Chef Mik's Seafood Gumbo

Gumbo gets its name from the slaves who were brought to Louisiana to work the plantations for the French sometime in the in the late 15 to early 1600’s, those who worked in the big house learned the cuisine of their masters, and in the case of the French one their favorites was bouillabaisse, which the slaves prepared making do with what they had available and one of their chief ingredients they brought with them from the motherland was okra otherwise known as “gumbo” in Western Africa. Gumbo doesn’t really resemble bouillabaisse anymore but has gone on to become an American classic and has been reinterpreted in several way’s sense its inception the most popular being chicken gumbo typically thought of as New Orleans style, which is prepared with the addition of smoked sausage, most commonly andouille sausage which is a very flavorful some what spicy smoked sausage who’s roots can be traced back to the Germans arrival and with them their sausage making techniques

Gumbo is easy enough to make, the trickiest part is the roux but that’s just a question of a little time and patients, you can cook yours on high but I wouldn’t recommend it once you scorch it, you’ll just have to start all over again. So I say why bother, put the time in and take pride in the end result!! You can prep a large batch ahead of time so it is ready to use whenever you need it, you can add it to sautéed vegetables and continue on as normal or just heat it up and add your vegetables, the most common combination is onion, celery, and bell pepper, the so called “holy trinity” (Cajon/ Creole mirepoix), as for the spice mix both Cajon and Creole spice mix are quite similar so we have worked out our own and use it for both, if you would like to try our mix we will list it below, as for the protein you can buy cooked shrimp or you can also poach your own in a simple court bullion ahead of time and use that broth as the basis of your gumbo or use a nice shellfish stock, I think fish stock is fine besides if you leave the tails on the shrimp they will still pick up a little of that flavor if that is what you are looking for, lastly remember gumbo is not intended to be a fancy dish its just meant to be enjoyed, that said today I will be sautéing my shrimp and adding them a la minute

Here at FoodPerfected we offer seafood and chicken gumbo; we also offer rabbit, duck, and alligator, crawfish, and lobster verities. As the name of the dish would suggest we use okra whenever possible regardless if we are preparing the seafood version or not
Spice Mix: (this is enough for two recipes)
3 TBSP paprika + 1 TBS smoked papriks
2 TBSP garlic powder or granulated garlic
2 TBSP onion powder
2 TBSP oregano
1 TBSP thyme
1 TBSP celery seed powdered
1 TBSP chili powder (cayenne) or as desired
1 TBSP white pepper
1 TBSP black pepper
1 TBSP salt

Shopping List

Flour

Canola oil

Fish stock

Diced tomatoes

Shrimp, shells removed (I am using tiger)

Crab, shells removed

Oysters, chucked

okra

Parsley

Bay leaves

Spice mix, (see above) 

My Mad Method

To prepare the roux equal parts oil and flour (1.5-2 dl each)

I like to prepare my roux in an iron skillet though it’s not a necessity

Using a wire whisk mix well to prevent burning and prevent lumps from forming

As the roux cooks it will slowly start to build in color such as here we have a blond roux

As you cook the roux the bubbles will dissipate and you will start to notes something of a toasted nut scent

This would be just about peanut colored

At this point the roux has been cooking about 20 minutes and this caramel color is fine but i want to keep going and take it further

My finished roux about 30 minutes in all, remove from heat and remember the pan is still hot so the roux if not attended will continue to cook

Off the heat transfer the roux to a Dutch oven (large pot) as quickly as possible to prevent further cooking and add 1 green bell pepper (medium dice), 1 onion (medium dice) and 2 stalks of stalk celery (medium dice) cook on moderate heat until vegetables have softened and are somewhat translucent

Add 1-1.2L fish stock, 4-5dl stewed tomatoes, 1 TBS tomato paste, half of the spice mix + 1 bay leaf, stir bring to boil lower heat and simmer for 45 minutes

Recipe for spice mix can be found on into page

When ready add 300g each crab meat, medium shrimp, and oysters plus a little of their juice, 200 sautéed okra, cook 10-12 minutes longer, season with salt and pepper and some chopped parsley

If desired you can add or substitute scallops 

Ready to serve!!

Here is the plated version, serve with some good hot sauce and "gumbo file" which is dried sassafras in powdered form it thickens somewhat so be careful with it

Ready to eat!!