I absolutely love ethnic foods, regional dishes and foods associated with certain events. My wife and I use to get to travel considerably more than we do at this time. One of the things we always loved about traveling was trying the foods of the region, discussing the cooking styles, herbs and spices that are used. Going back many years ago I discovered that if we couldn't go to the places we were yearning to visit, I could bring those places to us.
It all starts with your memories and your imagination. When a memory is special to us, we have a way of remembering the most minute details. The lighting, sounds, smells, sense of history and the color of the day, that create the ambiance that makes the time and place special. I have found that I can make the day special by recreating the minute details and then letting the imagination take care of the rest. It can be as simple as this. I love baseball, I go to every opening day for my hometown team. To me opening day in baseball is as much of a reference point of the New Year, as is New Years Day. When my team opens up the baseball season on the road and I can't be there, I can recreate being there by opening up the windows in the sun room, putting the game on the radio, grilling hot dogs and enjoying a cold beer and some peanuts during the game. If you breath deep you can smell the fresh cut grass, if you listen closely you can hear the crack of the bat and the fans cheering.
This past week I have just gone through many of my friends going to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. I heard all the ads for my favorite Cajun Restaurant having Fat Tuesday parties. I kind of had that, wow I wish I was there feeling. I decided a good pot of Louisiana goodness was in order. The great dishes of Louisiana cuisine are a true treasure chest for all cooks, from celebrated chefs to kitchen amateurs using mixes from the bag. Today I will be making one of my all time favorites, Gumbo. I start getting excited when I get out two of the necessities for this dish, a cast iron skillet for my Roux and a big pot for the Gumbo! My basic Gumbo principles are add Okra, serve it over rice and of course the Holy Trinity. After that, the possibilities are endless, meats and seafood are like wild cards in a kids card game. With a beautiful day ahead on Sunday I decided on a Smoked Chicken, Smoked Andouille, Gulf Shrimp Gumbo. I will smoke my chicken and sausage on Sunday in preparation of making my Gumbo on Monday.
I have prepared the ceramic grill for some light smoking, using lump charcoal and some small chunks of hickory. I will run the cooker at 250 while the sausage is on and then kick the temperature up to 300 to finish the chicken.
I will use two Cajun/Creole seasonings. The more recognizable Tony Chachere's will be used as a dry rub on the chicken and my favorite local Cajun restaurant's spices, Jazz A Louisiana Kitchen will go into the Gumbo.
Sunday is a perfect February day with the temperature in the low 50's and a sunny, blue sky. The Primo XL is running perfectly, as thin blue smoke tells me the cooker is burning clean and will produce a mild, clean, smoked flavor in my chicken and sausage.
At first check everything is going well. The sausages are browning and the chicken is rendering fat. The Andouille will cook 45 - 60 min being careful not to overcook and the chicken will cook to 165 internal.
The Andouille and the Chicken have come off the smoker in great shape. I let the sausage rest and bag them up to be ready for the big event tomorrow. The chicken has beautiful color and tempting aromas. It is all I can do to not get out a carver and have a thigh/leg quarter for dinner. It is probably a good thing that I am also preparing dinner for tonight or this chicken might not have made it to the Gumbo. I will pull the chicken tonight while it is still warm, as it pulls much easier warm than cold.
Once the Chicken has rested I move it to the cutting board. I pour up the juices and will put them in the refrigerator over night, making it easier to remove the fat, leaving the broth and spices to add into my stock. The extremities of the Chicken show nice smoke penetration and the flavor is outstanding. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow. It will be a gray, cool, damp day that should be very good Gumbo weather.
It was time to do some chopping. I will be using Green Bell Pepper, Red Bell Pepper, Celery, White Onion, Green Onion, Parsley, Minced Garlic and Bay Leaves. While I am at it, I will also slice my Andouille that I smoked yesterday. To make my stock I will use the Chopped Vegies, Minced Garlic, 4 Bay Leaves, fresh Chicken Legs and Necks and a link of the Andouille. I add Cajun Spices, Cayenne Pepper, Salt and Cracked Black Pepper.
While the stock is doing it's thing I start on my Roux. I will use 1 cup of Canola Oil and 1.5 cups of Flour. I use medium heat and slowly add the flour stirring constantly to prevent burning. I will let my Roux reach a paper bag brown then reduce the heat and add some reserved Chopped White Onion, Bell Pepper and Celery. I will let it simmer slowly until the vegetables caramelize. We don't like our Roux real dark, I will let it simmer to a dark caramel color. Roux is one of my favorite parts of the process. When you only do this a time or two a year you find yourself treating the Roux as you would drive a brand new car, very carefully. You can say when on the Roux, cooking longer leads to a darker Roux, a darker Gumbo and a richer flavor. I found a color I'm comfortable with that reduces my risk of burning the Roux, creates the flavor we are looking for and doesn't take too long to prepare. For someone very experienced with Roux this is a walk in the park, for the occasional Roux cook we celebrate each success.
Once the Roux reaches the desired color, I will remove the chicken from the stock. I will then add my Roux, Smoked Chicken, Smoked Andouille Sausage and I will skim the cup of Smoked Chicken Drippings from yesterday and add the remaining broth and seasonings. After simmering for an hour I do a taste test and make any adjustments necessary, more Creole Seasoning, Cayenne Pepper, Splashes of Tabasco.
Sometimes the best made plans meet with resistance. It turns out the fresh okra I had put up in the freezer had a little bit of frost bite going, so I went to plan B. I had a bag of frozen okra and I will give it a try and use a little trick a fellow cook told me to try. I cooked the okra to 90 % done and added a tbs of vinegar to try and cut the slime that cooked okra produces. It seems to have worked well. I add the okra to the Gumbo and it will finish cooking as the Gumbo finishes. The Okra and the Roux both add flavor as well as act as thickening agents for the Gumbo. We love Okra so this is a must in all of our Gumbo.
Last but not least I have 1.5 lbs of Gulf Goodness!! I add these last to prevent over cooking. Five minutes of handy work has them shelled and nice and clean. When I'm cooking a Shrimp Gumbo this is like "putting the topper on the tree". Now you can step back and begin to admire your work. Peggy has the griddle going and is making some Crunchy Garlic Butter Bread. This is one of those dishes that is a labor of love but worth every minute.of it. This dish started yesterday with the Chicken and Sausage going on the smoker on a beautiful afternoon and is wrapping up on a cool, gray, rainy evening.
I wanted to go down that road of feeling like I was in Cajun Country. There is no better way to do that from home than the smell of the Holy Trinity of Cajun/Creole Cooking, resonating throughout the house. This dish looks and tastes like a celebration of food. It is a gift from a culture that is second to none in the food world. It is loaded with complex flavors and ladled over simple white rice, Uncle Ben's White Rice that is. I've paired it with an old favorite that I first had on a trip to my favorite Cajun joint 20 years ago with my niece, Blackened Voodoo Lager. I will drink this beautiful beer that pairs so well with this dish with a heavy heart. The Dixie Brewery established in 1907, resides in the 3rd Ward of New Orleans and was one of the many, many casualties of Hurricane Katrina. But as in so many cases in the Great City of New Orleans this beer lives on and is currently being brewed by a brewery in Wisconsin. I will hope that the Dixie Brewery can someday return to it's rightful place in New Orleans. It was a great afternoon and evening, as I did one of my favorite things, prepared a nice dinner for my family. My son, my wife and I broke bread, had good conversation and I had that little bit of Mardi Gras that I was yearning for. Until I see you again just remember, if you can't travel to where you want to be, you can bring where you want to be to you. All it takes is some memories and a little bit of imagination.
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