Cajun Potato Gumbo Food

REAL CAJUN GUMBO (FROM A LOUISIANAIAN)

Steps:

• Using a sharp boning knife cut the stewing hen into 8-10 serving pieces.
• Remove as much of the fat from the chicken as possible.
• Cut andouille into ½-inch slices and set aside.
• In a 2-gallon stockpot, heat oil over medium-high heat.
• Whisk in flour, stirring constantly until golden brown roux is achieved. Do not scorch. Should black specks appear, discard and begin again.
• Add onions, celery, bell pepper and garlic. Sauté 3-5 minutes or until vegetables are wilted.
• Blend in chicken and andouille. Sauté approximately 15 minutes.
• Add chicken stock, one ladle at a time, stirring constantly until all is incorporated.
• Bring to a rolling boil, reduce to simmer and cook approximately 1 hour.
• Skim any fat or oil that rises to the top of the pot.
• Add green onions, bay leaf, thyme and basil.
• Season to taste using salt, pepper and hot sauce.
• Cook an additional 30 minutes or longer if necessary, until chicken is tender and falling apart.
• Add parsley and adjust seasonings if necessary.
• Serve over hot, steamed white rice.
• NOTE: You may wish to boil the chicken 1-2 hours prior to beginning the gumbo to tenderize the meat. Reserve this stock, bone the chicken and use the meat and stock in the gumbo.

POTATO GUMBO

Steps:

• In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add half of the oil. When it is shimmering and hot, add the celery, green bell pepper, and onion. Season with salt and pepper. Saute until the onion has become just barely translucent.
• Add the cayenne and filé powder, stirring to coat the vegetables. Continue to cook until they just start to brown on the edges.
• Remove the cooked vegetables to a crock pot set on "high".
• Returning to the large skillet, add the remaining half of the oil and the andouille sausage. Saute in the hot oil until the sausage pieces start to brown on the sides. Add the molasses and stir to coat the sausage in it, watching so that the molasses does not burn.
• Add the chicken broth to the skillet to de-glaze and get up all the darkened, stuck bits. Remove the molasses-crusted andouille and chicken broth and add it to the vegetables in the crock pot.
• Add the potato pieces (I prefer to keep the skins on) to the crock pot and cover it.
• Depending on the power of your crock pot, cook for 3-5 hours or just until the potatoes are tender.
• Taste the gumbo and season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Serve.

POTATO GUMBO

Steps:

• For the potato gumbo:
• Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large high-sided saute pan over medium heat.
• Add the onions and saute until golden brown. Add the garlic and smoked bacon and continue to saute.
• Once the bacon has cooked and becomes crisp, add the celery, Swiss chard stems, and green pepper, saute until tender. Remove the bacon mixture from the pan, put in a bowl and set aside.
• Heat the remaining vegetable oil in the same saute pan, add the flour and bay leaves.
• Stir with a wooden spoon incorporating the flour and oil to form a paste. Cook until the flour becomes brown and nutty in color. Add the chicken stock, water, and cayenne, stir.
• Add the potatoes and reserved bacon mixture to the liquid. Cook over medium heat until the potatoes are tender and the liquid reduces, achieving a thick consistency, approximately 30 minutes.
• Add the Swiss chard leaves, season with salt, and pepper, cooking until the leaves are wilted, serving.

CAJUN GUMBO

Steps:

• Boil chicken pieces in 1 gallon of lightly salted water for approximately 1 hour, or until done. Reserve the chicken broth for the base of the gumbo.
• Wash okra and dry with a paper towel. Cut off the ends of the okra and slice into round pieces. Saute the pieces in a skillet with 1/2-cup of the butter until all of the slime has left the okra. This takes 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. You must stir the okra throughout this process to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
• Saute the onion, green pepper, and celery in remaining 1/2-cup butter until lightly browned. Place the cooked okra and onion mixture into the chicken broth. Add the basil, thyme, bay leaves, and garlic to the broth. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 15 minutes.
• Remove skin and bones from chicken, and cut into bite sized pieces, and set aside. Add the chicken, sausage, and ham to the broth at the same time. Return mixture to a boil. Add the shrimp and crabmeat, and cook for another 5 minutes. Season with file, black pepper, and hot pepper, to taste.
• Serve with rice.

CAJUN POTATO GUMBO

Steps:

• Boil salt meat on the side for about 20 minutes; then cut into small bite size pieces. While that's boiling heat oil and saute onions, bell pepper, and celery for just about 5 minutes into a nice size soup pot. Throw in your salt meat with about 2 cups of water. At this time you can add some salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper, Let this boil for about 15 minutes. In the meantime while boiling, cut your potatoes in half. After about 15 minutes throw in potatoes with some more water; enough for the potatoes to be able to boil and add more salt and pepper. If you like cover it but not to tightly. Add 1 to 2 cups more of water if needed. After potatoes are boiled turn off heat and add about one teaspoon of file. If you are feeding more than 4 to 5 people just add more of all the ingredients and add more water. Serve over rice, enjoy and please pass the potatoes!

CAJUN GUMBO

Steps:

• Place the chicken in the 12c of water adding the salt cayenne peper and black pepper. boil or simmer until it is tender. approximately 1 hour.
• remove the chicken from the stock let cool til you can handle. discard the skin and bones. add the chicken back to the pot you now have your stock.
• meanwhile cut up the linkes of sausage or kielbasa. then place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350* until the excess grease is removed.
• in a large fry pan melt the stick of butter add the onions, peppers, celery, garlic, and parsley.
• add the gumbo base to the stock or the roux.
• add the sauted veggies.
• drain any excess fat from the sausage and add it to the stock.
• add the canned tomatoes.
• add the dried seasonings.
• add okra and let the stock simmer for 30-35 minutes or until the okra is tender.
• add the shrimp and crab meat.
• then the boil and file.
• let the gumbo simmer for 45 minuted.
• serve alone or over rice enjoy!

WAY TOO EASY CAJUN POTATOES

Steps:

• Pre heat oven to about 375-400.
• With a fork score all over the potatoes (peeled or not), this will make them more crisp.
• Chop the potatoes into 1 1/2-2 inch chunks.
• Put the oil in the pan (warming the pan first is good, but not vital), add potatoes, sprinkle all seasonings over (go easy with the salt; more can be added after cooking) and toss and stir potatoes with two forks until all chunks are coated.
• Bake for 15 mins, stir well (again with the forks), bake a further 10-15 minutes.
• Note: If you've nuked them, the potatoes will need a little less time. Watch them towards the last few minutes.

CAJUN STYLE POTATO SALAD

Steps:

• (If you have not already done so, boil your potatoes until they are tender and hard cook your eggs and allow to cool until you can handle them but still warm).
• Cut potatoes into small cubes and set into a large mixing bowl, mashing some of them a bit while still warm (leave plenty of chunks).
• Peel the eggs and take out the yolks; set them aside for now and just chop the white parts up, add to the potatoes along with the pickles.
• Take your reserved egg yolks and mash them in a small bowl along with oil, mustard, mayo, until smooth; pour over the potato mixture and toss to coat.
• Season well with salt and pepper to taste -- sample it and add more mayo if too dry, more seasoning if desired -- don't be afraid to taste it and add more salt, etc -- the amount is bound to be a bit different every time you make this.
• Chill well before serving.