a few weeks ago we ended an incredibly busy day running around up north with dinner at cheeseburger in paradise, since we just so happened to be in the area. i was sorely tempted by the chicken and sausage gumbo on the menu, but i was unsure of it thinking it would be super spicy, as much cajun food is. he ordered a bowl of it as an appetizer and i was hooked after the first bite. yes, it was spicy, but it wasn't the lingering painful heat of hot peppers. i ate as much of my popcorn shrimp and onion six-strings as i could, but by the time i was "done" it was more because of nausea from all the grease and less from simply being full. despite my upset stomach, i ordered a bowl of gumbo all to myself; it actually settled my stomach surprisingly enough. i swear that gumbo was the stuff dreams are made of--i vowed to replicate it.
the "holy trinity" of cajun cooking: onion, bell pepper, and celerythe roux is the absolute worst/hardest part of making this. it's a cup of cooking oil and a cup of flour whisked in once the oil is hot. and you cannot stop stirring it. gumbo recipes using a roux as the thickener say to cook the mixture until it's anywhere from a peanut butter color (new orleans style) or more of a reddish, dark chocolate color. cooking estimates vary and after about 10 minutes, mine had definitely acquired the peanut buttery color. everything to add must be at hand and ready to toss in to stop the cooking of the roux.
what all's in there? black beans, shredded chicken and smoked sausage, parsley, and a variety of veggies: the trinity as well as okra and lots of chopped garlic.i don't think adding cilantro to the rice you serve with it is "traditional" but i swear that's what was in it at cheeseburger. if i'm mistaken and it was really just parsley, oh well, cilantro's always good. but they called it "island rice" so i highly doubt that consists of just rice and parsley. then again, just rice and cilantro doesn't really sound all that fancy either... not sure if black beans are used either but again, that's what was in theirs. i had to use brown rice as we somehow plowed through the giant 20lb.+ bag of rice we got a few months ago. i'm still under the impression there's some hiding somewhere; it's just not possible we ate it all already--or did we?
worth every damn bit of sacrifice
calm
