# First time at gumbo. Any pointers?



## JFolm (Apr 22, 2012)

Like stated. I am going to try making my first gumbo. 

I bought chicken, smoked Tasso, hot zummos, and some fresh duck breasts. I didn't know if that would have too much going on.. ?


Do y'all add anything extra to yours?


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## MikeS2942 (Mar 5, 2010)

Dont burn the roux


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## Haute Pursuit (Jun 26, 2006)

Okra


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## Ready.Fire.Aim (Sep 22, 2009)

1. Speak like dis whin you makes it: A classic video of Justin Wilson making gumbo 




2. I tell you thats right now-Learn how to make a good Roux. The best I ever had was made by a Cajun guy I worked with. He used a special flour mix, I think it had barley flour mixed with the wheat flour he got from his hometown of Abbeyville, LA. I use regular flour and butter, it has a good, nutty brown taste.

As the other poster said don't burn the roux. If you do burn it start over and throw the burned roux to the dogs. If you don't got dogs that eat burned Roux then get three or two of them so they fight over it and gets pot-licked clean.

3. Add what you like. I love seafood so mine always has shrimp, crab and fish. HoooWeee nice.

I make a big batch and freeze serving sizes. It always tastes better the second day.

Have fun
RFA


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## the hook (Aug 8, 2011)

I will just say KISS...Keep It Simple Stupid....I made a batch once(duck, shrimp, sausage, sherry, beer etc) that I figured cost about $7 a bowl in the late 70s:dance:


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## DA REEL DADDY (Jun 7, 2005)

PATIENCE 


I made my first pot the other day too. Got a lot of ideas, recommendation's from the your tube recipe videos. 

I think my the roux (canola oil and flour) took a hour, but came out perfect. Then I put in trilogy, 15 or 20 minutes later did the sausage for few, and then some stock, then diced tomatoes, and the chives/green onions, then put the frozen okra, simmered for about another 20 or 30, then the deboned chicken and seasoning (which was just tonys slow simmer for about 15 minutes then the shrimp and at 3 minutes turned it off. served over rice made with the chicken stock.

Was at the stove constantly moving my flame from med to medium low. I have heard ladies at work say gumbo is a lot of work. It is but it is fun and to make. I will do it again here pretty soon.


To me it was the BEST GUMBO I have ever eaten!

HAVE FUN.

Let us know how yours turned out.


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## Captain Dave (Jul 19, 2006)

Gumbos: There are no 2 alike. Well the ones you dislike... lol .

Use what ever you like and time the cooking aspects, Copper Penny Roux, Fresh Stock ( Duck would be best, cheeken 2nd ) Fresh ingredients.. Skim da fat off the top as it cooks as well. Depending on how you cook da sauage, that will add fat than needs to be skimmed off at some point .

If you opt out of Okra, sub in FilÃ© powder. You would add FilÃ© to a individual bowl or the pot at the end before serving to thicken..

As for the extras, fresh saffron...most everything else is common .. Seafood Gumbo is a different story . 

Easy Roux: 
1 C Canola oil ( or duck or bacon fat )
1 Cup all purpose flour.. 

Heat oil on med to med low heat in a heavy sauce pan til shimmers ( cast Iron best ) and keep an eye on it and don't let it burn. Use a wooden spoon ... Roux will continue to darken until its cooled . You can cook the trinity in the Roux to cool down or cook the trinity separate.


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## CoastalOutfitters (Aug 20, 2004)

as for the roux

chop the bell pepper , onion and celery up how you want it and put in a bowl.
you will mix the oil and flour in a 1:1 ratio , a cup of each for a very small batch, 2 cups ea for a large soup pot full.

heat a very large skillet on a fish fry burner outside, w the oil sift in the flour once the oil shimmers, and stir w a flat blade wooden spatula.

once the roux reaches dark copper penny color, start stirring in the veget. that you chopped, this will stop the roux from burning .

once they soften pull off the heat and take a break.

if you burn/scorch the roux before you add the veget. ,* pour it out, *clean the skillet, and start over, don't try to save it, it is not expensive to start over.

pour all this and the big pot and start your gumbo, add the liquids as you go to hold the proper thickness, not adding roux to a large pot of water, that is soup...............


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## goatchze (Aug 1, 2006)

Made one yesterday. It's a fun dish to make and the variations/customization are endless! There will be 1000s of pieces of advice, but the important thing is to learn your routine and what works well for you.

My tip would be that, until you've made a few rouxs, go with the two beer method. Once you've got a few under your belt, you can speed things along.

The two beer method is simply this: It should take you two beers before the roux is ready.

Pick the color you want; I normally go with a dark brown (hershey bar) for ours. Add the flour and the oil, mix, then apply medium-low heat. You must continually stir throughout the procedure, but it doesn't have to be vigorous. Just enough to keep things mixed (you'll see what I mean).

