Talk about killing 2 birds with 1 stone: 2 challenges, same publish date…SAME THEME! Awesome! And it gets better, I cooked with another daring kitchen member who has a food blog and who just so happens to be a great friend! On the menu tonight for both the Daring Cooks Challenge and the International Incident Party (which is hosted by the lovely Penny at Jeroxie) : Gumbo.
Gumbo is a stew or soup which originated in south Louisiana. It consists primarily of a strong stock, meat or shellfish, a thickener, and the vegetable “holy trinity” of celery, bell peppers, and onion. Gumbo is often categorized by the type of thickener used: the African vegetable okra, the Choctaw spice filé powder, and/or the French base made of flour and fat, roux.
DC challenge: 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. For the entire recipe PFD click here.
My partner in crime is Amanda of The Mindful Table. We met about a year ago through a Montreal food blogger BBQ, realized we actually had a lot of common interests and acquaintances. And then she joined the Daring Kitchen so we exchanged emails and phones calls on various recipes. Finally the stars were aligned for us to cook a challenge together. Amanda’s blog is devoted to local and sustainable food. If you want to learn more about these options, and learn about the organic meats we used in this recipe then check out her post of the gumbo challenge.
Our notes
Neither one of us was enthralled by the idea of so much sausage so we cut back a lot. And once all the herbs and spices were added from the original recipe we found it quite bland so we added a lot more thyme and cumin seeds, chili flakes and cayenne. We also added 3 garlic cloves to the rub. Oh and we did not read about the size of the pan…we used a 4-5 quart….so we only got in half the chicken stock (1.5 quarts) but we got a quite liquid gumbo so no idea why the recipe says 3 quarts.
There was a lot confusion and a lot of improvising…thank god we are both good at that and can laugh it off. It was really fun night filled with cooking, banter, booze, gossip and laughter. Love you my friend! The gumbo was not what we expected, we found by the end all the veggies and meat had disintegrated. But it was very good to eat. I would not do this recipe again though.
The wine pairing was phenomenal. I researched the best red wines online to go with gumbo and the results were Pinot Noir or Gamay. Went to the SAQ store, asked for the best mid-priced, splurged a bit more for a Californian Santa Barbara Pinot Noir 2009…A-MA-ZING with the gumbo.
Here are the recipes we used…
Drew’s Chicken & Smoked Sausage Gumbo
VERY adapted by Evelyne and Amanda
Serves 10-12
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 organic chicken (3 ½ to 4 lbs.), cut into 10 pieces
2 tablespoons (30 ml) (15 gm) (½ oz) Creole spice blend
3 garlic cloves, crushed
3/4 pound organic Valens smoked german style sausage, sliced ½ inch (15mm) thick
2 stalks celery, diced
2 green bell peppers (capsicum), seeded and diced
1 tomato, seeded and chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 sprigs of fresh thyme
1.5 quarts (1.5 liters) Chicken Stock
2 bay leaves
2 cups (480 ml) (320 gm) (11 oz) sliced fresh okra, ½ -inch (15mm) thick slices
1 tablespoon (15 ml) Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon (15 ml) crushed cumin seeds
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
cayenne and chili flakes, to taste
4-6 cups (1 – 1½ liters) (650 gm – 950 gm) cooked Basic Louisiana White Rice (recipe follows)
Directions:
1. Season the chicken pieces with the Creole Spices and 3 garlic cloves while you prepare the vegetables.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Add the chicken; raise the heat to moderate, and cook, turning the pieces until slightly browned, 10 minutes.
6. Add the sliced sausage and stir for about a minute.
7. Add the celery, bell peppers, tomato, and garlic, and continue stirring for about 3 minutes.
8. Add the thyme, chicken stock, and bay leaves. Bring the gumbo to a boil, stirring occasionally.
9. 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.
1o. Add the chopped okra, and Worcestershire. Season with cumin, salt, pepper, and cayenne and chili flakes, to taste.
11. 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.
Basic Louisiana White Rice
Servings: About 4 cups
Ingredients
1 tablespoon (30 ml) (30 gm) (1 oz) chicken fat, extra-virgin olive oil, or butter
1 small onion, minced
1½ cups (360 m) ((280 gm) (10 oz) Louisiana rice (we used brown rice)
3 cups (750 ml) Basic Chicken Stock
1 bay leaf
1-2 pinches salt
Directions:
1. Put the fat, oil, or butter and the onions into a medium saucepan and sweat the onions over moderate heat until they are translucent, about 5 minutes.
