Spicy Gumbo Food

THE BEST SPICY WEEKEND GUMBO + BROWN RICE

Steps:

• VEGETABLES: Heat the oil in a big, deep pot over medium heat. Add the garlic, hot peppers, mirepoix, and vegetables. Saute for 10 minutes or so until it's all soft and fragrant.
• BASE: Add the tomatoes, broth, and spices. Bring to a low boil; reduce heat and simmer for an hour or so for the best flavor.
• ROUX: Melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and let it all bubble in the pan for a few minutes. Add the milk or broth a little bit at a time, whisking to incorporate it and make it smooth. Season with salt.
• FINISH: Add the roux to the gumbo pot and stir to combine. Simmer for a little longer over low heat or just let it all hang out for a while to help the flavor develop. Stir in the sausage and raw shrimp. When shrimp is pink (fully cooked), stir in a handful of chives and serve over brown rice, red quinoa, white rice, or just by itself. It's that good. Remember: make sure to season with salt! This will vary per individual recipe based on your cajun seasoning mix.

MIKE'S SPICY GUMBO RECIPE

Steps:

• Heat a pan to medium heat. Add 1 teaspoon olive oil and heat.
• Season chicken with salt and pepper and add to the pan along with the sliced andouille. Cook a couple minutes per side until browned. Set aside until ready to use.
• Add ½ cup peanut oil to a large pot and heat to medium heat. Add flour and stir. Cook for 15-20 minutes, constantly stirring, until the roux browns to the color of chocolate. Do not allow to burn.
• Add peppers, onion, celery and garlic. Stir and cook for 5 minutes.
• Add the chicken and andouille. Stir and cook for 1 minute.
• Add crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, herbs and seasonings, chicken stock and a few dashes or more of hot sauce. Scrape up the brown bits from the bottom.
• Add collard greens and bring to a quick boil. Reduce heat and cook at medium-low heat for 1 hour or more to thicken.
• Tuck the shrimp into the gumbo the last 10 minutes of cooking and simmer until the shrimp is cooked through.
• Remove from heat and swirl in a few dashes of hot sauce to your preference.
• Serve with cooked rice and extra hot sauce.

SPICY ROOSTER GUMBO

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
• Place chicken stock in a 2-gallon stockpot. Place on back burner, bring to boil, and reduce to a simmer.
• Mix together salt, cayenne, black pepper, cumin, paprika, and coriander and set aside.
• Cut the rooster or chicken into 8 pieces, removing the backbone and discarding. Place the ham hocks in the stock to simmer.
• Season the flour with salt and pepper and place in a shallow dish. Generously coat the chicken parts with some of the spice mix. Set aside the remaining spice mixture. Dust the seasoned chicken parts in the seasoned flour and set aside the remaining flour.
• In a cast-iron skillet heat the chicken fat almost to smoking. Fry the chicken parts over high heat to crisp the outside, but not cook the inside of the chicken. Remove the chicken from the oil and drain on paper towels and add to stock. Keep the remaining chicken fat in the pan.
• Toss andouille with a few drops of oil and place in a baking dish. Roast until fat is rendered and the surface of the andouille is caramelized, about 15 minutes. Remove and put the andouille aside.
• Heat the reserved chicken fat almost to smoking. Very carefully whisk in the remaining flour. Lower the heat to medium. Whisk the flour into the roux and continue to whisk in a circular motion around the cast-iron pan. The flour will move through a range of colors from hazelnut to brick red and on to dark brown. Place 1/2 of the onions and all of the green bell peppers, garlic, and bay leaves in a large, heatproof bowl or container.
• When the roux has reached a deep, red brown color, carefully pour the hot roux over the onion/pepper mixture and stir to combine.
• Add the roux mixture to the stock, a few spoons at a time, leaving 5 minutes between each addition, until it is all added. Add half of the remaining seasoning mix. Allow to simmer for 30 minutes or until rooster is cooked and tender.
• Strain into a large pot. Saute remaining onions and red peppers until softened and add to strained liquid. Remove meat from cooked chicken. Discard chicken bones. Add chicken pieces and andouille rounds. Place gumbo in serving bowls and finish with a spoonful of rice and sliced scallions.

