"All I want is a good bowl of gumbo...
 

...and the NFL Network."

Not sure how long this version of the Sean Payton/NFLN commercial has been out, I just noticed it for the first time, a few minutes ago. The only difference from the old one is the good bowl of gumbo part...but I like it!!

Link?

... I'll settle for the 'good bowl of gumbo' ... :mrgreen:

Speaking of gumbo...

My wife's gumbo is so good that a friend of mine once traveled all the way from Pensacola to Slidell just to eat some. I think I will have her make a pot today, now that I think about it!!

This post is useless without recipe. Give it up.

Seafood or chicken & sausage?
I hope you don't say both.

Seafood

I can't find the link but I promise it's now been added to the commercial...

It's been around for a while. But to answer the Question...go with seafood

It is seafood gumbo with no sausage or tomatoes. It is best with whole crabs but always shrimp and crab meat.

Recipe will follow when I can get my wife's attention.

There's really not a whole lot better than a good bowl of gumbo. It's almost like having a mechanic you can trust, or a competent doctor.

Don't forget the Tasso:chef:

This is probably blashphemy in most circles, but if you need a quicky fix for Gumbo and don't have much time to make it, "Olde South" gumbo base is the best store bought base I've ever tasted.

I can have a pretty good pot of Gumbo ready to eat in 30 minutes start to finish.

http://www.oldesouthgumbo.com/products.html

Seafood definitely is first choice. Been makin it like my grandmother made it since I was 10. Chicken and sausage is good too but nothing compares to Seafood. And don't you dare forget the French Bread & Butter Cher.

Seafood gumbo is superior by far for my taste. I was hoping you wouldn't say you put seafood, chicken & sausage in the same pot. I've never had it all thrown together like that any where in LA, but I have seen this Done in TX. Not tasty at all. Yuch! You either make seafood gumbo, or chicken & sausage, but never both in the same pot!

Jeanpierre's Gumbeaux

Cast Iron Pot 6 qt, Seasoned (Lodge makes a good product)

Note: Always handwash pot in soap and very hot water; never put it in dishwasher and use it ONLY for Gumbeaux...

Now, some more prep

One (1) Grilled Lemon Pepper Chicken, Deboned, Some Skin, Lg Bones
Note: Winn Dixie or WalMart Grilled Chicken Marked Down after 6pm, refridged for the next day works best...

Two (2) lbs Grilled Mild Sausage, Sliced .1875 thick
Note: Don't geaux overboard with specialty sausage, YOU do the seasoning, I like Smokey Hollow Mild for its consistent product; Prepare two (2) lbs as you'll have those that like to "trawl"...

Base 1:1, Flour:Sesame Oil (or Peanut Oil) with a little Extra Light Virgin Olive Oil to top off the oil

Make yo roux over medium heat (don't ask time, it's all relative to gas v electric, altitude, humidity), just as you start to get the color (Dk Milk Chocolate) you need (remember when you add stock, it will lighten some), to add

1 Cup Chopped Green Onions
1 Cup Fine Chopped Vidalia Onions
1/4 Cup Bell Pepper (Dehydrated is okay as good Bell Peppers should be stuffed, that's a recipe for another day)
2 Tbsp Minced Garlic
1 Tsp Celery Salt

Brown/soften these ingredients in Roux until you've cooked most of the moisture out of 'em, be ready - don't be watching the game or gettin distracted as the Roux can burn fast, you'll know when it's peak, then add

1qt Kitchen Basics Stock (Total of at least 4qts)

No MSG, Blend well and uniform, when that comes to small boil, add another 1 qt and blend well again, and when boil returns you...

Now add room temp meats (above) and

1 tsp Sea Salt
2 tbsp Paprika
1 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Cayenne

Bring back to boil, add another qt stock and

1/2 cup Parsley
1/2 tsp File (Grd Sassafras)
3 Bay Leaves Trown on Top

Stir, Cover, Very, Very Low Fire; Covered, it'll still roll so

Check on it every 15 Minutes adding Good Fresh Water to maintain a good level and consistency to your gumbeaux...

After 45 minutes, crack off a 1/4 to 1/2 bottle of Pinot Grigio Wine (Don't Geaux Wasting Good Money, Bella Sera is a great value and flavor to cook Chicken, Pork, and some Fish Recipes with)...

Serve over Zatarain Par-boiled Rice (Unless you know who to make good long grain rice)...

Anyways, that's how I roll on Fall/Winter Fridays for my Crew at my Office...

I can't imagine putting sausage & seafood in the same dish, the flavours seem like they'd clash, but ... being a 'gumbo-novice', is it safe to assume I could take the chicken-sausage recipe and substitute seafood if desired and still get a good result?

You can try that, but it's just going to taste pretty much like the chicken & sausage gumbo. When we do seafood gumbo, there's an important additional ingredient, and that's okra, and lots of it. When that cooks down and blends in with the shrimp and crabmeat, it's got a whole different taste, which is why I prefer that to the chicken & sausage gumbo. That's good too, but the seafood is better.

Thanks, okra is not a real big ingredient around here and I probably would of left it out. I found a couple generic recipes I'm gonna' try, but I'm really waiting on Saint_LB's wife's recipe ... gumbo & rice is gonna' be my food of choice this summer.