2. Pour the rice into the pan and stir for 2 minutes.
3. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil.
4. Add the bay leaf and salt.
5. Cover the pan with a lid, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 18 minutes.
6. Remove the pan from the heat, fluff the rice with a fork, and serve.
Looking for more Southern-inspired recipes? Check out my other recipes below:
Oh wow, two challenges in one, I can’t believe you and Amanda did it. Congratz to you both!
I bet you two had a blast in the kitchen! I didn’t make this, as all that roux and meat did not sound appealing at all. Will have to get off my butt and make this month’s challenge, even though I don’t like the main ingredient! Is it a long weekend in QC? Enjoy!
Looks great, what a challenge, but I am sure it’s no challenge to you…hehe, it sure looks perfect 😀
Looks so good. Gumbo is one of the few dishes my husband is in charge of preparing…..it’s been too long since he’s worked his magic. 😉
Wow, this gumbo looks delicious…love the idea of killing two birds with one stone…hope you are having a great week Evelyne 🙂
I like your nail color!! 😀 and the okra. I never cooked gumbo before but this sounds earthy and tasty!
That looks so delicious!! I bet it was so much fun to work on this with another food blogger… I need to find me one of those! 🙂
I’ve never tried gumbo before but all the delicious looking IIP versions are making me crave it!
This is an amazing looking dish! Delicious!
Cheers
Nice looking gumbo there! And great that you got do accomplish two challenges at one, love the wine choice as well 🙂
Looks really good, I must say that made me hungry 🙂
It sounds like you had a fun day of cooking together! The gumbo sounds delicious… I’m sure you both enjoyed!
Sounds like you had great fun and excellent results!
Glad you had fun with this challenge. And props for using organic meats. I’m surprised you found it bland, though: I thought it was nicely seasoned – then again, I may have kicked up the cayenne. Anyways, it looks great, and thanks for the wine recommendation!
I love all the improvising. Your end result sounds great and, even more important, it sounds like y’all had a blast.
Wow! two challenges at the same time! looks like you ladies had a great time
How fun to cook with another blogger, and this gumbo sure looks delicious! Great wine pairing with the pinot!
It looks like you guys hada lot of fun! I would love to cook with another passionate cook. I love your dishes! They look like a piece of art Evelyn. Great job as usual.
Have a great week ahead.
Having another enthusiastic cook in the kitchen is always fun. I like the wine pairing as well. You have to love those California pinots. Great looking gumbo.
I love that you got to cook this with a fellow daring cook! And everything tastes better with wine!
Thank you all for your great comments and compliments…particularly on my nail polish hahahahaha.
Well, I am sorry that the gumbo didn’t turn out as you had hoped, but of course I am very glad that that luscious wine made it all better! I loved this one (even though I was late) … gumbo is one of my very favorite things y’all!
It was great doing this challenge with you. We must cook together again! And yes, the wine was fabulous and a perfect match!
Love the nails. And the ingredients. I’ve never made gumbo but have always wanted to. I think when the sun comes out. Sometime soon. Thanks for the wine tip.
Woah.. your roux looks fab! Wished ours turned out with the same lovely colour!
How great that your two challenges lined up so perfectly! Your gumbo looks fabulous, and it is always more fun to have a partner in crime working next to you! (I love the orange nails, by the way!)I am sorry it wasn’t to your liking, but I am glad that you had fun!
Good to hear that you enjoyed the process of making the gumbo with your friend that is always so much FUN sorry to hear that you didn’t like it so much, I think maybe the veggies should be added in the last 30 mins of the simmering that is what I did lovely work always fun to visit your blog.
Cheers frpm Audax in Sydney Australia.
Two challenges in one! How exciting! Amazing looking gumbo, Evelyne! I bet it was delicious!
I meant to say, ‘turned mushy’ above! LOL.
Evelyne, looks like you and Amanda had a grand old time preparing this gumbo! I think the reason why your vegetables and meat turned is that you simmered 45 minutes longer than I did… In any case, if he gumbo tasted amazing, that’s all that really matters!
PS. I love the golden nails ;-).
oh wow! love the look of the roux and the medly of pepper, onions and okra! i know who to go for if I want a bowl of hearty gumbo.