SPICY SHRIMP GUMBO

Steps:

• Combine vegetable oil and flour in a large stockpot over medium heat; cook, stirring often, until roux is dark brown, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Stir onion, celery, green onion, parsley, and garlic carefully into the hot roux; it may splatter. Cook and stir until onion mixture is tender, about 5 minutes. Pour in broth. Season with salt and red chile pepper. Simmer gumbo, covered, until flavors combine, about 15 minutes.
• Stir shrimp into the stockpot; cook until pink and opaque, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Place 1/3 cup rice into each serving bowl. Ladle shrimp gumbo on top. Garnish with fresh parsley.

SPICY GUMBO

Steps:

• Combine 1 1/2 cups oil and 1 3/4 cups flour in a heavy skillet or pan over low heat.
• Stir constantly until the flour thickens and turns light brown.
• Add more flour if needed to absorb oil and make a smooth paste.
• It takes approximately 15 minutes or so, but be careful to not burn the flour.
• Set the roux aside.
• Mix together all spices in a bowl and set aside.
• In a large 12 quart pot, sauté onions, garlic, bell pepper and celery in 3 tbsp olive oil.
• Cook for approximately 3-4 minutes.
• Add the chicken, shrimp, cat fish and okra (and sausage if desired).
• Cook for approximately 4-5 minutes.
• Add the peppers, tomatoes, seasonings, chicken stock, V-8 and clam juice.
• Simmer, uncovered for approximately 1 hour.
• With a wire whisk, slowly incorporate the roux into the mixture to desired consistency.
• Add more chicken stock if necessary.
• Add the rest of the seafood to the mixture.
• Turn down heat, cover and simmer on low for about 10 minutes.
• In a shallow bowl, mound 1/2 cup rice and ladle the gumbo on top.
• Serve with oyster crackers and a dash of Tabasco sauce.

SPICY SEAFOOD GUMBO

Steps:

• Add the oil and flour to a cast-iron skillet; stir to combine.
• Cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes, stirring constantly, until mixture is the color of chocolate (be careful not to burn).
• Add in onions, celery, and garlic; cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
• Transfer mixture to a large pot.
• Add in chicken broth and the next 12 ingredients; let simmer for 2 hours; stir occasionally.
• Peel and devein shrimp.
• Add in the shrimp, oysters, crabmeat, and fish to the pot; simmer for 10-15 minutes or until seafood is done.
• Take out bay leaves.
• Serve over hot cooked rice.
• Sprinkle with file if desired.

CHICKEN AND SPICY SAUSAGE GUMBO

Steps:

• Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the sausages and brown until nicely colored all the way around, about 7 minutes. Remove from the pan and let rest; reserve the drippings. When cool, slice the sausages into 1/4-inch rounds and set aside.
• Add enough oil to the sausage drippings to make 1/2 cup. Add the flour to the fat and cook over medium heat, stirring slowly and continuously and scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, until the mixture has thickened somewhat and turned chocolate-colored, 25 to 30 minutes. Add the onions, bell peppers and fennel and cook until soft, about 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the paprika, oregano, thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper and cayenne. Mix to blend, then add the Worcestershire sauce. Set aside.
• To the softened vegetables, add the garlic; cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Add the spice mixture and stir until well combined. Stirring continuously, slowly add 6 cups of the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add the bay leaves. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until thickened, 30 to 40 minutes.
• Return the sliced sausage to the pan. Add the shredded chicken and all but a few handfuls of the green onions. Cook for another 30 to 40 minutes, until the flavors have melded and the gumbo has thickened further, adding more stock if the gumbo gets too thick (you should still see some liquid).
• Serve in bowls and garnish with green onions.

