True....making a stock out of the heads and peelings would be good, too, but usually, if you aren't from our area or near the water, fresh shrimp/oysters isn't an option. I also like to eat a few oysters raw on a cracker while cooking the gumbo and I do not suggest doing this with unpasteurized shellfish. A little lump crabmeat in the gumbo early is another good tip for tasty broth. When I posed that question, I really meant "strange" things added to a gumbo. Change the question....just want to hear about strange things you've seen in a gumbo...doesn't matter if it was good or not! lol My aunt used to do a seafood gumbo, but instead of adding a little tasso for a smoky flavor, she'd add a leftover smoked pork chop or two....and it was mmmm mmmm good. My dad told me a horror story about squirrel gumbo. He said the guys who made it would clean and skin the squirrel, then throw in the pot heads on and all. Dad said he couldn't bring himself to eat the stuff because he couldn't stand his dinner looking back at him from his bowl. lol
Does adding the crabmeat early make a difference? I always add it when the gumbo is almost done because I don't want to over cook the crabmeat. I made a seafood gumbo for Christmas and the pound of lump crabmeat was $23. Another flavor tip: When making the roux use the bacon grease you have saved from your breakfasts instead of regular cooking oil. (not great for the arteries but it makes a difference in taste) Start seasoning the roux from the beginning with black and cayenne pepper, Tony Chacheries and fresh crushed garlic. When the roux is starting to get a good dark brown color add about 10 or 12 drops of Tabasco sauce to it. Don't worry, the hotness of the Tabasco will cook out and still leave the flavor.
Yep, BengalB...makes a difference. You only want to add a heaping tablespoon or so to the gumbo early on. It will infuse with the broth. No danger in overcooking it...you are wanting to overcook that tablespoon full of crab meat, the few shrimp, and the couple of oysters. You want them to break-down. Yeah....I hear ya about the price of crab meat. It ain't cheap here anymore, either....and neither are shrimp or oysters, for that matter. Another tip...pan fry the shrimp before adding to the gumbo. It intensifies the shrimp flavor by getting out all of the water in their bodies and also helps in keeping them from breaking down easily. Deglaze the pan you use to pan fry with a little beer, white wine, seafood stock, or water if that's all you got, and dump it all in the pot with the gumbo. I'm now editing this post because I just thought of another method of deglazing the pan and I wasn't very specific about the method of pan frying I use. First, I use a cast iron skillet sprayed with a nice thin layer of Pam or some sort of cooking oil spray. Don't pile all of your shrimp in at the same time. you want to just cover the bottom of the skillet...this means you will more than likely have to pan fry and take the finished shrimp out and put aside, then repeat with more raw shrimp. Season the shrimp with generous portions of your favorite dry seasonings (I like Tony Chacharie's More Spice, but use whatever you like) while pan frying. Don't immediately put shrimp in the gumbo....besides the 5-10 you want to break down and infuse with the broth. If you are using crawfish tails, you can pan fry those, too, and set them aside. Save the crawfish bags and fill them up with hot water and use the crawfish fat/water combo to deglaze your pan. Make sure you leave the heat slightly on while deglazing and scrape off all of those little pieces of heaven off of the bottom of the pan. Don't let it reduce too much. Pull that off and dump it into the gumbo pot. Put the shrimp and crawfish in with about 30 minutes of cooking time left, Crab meat with about 15 minutes remaining, and oysters and onion tops in at the very end while you are letting the gumbo "rest". Bon apetite! I promise you will want to slap your momma the first day, and flat out kick her ass the second day! LOL Anyone who doesn't know what I mean by "second day", they've never had good gumbo!
Another thing you can do with that boudin or smoked sausage from Hackett's (or anywhere) is take a pork tenderloin, and cut a slit in the middle of it, then stuff a link in there, salt and pepper the outside. That's pretty damn good too. One more tip: one of Prudhomme's favorite things to do is use a variety of peppers - black, red, white, etc. - try that instead of the old regular black pepper - and use a pepper grinder - don't use that pre-grinded crap out of the box - once you have one you'll never go back
Going on SOS's tip, another thing you can do with a pork tenderloin is butterfly it, then stuff it with crabmeat, onions, peppers and cheese, roll it back up and throw it on the grill.
I defy anyone to find another school's discussion board where a thread like this appears. Someone mentions food and suddely recipes start popping up all over the place. It is one of the great things about being a Tiger fan!
Dem Okies may have dem 7 NC's but I garawntee dey ain't got nuttin like dis and I'll took dis every damn day!! Dey be nice but you can't eat dem NC's! HOOOOO BOOOOOOY!!!!!! GEAUX TIGERS!!!!!!!! LSU, 2003 TEAM OF DESTINY!!!!!! 2003 CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP, GOT ONE?
