I'm hoping one of you has an awesome Chicken Gumbo recipe that I can use. Maybe a few of the cooks here can post their recipes or combine them to create the ultimate Tiger Forums Chicken Gumbo. My wife does well but she's not from :laflagwav so I'm looking for the lagniappe ingredients she's missing. :grin: Thanks!
Yep and it is the most important part. If the roux ain't right the gumbo won't be no matter what you put in it. Is she making the roux from scratch? If so lead her to the jar stuff.
I would NEVER use any roux from a jar or a package. Making a real roux is not all that hard. Its not rocket science
I know that mostly everyone knows how to make a roux...it's almost a matter of national pride if you belong to Tigernation or Whodatnation, but it really is difficult to make one from written directions if you're inexperienced. Also, it's one of those things that seem like a "dumb question" or that seems like it's embarrassing if you don't really know how to make one...So I'll go ahead and tell how I make one. I either make a lot of roux that I'll save for using later on or I'll make a little that I need just for the dish I'm preparing right now. Either way, it's basically the same with some slight variation. With either amount, I first dice up some onion and have it handy right there at the stove for adding to the roux later. For just a little bit that I need at the moment, I get the pot that I'm going to cook in...a sauce pot , for example, and I put the required amount of oil in the bottom of the pot on high heat. You can use any oil but I use vegetable oil...or bacon grease if you have it. I heat up the oil with no flour at all in it until it's smoking hot because you don't have to stand there and wear your arm out stirring constantly. When the oil begins to smoke add the flour while whipping constantly. I use a whip, but I also use flat edged wooden spoons...they seem to get in the corners a little easier. The flour will brown almost immediately and foam up because there's a lot of moisture absorbed by the flour beforehand. keep whipping until the roux begins to thicken. The color is "peanut butter" but it's very smooth. Watch the texture because soom you'll see parlicles like sand grains appearing...it looks grainy. What's happening is the starch molecules are polymerizing into longer chain molecules. It's kind of like the starch molecules are beginning to hold hands and make a longer chain. At this point, I throw in the diced onions and turn off or down the heat. the acid in the onions turn into sugars and immediately the sugars caramelize and the roux becomes dark brown. It also thickens because of the water present in the onions. Now you're ready to continue...add the rest of the mirepoix or the stock to the roux and continue cooking your recipe the way you want to. By heating up the oil first, you save about ten or twelve minutes of stirring. If I'm making a lot of roux, which I suggest, I use a cast iron skillet with deep sides like you fry chicken in. or use a cast iron pot or dutch oven. The extra "freeboard" provided by the pot or pan makes things safer as far as splashing while stirring goes. Any way put a lot of oil in the pot or pan and heat it up till it's smoking hot like before. Then add the flour, a bit at a time, so it doesn't foam up and overflow. Keep whipping, stirring or scraping until you get to the grainy peanut butter phase, remove the roux from the hot burner to a cold one on the stove and just let it sit and cool down. Every once in a while, go back and stir it around. The heat from the cast iron utensil will keep cooking the roux gently and darken it to the color you want. You don't have to throw in onions here because the roux keeps darkening because the flour gets cooked ...as opposed to the onions caramelizing to provide the color. If it's cold or you're in a hurry, then put the cast iron pot in the oven at 350 degrees and it'll darken a lot faster because it doesn't cool as rapidly. But you'd better watch it and stir it more frequently because it could scorch. I've got got to go now but will be back in a while to add more thoughts on thickening.
The amount of flour you add to the roux is roughly 50%, but you can use more flour than that. I tend to make rouxs that are less liquidy and more solid. The reason I don't put onions in the second method of making a lot more roux than you need is because I store the excess roux. You don't need to refrigerate it...but if you add the onions, you do need to refrigerate because the onions can degrade. When I already have prepared roux, I usually make everything else first and use the roux last...to thicken things exactly how I want to. If I'm using the first method, and I find, that I want to make a thicker sauce (Gumbo is technically a sauce called a Veloute) I use another method of thickening. Typically, I use a cornstarch slurry. Those powdered dry roux products are handy to use also. I like to use file as well. You know, file is not just intended for gumbo, I use it in brown sauces and gravies as well. I've even made artisan breads using File and caramelized onions before. If, it's gumbo, I also use okra to thicken. I never use arrow root, but mostly because the aforementioned things are available. Maybe someone like Okie, who like to cook a lot can tell us about it...I've just never used it. It's good to keep blonde roux around for cream sauces. most recipes call for a method like the first one in which you make just enough to use in the vessel you're cooking in. I usually make a lot and keep it handy. With this roux, I use butter or margarine instead of oil...but oil is fine. But in this roux, you must cook the flour...just not enough to brown it. The flour is cooked enough when you can smell a "nutty" smell. I know that the nutty smell is kind of vague, but just smell it first and when the flour smells different, it's done. It is a roux and not just melted butter and flour...That's called a "Beurre manie" and can also be used for thickening, but it's used sparingly in restaurants for final finishing of sauces individually. The last thing I want to point out about roux in gumbo is that. the more you cook the gumbo after roux has been added, the different the flavor is...same with gravies. At first there is a roux taste. then after an hour or so, the roux tase disappears and a more complex flavor is found. I like to mask the roux flavor by long simmering time, but I've eaten gumbo prepared by some of the best creole chefs in New Orleans that have a distinct roux taste. It all depends on your personal preference, which usually in turn is determined by how your "Mama" made the gumbo taste. When in doubt always do what your Mama told you... ...you can't go wrong there...(It's one of the ten commandments).
