Seafood Gumbo with Andouille Sausage

Another one of my favorite food is gumbo. I prefer seafood gumbo because I love shrimp and crab. My fiance and I were craving some gumbo, so I made us a big ole pot of seafood gumbo. We shared some with his sisters too. This freezes great and easy to reheat. If you love gumbo as much as I do, keep reading because I found a great recipe. I made some changes to suit my taste. If you don't like seafood, you can make this gumbo with chicken and andouille sausage.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup bacon drippings (you can use butter, but bacon drippings is better)
1 cup chopped celery (I chopped about 4 stalks of celery)
1 large onion, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound andouille sausage, sliced (I used 12 oz since that's what the package came in)
3 1/2 quarts water, add more if needed
4 cubes beef bouillon
1 tablespoon white sugar
salt to taste
2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce (I used Tabasco), or to taste
2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning blend (I used Old Bay), or to taste
4 bay leaves
1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
1 (6 ounce) can tomato sauce
2 teaspoons gumbo file powder plus 2 teaspoons gumbo file powder reserved for the end
2 (10 ounce) packages frozen cut okra, thawed and washed thoroughly to remove as much of the slimy texture as possible
1 pound lump crab meat (I used the one from Costco... trust me, the quality is so good)
1 1/2 pounds uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
White rice, prepared in advance

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 2 hours

 

 

 

Step 1:
Cook  6 strips of bacon in a big pot. I cut mine in half so it would fit better in my dutch oven. Once bacon is cooked, remove from pot. Add flour and whisk 15-20 minutes to develop your roux. Make sure you constantly whisk your roux so it doesn't burn. When your roux is a mahogany color (see pic below), it's ready.

 

 

Step 2:
Add your holy trinity (onion, celery and bell pepper) and garlic to the roux. Stir it around for a few minutes then add your andouille sausage. Stir it for another 5 minutes. Remove the roux mixture from the pot and set aside.

 

Step 3:
In the pot, add 3 quarts of water and 4 cubes of beef buillon. Bring to a boil and add roux mixture. Add stewed tomato, tomato sauce, cajun seasoning, bay leaves, sugar and hot sauce. Simmer on low heat for 50 minutes.

 

 

Step 4:
After 50 minutes have passed, add gumbo file powder and Worcestershire sauce. Continue to simmer for another 30 minutes. After the additional 30 minutes, add okra, shrimp and crab meat. Stir gently to mix. Simmer for an additional 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, stir in additional gumbo file powder. Taste and make any adjustments. Discard bay leaves and serve with white rice.

 

 

I store my gumbo in to go soup containers (see pic below). This recipe makes about 5 quarts. Easy to store and easy to give to family and friends. Good luck and enjoy!

Vietnamese Chicken Curry (Ca Ri Ga)

Vietnamese Chicken Curry aka Ca Ri Ga is a dish that I loved to eat when I was still living with my parents. Once in a while, Chau and I will have a craving for curry and whip up a pot. If you like curry like I do, stay tuned to see how I made this curry.

Ingredients:
2 lbs chicken thighs (I used skinless, boneless), cut into 1 1/2-2 inch pieces
3-4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut (see pic) - I used 4 since we like potatoes
2 carrots, peeled and cut (see pic)
1 small onion, diced
3 stalks of lemongrass, smashed and cut (see pic)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 bay leaves
2 cans of chicken broth, 14 oz each
2 can of water, use chicken broth can
1 red chili pepper, sliced (omit if you do not like spicy)
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder
1 Tablespoon Madras curry powder, can add more to suit your taste (can be found at most Oriental food market in the spices aisle)
2 teaspoon sugar
1 can coconut milk or cream, we like to use coconut cream, the cans come in 14 or 17 oz, we like it coconutty so we use 17 oz.
Oil

Chicken marinade:
2 Tbsp Madras curry powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon fish sauce or 1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper powder or black pepper

 

Step 1:
Cut your chicken thighs into 1-2 inch pieces. Marinate with fish sauce or salt, pepper, curry, onion and garlic powder. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Step 2:
In a pot, lightly oil and saute garlic, onion and lemongrass for 2-3 minutes on medium heat. Add bay leaves, chicken broth, water, fish sauce or salt, chicken bouillon powder, and 1 Tablespoon of curry powder. Mix well. Taste, you may add more curry powder to your taste. Be careful not to add too much. Turn heat on high.

Step 3:
In a large pan, lightly oil and sear your chicken then add to broth. In the same pan, lightly oil and saute carrots and potatoes. You want to lightly brown the carrots and potatoes on all sides before adding to the broth. This helps the carrots and potatoes stay intact after adding them to the broth.

Step 4:
Once the broth boils, turn down to medium low heat and simmer for additional 20 minutes. Add your coconut milk or cream. I prefer to use coconut cream instead of coconut milk. Stir gently to incorporate the coconut cream. Taste your broth, if you need more salt, add extra fish sauce or salt. Discard bay leaves and lemongrass before serving.

Traditionally, we eat Ca Ri Ga with french bread. Alternatively, you can serve with white rice or even vermicelli rice noddles. Good luck and enjoy!

Crawfish Etouffee

Who loves crawfish... this girl! Every start of crawfish season, we boil up a big pot to satisfy our cravings. We had extra, so I peeled the crawfish tails, vacuum sealed those suckers and threw them in the freezer.

It just occurred to me the other day that I had these delectable crawfish tails in the freezer. So crawfish etouffee it is. If you are a crawfish lover like me, keep reading to see how I made this delicious dish. If you are not a crawfish fan, you can use shrimp instead.

Ingredients:

1 lb of frozen crawfish tails (or fresh if you have access to it)

1 bell pepper, diced (I used half of a green and half of a red)

1 small onion, diced

2 stalks of celery, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 cups of shrimp stock (all I had on hand was chicken broth and it worked perfectly)

1 cup of water (reserve to thin out if too thick)

3 bay leaves

1 1/2 sticks of butter

3 Tablespoons of flour

Old bay seasoning or any other Cajun seasoning (start with 1-2 teaspoons, add more to taste)

Black pepper

*Optional to add a kick: 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne and a few splashes of your favorite hot sauce (I used cayenne and Tabasco) 

*parsley for garnish

*you may want to prepare white rice in advance

Tip: I like to use a small container to collect all of my scraps and trash during prep. Just dump out the container afterwards and rinse. 

Step 1:

Add butter to pot and wait for it to melt. Then add flour. Using a whisk, blend the flour and butter (see picture below). You will need to whisk or stir the roux so it doesn't burn. I didn't spend too much time on my roux since this is not gumbo and you don't need it to be dark. About 7-8 minutes should be good. Mine was a little bit lighter than the color of peanut butter.

Step 2:

Add garlic, bell pepper, celery, onion and bay leaves to roux and sautee for another 7-8 minutes until tender. Add crawfish, stock/broth. Once you add the stock, it will thicken. If it is too thick for your liking, add water until the broth is to your liking. Bring to a boil.

Step 3:

Add old bay or cajun seasoning and pepper to taste . Remember to add as you go. You can always add more seasoning, but you can't take it away! Simmer uncovered on medium low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add cayenne pepper and Tabasco. Make any last minute seasoning adjustments as this is the final stretch. Discard bay leaves. You want a good flavor, but don't want to overpower it since the crawfish is the star of the dish. Plate up, garnish with parsley flakes and you're ready to devour. 

Good luck and enjoy!