SPICY RED FILE-THICKENED GUMBO WITH CRAWFISH AND ANDOUILLE

Steps:

• In a bowl blend together the crawfish seasoning mixture. Add the crawfish tails, and reserve in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours. Make the gumbo: Place the vegetable oil in a heavy skillet over high heat. When it's smoking, add the flour, about 1/3 at a time, whisking well after each addition. Cook over fairly high heat, whisking constantly, until the roux reaches a dark, reddish brown, about 10 minutes. If the roux seems about to burn (you'll start to notice a burning smell), move the pan off the heat for a few minutes continuing to whisk. When the roux is ready, add the garlic, onions, celery, bell peppers, and scallions. Place the pan over low heat, and cook the vegetables in the roux for 5 minutes. Bring the stock to a boil in a large soup pot. When the vegetables have cooked in the roux, add the roux-vegetable mixture to the boiling stock by 1/4 cupfuls, blending well. Crush the tomatoes in your hands, and add them, along with the liquid in the cans, to the soup pot. Add the bay leaves, thyme, oregano, allspice, cayenne, cloves, hot sauce and lemon juice. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for20 minutes, partially covered. Add the andouille and simmer the gumbo for another 20 minutes, partially covered. Add the seasoned crawfish tails, and simmer for 5 minutes. Off the heat, blend in the file powder, blending until the desired thickness is reached. Taste for seasoning. Serve immediately over rice. Garnish with the whole, boiled crawfish.;

QUICK 'N EASY GUMBO

Steps:

• Pour a glass of nice red wine and have a drink.
• Put some Italian opera on the stereo and turn volume up.
• Start a big pot of rice, I prefer white rice to serve this gumbo over.
• Rice is on the top shelf to the right.
• Cut meat into nice bite-sized slices, keeping fingers clear of blade.
• Heat oil over medium heat in a big pot and slowly saute meat with garlic and onions.
• Try not to eat too much of the meat while you cook or allow family members to.
• Precooked meats like the pork will speed process.
• Uncooked meats like chicken or shrimp can be quickly boiled in chicken broth and tossed in later.
• Never under cook chicken.
• Saute until lightly browned.
• Add broth to the pot and bring to a boil.
• Lower heat to medium and then add all the other ingredients one at a time starting with firmer vegetables first (they need more cooking) and soft last.
• Toss in spices last.
• Cook over medium heat until all ingredients are blended and cooked to your liking.
• Not over cooked or too soft is how I like it.
• Maybe fifteen minutes tops.
• The longer you cook the more the flavors will blend, but I prefer separate identifiable flavors so I cook less.
• Now taste your results being careful not to burn your tongue no matter how hungry you are.
• You're going to need that tongue later.
• Add ingredients according to your liking.
• I like to toss in some of the wine I'm drinking and I always add more garlic and salt and pepper to taste.
• Don't make it too spicy or your wife will not enjoy it.
• Serve over rice in big bowls.
• Put salt and pepper and Tabasco on the table for others to adjust flavors to their liking.
• You can now add more Tabasco to your own bowl and give your wife a wink.
• Turn off the TV and try talking to each other for a change.
• Finish the bottle of wine and go for a walk around the neighborhood after dinner to aid digestion.
• Enjoy!

SPICY SHRIMP GUMBO

Steps:

• For roux, blend oil and flour in stockpot.
• Cook over medium heat 10-15 minutes until dark brown.
• Add chopped onion, parsley, celery, green onions and garlic to roux.
• Cook additional 5-10 minutes until tender.
• Add broth, okra, salt and simmer for 15 minutes, covered.
• Add shrimp, simmer 5 minutes more.
• Add cooked rice, and serve.

SPICY GUMBO-LAYA

Steps:

• Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add chicken and sausage and sauté until brown, about 8 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer mixture to bowl. Add onion and bell pepper to pot. Sauté until soft and brown, about 6 minutes. Add flour and stir until golden, about 5 minutes. Gradually whisk in chicken broth, then diced tomatoes with their juices. Bring to boil. Mix in chicken mixture, okra and rice. Reduce heat to medium; cook uncovered until rice is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.
• Mix scallops and shrimp into pot. Cover and cook until seafood is cooked through, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, about 10 minutes. Season to taste with cayenne, salt and pepper.

SPICY BEAN AND SAUSAGE GUMBO

Steps:

• In a large sauce pan on medium heat, sauté onion in olive oil until translucent.
• Add sausage and lightly brown.
• Stir in broth, beans, rice, cumin, and cilantro.
• Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
• Place in a bowl and sprinkle with parsley.
• ****To complete meal, I added basil-cheese rolls.