Chicken StockCan be done ahead. Friends don’t let friends eat store-bought chicken stock.
1. Roast 2 dozen chicken legs at 500 deg for 1-2 hours or until the meat is falling off the bone. Take off the meat and put aside.
2. Take the skin, bones, gristle, etc and any pan drippings and put them in a large stock pot with one large onion, cut in quarters, five ribs of celery cut roughly, three carrots cut roughly, 10 sprigs of fresh thyme stems and all, 2 cups fresh parsley stems and all, three cloves, salt and pepper to taste. Cover with water, boil for 2 hours.
3. Let it cool, strain it out, pour it in a pitcher, let it cool, fridge it. In the morning, it should be all gooey and gelatinous. Now that’s good eats.
Mahogany RouxThe most important part. Can also be done ahead and fridged.
1. Take one cup of butter, melt it over medium heat in a cast iron skillet or dutch oven. Add one cup of flour, and whisk it until it’s smooth and there are no lumps.
2. Stir, stir, stir. Use a wooden paddle or something that will let you keep the roux moving so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. If you see little black flakes, you burned it. Start over.
3. It will start to get cream colored and bubbly. Keep going. It will start to get the color of peanut butter. Keep going. It will start to get darker and darker. When it’s darker than peanut butter but lighter than chocolate, you’re done.
Gumbo!- 2 onions, diced
- 2 green bell pepers, diced
- 2 ribs of celery, diced
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 1 cup of mahogany roux
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1/2 lb andouille sausage, sliced on the bias
- 1/2 lb chicken meat, bite-size, picked from the bone
- 2 crayfish or shrimp, whole, shells and legs and googly eyes and everything
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper — 2 if you like it hot
- 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1-2 tsp filé powder (sassafras)
1. In a big pot goes the onions, bell peppers, celery, and garlic with a little oil. Sauté until they’re good and see-through.
2. Add roux and stock. Stir it up a bit until there’s no lumps. Bring to a boil then turn down to a simmer.
3. Throw in everything else except shellfish, parsley and filé powder. You want to do those at the end.
4. Simmer for oh, I don’t know, a half an hour or so until it gets real smooth and tastes all melded together. Add salt and pepper in small bits as you go along so you don’t over season it too much in the beginning.
5. Throw in the shellfish. Cook for 10 minutes or until they’re good and red.
6. Add parsley and filé powder. Add that slowly, too. It’s a thickener, and you don’t want it to be too goopy.
7. Serve hot over rice.
Whoo-ee!
|
|
