoon of lemon juice). \u00c2\u00a0 Let that mixture get up to room temperature. \u00c2\u00a0Next, melt the butter in large skillet. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. \u00c2\u00a0Then add the sugar butter to the room temperature egg\/buttermilk bowl. \u00c2\u00a0 (Note: if you didn’t let your eggs and buttermilk get up to room temperature everything will fail here, the sugar and butter will get cold and start turning back into a solid.) \u00c2\u00a0Whisk the liquid for a bit. \u00c2\u00a0Combine the dry ingredients in their own bowl. \u00c2\u00a0Now slowly whisk in large handfuls of the dry\u00c2\u00a0ingredients\u00c2\u00a0into the liquid and keep whisking until there are little or no lumps. \u00c2\u00a0Then put the batter into a greased baking pan. \u00c2\u00a0Spoon a smattering of creamed corn onto\/into the batter. \u00c2\u00a0Finally, sprinkle the sharp cheddar on top and bake for about 30 minutes at 375 (or until it browns and a toothpick comes out clean).<\/p>\n

    I wish I had a picture of all of this, but, alas, I didn’t have the\u00c2\u00a0foresight. \u00c2\u00a0 Though, with my freezer full of gumbo, a photo op of the gumbo in a bowl, over rice, with a nice slice of cornbread siting on top is sure to be coming soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I’m glad to report that I’m alive and well after Irene blew through. \u00c2\u00a0Nick and I prepared for the storm the only way we know how to do things: in excess; and invited over some friends from low lying areas. \u00c2\u00a0With 6 people, one dog, one bird, and one hurricane turned tropical storm it was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[71,70,43],"class_list":["post-380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cooking","tag-cornbread","tag-gumbo","tag-seafood"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.eatcooklive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.eatcooklive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.eatcooklive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.eatcooklive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.eatcooklive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.eatcooklive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.eatcooklive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.eatcooklive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.eatcooklive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}