I'll be in New Orleans for Mardi Gras and the first thing I'm doing is grabbing a real roast beef poboy with gravy. MMmmmmmmm......I hope it's so sloppy I end up wearing it. :billy2:

I think Okra was invented for gumbo, lol

A po'boy sounds good ... do you guys ever put coleslaw on a sandwich around there? A good slaw really dresses it up, IMO, but maybe it's an up-north thing.

Yes. On BBQ, but also, it's really good on a pulled pork po-boy. There is also a local mexican joint called Juan's Flying Burrito, they do a Pork-n-Slaw taco that will blow your mind.

Also, we lived in the Mississippi Delta for a while when I was a kid. My mom talks about this BBQ place she ate at all the time when she was prego with me. Place was called Humpty Dumpty's...they had a BBQ sammy w/ slaw that was de bomb!!

If you are ever here around Jazz Fest time (coming up), there is a food booth at the Jazz Fest that is FAMOUS for it's Cochon-De-Lait...which is essentially a slow-cooked, pulled pork with a spicy horesradish mayo, topped with cole slaw. It is quite possibly the best po-boy on the planet. And if you arent in town when Jazz Fest is going on, Mahoney's Po-Boys on magazine has one all year around (just not sure if they put the slaw on it...and the slaw is really good)

... I'm taking notes ... :mrgreen:

Okra is a must, SloMo. I also like adding some fresh oysters to my seafood gumbo. Only a few at a time, though, between servings, because they will over cook.

We're going to convert you yet!

I had a cochon-de-lait poboy at Jazzfest last year, & you're right, it is awesome. Another great thing there are the crawfish enchiladas. Can't wait for this year's Fest!

We gonna make a coon ass out of you yet SloMo. LOL

That's a compliment by the way. :D

you can't Gumbo up here, and if you do it's not good.

I am so hungry right now.
:-)
I agree with and like ya'll opinions about gumbo too.
It is a hard dish to make. I am picky about eating too.
I need to know what is in it.

OK...update. I spoke with my wife last night and she said that she had the recipe already written down as my youngest son called from Cleveland for the recipe not too long ago. She said she would forward that email to me so I will copy and paste the recipe hopefully before the day is over...and yes, it does have okra.

I gotta tell you, though...it is a pretty simple recipe...nothing fancy...and that's the way I like it.

Here you go:

1/2 cup veg. oil

1/2 plain flour

Season - with parsley, thyme, sage, & bay leaf, salt & black & cajun pepper.

Brown the rue until almost burnt (chocolate brown)

Once you get it to the right color - then add water. Cut your vegetables and add to mixture and bring to boil. Then lower the temp. to medium heat.

1 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chopped onion
3/4 cup chopped celery
1 cup okra, chopped (optional)
When the vegetables are cooked then add shrimp & crab meat.


1/2 pound crabmeat, flaked (or can of crab meat)
2 pound medium shrimp - peeled and deveined
Hope it turns out good!



Then there was this question from my son...

About how much water, and by cajun pepper do you mean something like Old Bay Seasoning?

To which my wife answered...

This was from a long time ago - water should be about 1/2 pot of water and yes to the old bay spice


I know...she didn't say how big her pot was, but I know it is about the same size as a pot that you would use to boil a chicken or make red beans and rice in. I guess you will have to experiment with how much water to add but it is probably better to add water until you get it to the thickness you like.

Oh, yeah...1 more thing. You can also add whole gulf crabs(blue crabs?), (my favorite gumbo...really adds crab flavor and provides for an eating symphony when shared with family...you'll see what I mean, some probably already have heard it)...but I would put the crabmeat in, too.

• Thanks, love oysters and would have dumped 'em in all at once and let them overcook.

• Well, you certainly are going about it the right way ... :grin: ... good food, good football & good friends, what else is there? Them crawfish enchiladas got my attention too!

• :lol: ... too funny, thanks for clearing that up, I was a little confused at first, not being from around there and all ... :lol:

• Even worse, I'm going to use a slow-cooker, :chef:, but I gotta' make do with what I got for now ... until I can get me a bus ticket to JazzFest ...

... first batch is going to be this weekend ... if you guys don't hear from me, send out a search party ... and 'thanks' for posting your wife's recipe, Saint_LB!

No problem...good luck. One final thing. I have found that gumbo is usually much better after it has been sitting in the fridge for a while...like overnight...however, it is hard to get to that point, because you usually end up eating most of it on the first sitting.

Well there's a new one for me...I never knew you could get crab meat from a can. Can't imagine what it tastes like, but I guess if you can't get fresh, you have to settle for the canned stuff.

I'm always learning new things on this board!;)

... all the good seafood up here gets shipped in from the Gulf anyway, but yeah, we got the 'canned' crab meat, :lol: ... it's Ok and works good in recipes, but nothing ever beats 'fresh' if you can get it.

Old Bay in a gumbo is a sin... If you can't find some Tony's or Zat's creole seasoning where you live, buy some online.
It's not that expensive.

Gumbo for me always taste better the next day. After I make a pot and refrigerate it, it taste 10 times better the next day. All that love needs to marinate.

I have a batch of green bell peppers I was going to stuff this weekend but hell... I think I need to make a pot of gumbo now. :cool:

I agree with this. I just questioned my wife, and she said that she didn't use it but said OK when son asked...I don't know why. Just try to use what fhotard said or some type of cajun pepper.