Gumbo

Last night, we ordered pizza while Bug cooked gumbo to be consumed for dinner tonight. I could hardly wait!

I always forget the difference between Cajun and Creole cuisine. What I've read from various sites is that a Cajun gumbo tends to be thicker from the use of a roux made from oil and flour, spicier, and omits tomatoes.

Day 072/365

I adore Bug's thick, spicy, and smoky Cajun style gumbo. He used a chicken andouille, chicken breasts, okra, bell peppers, onions, and celery.

The roux was a mix of vegetable oil and flour. Several years ago, we learned of a way to make "roux" without the use of oil or butter by cooking flour until it turned the appropriate caramel color. This works very well, and I would imagine that 9 out of 10 people would not be able to tell the difference.

This was first time using chicken andouille from Costco. I was skeptical at first however, andouille is a spicy sausage so I felt confident that the chicken flavor wasn't going to dominate all those spices. Bug added some oil to fry the sausage in the dutch oven as very little grease or water drained during cooking.

We have, on occasion, added nuoc mam or fish sauce to our gumbo to give it more of a seafood flair.

Lastly, Bug seasoned the soup with Tabasco while it was simmering. Shortly afterwards, when the soup was ladled into bowls, a light dusting of file powder was added to give the soup a bit more depth.

A full pot of gumbo in this house lasts no more than 2 days...

- Cassaendra