Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Crawfish Gumbo






All recipes are a composite of recipes found online, in various cookbooks, from family, friends and dishes/creations I have tried myself.

The Holy Trinity in case you didn't know is: Celery, Green bell pepper, and onion. Sometimes it is celery, carrots, and onion ( This is more French and I prefer it personally).

I have no idea what the Creole side of y family used in their Gumbo spices, but most creole or Cajun seasoning include Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Paprika, Oregano, Basil, Cayenne Powder, White Pepper, and Black Pepper.



Ingredients:


•1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
•1/2 cup All-purpose Flour
•1 cup diced Onions
•1/2 cup sliced Celery
•1/4 cup diced Green Bell Pepper
•2 Garlic Cloves, minced
•Kosher Salt
•13 oz. Okra (cleaned)
•2 tbsp. White Vinegar
•4 cups Crawfish Stock
•2 cups Dark Beer
•3 tsp. Cajun Seasoning (cayenne pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, white pepper, paprika, oregano, basil)

•2 Bay Leaves
•1/4 tsp. Dried Thyme
•1/4 tsp. Dried Sage
•14.5 oz. Tomatoes, diced
•8 oz. Andouille Sausage, sliced
•1 tbsp. Hot Sauce (your favorite, vinegar-based hot sauce)
•1 lb. 4.5oz Crawfish Tail Meat (4.5 cups); Or about 9 lbs full Crawfish.
Dressing:

•1/4 cup sliced Scallion Greens
•1/4 cup chopped Parsley Leaves
•1 tsp. FilĂ© Powder
•1 tsp. Cajun Seasoning
•1 lemon worth of Lemon Juice
Instructions

1.In a heavy-bottom dutch oven, over low heat, combine oil and flour. Stir continuously for about 30-40 minutes until a milk-chocolate color is achieved.

2.Add celery, bell pepper/carrots, onion, garlic, and a good pinch of salt to cover. Continue stirring to coat vegetables evenly. Cook until roux becomes dark (like coffee) and vegetables are soft.

3.While trinity is softening, saute okra in vinegar in a pan over medium-low heat. Stir continuously and cook until okra starts to stick and vinegar is gone. Add to roux mixture.

4.Add the stock, beer, bay leaves, seasoning, thyme and sage. Raise heat to medium low, stir to combine, and let cook for 30 minutes.

5.Add tomatoes, sausage, and hot sauce. Stir again and continue cooking another 30 minutes.

6.Turn off heat, stir in crawfish tail meat, let stand 5 minutes, then serve hot!

7.To make the dressing: combine equal parts scallion and parsley, season with seasoning and file powder, combine with lemon juice.

8.Serve over steamed white rice or dirty rice, and dress with the scallion/parsley mixture.