If, after your first beer, you're not half way there, then turn the heat up a bit. If, after the first beer, things are getting too dark for the half way point, turn the heat down a bit.

The roux should finish somewhere along with that second beer.

The last tip I'll give you is mixing the roux in with the liquid (where I disagree with Coastal). I've found that, when I just add the broth to the roux, I end up getting some separation and oil floating on top in the final gumbo.

I like to get the broth/tomatoes/beer/other liquids simmering in a separate pot. When the roux is close to ready, I remove it from the heat and stir for another minute or two until the pot cools slightly. I then add 1/2 the vegetables (trinity + garlic). Once the vegetables are thoroughly combined with the roux, I reapply the heat at medium-high and saute, stirring fairly constantly. Once the vegetables are fairly well cooked (but still crunchy), I move the roux to the broth.

Here's the trick, though, to keep everything together. Move one ladle/spoon full of the roux/vegetable mixture at a time to the simmering liquid. Stir the liquid well until the roux is completely dissolved in the broth, then go in for the next spoonful. Once you're down to about that last spoonful of roux, add the now thickened broth back to the original pan so as not to waste any of the roux. When you're finished, everything should be well dissolved and you shouldn't have any oil floating at the top or otherwise separating out.

Once it's all back to a simmer, I add the remaining vegetables, meats, seasoning, etc, reserving any seafood (crab, shrimp, fish) until the very end. You'll find a combo of meats you like, our basic gumbo consists of about 1 lb of "light" meat, such as chicken, duck breast, dove breast, squirrel, rabbit, etc., 1 lb of andouille sausage, 1 lb of shrimp, and 8 oz of crab meat (lump or canned, either way).


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## CoastalOutfitters (Aug 20, 2004)

you don't put any kind of sausage in seafood gumbo, then everything just tastes like sausage.


as said above , hold out the fish and shrimp until 30 mins before serving, and esp. the crab, maybe 10 mins out for that one.

I always add 1 bunch of chopped fresh green onion and one bunch chopped fresh parsley about 30 mins before serving......nice color at the end.........


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## live2fish247 (Jul 31, 2007)

I have to agree with Coastal about adding the broth to the roux and not the other way round. The first time I made gumbo I added the roux to the broth only to find I had too much broth or too little roux. For me, it's a lot easier to get the right thickness by thinning the roux with broth. I guess once you've done it enough and know exactly how much of each you need then it wouldn't matter. Dang, now I'm craving gumbo. 

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## Shaky (May 21, 2004)

I always use 1/2 butter and 1/2 bacon grease for my roux. Gives it a better flavor to me than oil. Everything else has pretty much been posted.


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## balvarez (Mar 6, 2006)

Tony Chachere makes an instant roux that is not bad and very easy to use.


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## waterwolf (Mar 6, 2005)

*Boiled egg*

And crab...thyme seasoning..a little goes a long way.


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## JFolm (Apr 22, 2012)

Thanks everyone. Today my better half made the gumbo for me while I was at work. She cheated and used a roux made by Dougets. I plan to use y'all's suggestions when I get a chance to make my own batch.


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## deano77511 (Feb 2, 2005)

JFolm said:


> Thanks everyone. Today my better half made the gumbo for me while I was at work. She cheated and used a roux made by Dougets. I plan to use y'all's suggestions when I get a chance to make my own batch.


Years ago a friend turned me on to this book ,we now call it the bibble ! LoL 
It has thought me everything ! He cooks his rouxe fast and ends it with the veg. and cook the veg. In the napalm .
http://www.chefpaul.com/site.php?pageID=347&iteminfo=1&productID=31
And you can put sausage just use a andouille instead . And your stock means a lot , I use shrimp heads, fish skeleton ,crab hulls .onion garlic and celery . Pm me if you got any questions .


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## Captain Dave (Jul 19, 2006)

JFolm said:


> Thanks everyone. Today my better half made the gumbo for me while I was at work. She cheated and used a roux made by Dougets. I plan to use y'all's suggestions when I get a chance to make my own batch.


She cheaed on ya on the Roux there is no telling the next happening... *** is Dougets ? lol

Give it a week and establish yourself in the kitchen as a contender. Since there was no pics, you can only do better... Dont make me go gumbo on ya...


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## rynochop (Aug 28, 2006)

Make your own roux, its not hard at all..does take some patience, just have a beer at your side. Just oil and flour and stir for like 30 minutes.


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## Fishin' Soldier (Dec 25, 2007)

MikeS2942 said:


> Dont burn the roux


Number one pointer. The rest will be fine.

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## bbgarcia (Mar 23, 2008)

rynochop said:


> Make your own roux, its not hard at all..does take some patience, just have a beer at your side. Just oil and flour and stir for like 30 minutes.


Use the beer as a timer!! I usually have 2 or 3 and then I know my roux is right. Just keep an eye on the heat esp. if you're using a burner outside.


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