It was C-O-L-D! today.. barely making it up to double digits. I have somewhere between 2 and 40 people coming for supper, which direction should we go in?
GUMBO !
I needed something warm and homey, so Gumbo was perfect. Now, I will admit, that my gumbos have not always been the best on the planet. So, I came online to dig through lots and lots of different recipes. LOTS of weird gumbos out there.. ( you can not just search the food network website, too much Emeril..) So, I read lots and just took it all in to make my own.
A brand new hint! at least for me, put our roux oil in the pan, then cook off your chicken and sausage in the oil, and THEN add the flour!. DUH! It could only add flavor! SO, a quarter cup of oil, chicken - remove, sausage - remove... THEN add about a stick of butter, THEN a half-ish cup of flour. Now , this is where I have always gone wrong with my gumbos... I just do not have the patience to cook them as long as I need to, but today, I just bit the bullet and cooked for twentyish min.. the added brown bits, really add to the flavor and color.
Ok., take your dark roux off the heat for like half an hour. Mine was not pretty, but it tasted really nice, deep, a little smoke... no raw flour taste. It needs to cool down. I just chopped all my veggies and it was fine... Trinity and bell pepper with about a third of a Jalapeno.. I did not really know who was coming , so I was holding back on the heat. Had it just been Neil and I , I would have added the entire chili. I added a little bit more oil , and cooked my veggies really slow for about 30 min...I used A LOT of garlic, the house smelled great.
Moderate pre dinner snacks....again with the tiny weenies
Ok, so after the veggies had cooked for a while I added the browned chicken and andouille back, cooked a bit, then added some Cajun spices, black pepper , a little bit of red pepper.. THEN added a large can of tomatoes. Cooked a bit, then some chicken stock, I debated between seafood and chicken stock , and in the end went with chicken for the depth of flavor. Put it on simmer and just let it go
What for dessert?
Ok., take your dark roux off the heat for like half an hour. Mine was not pretty, but it tasted really nice, deep, a little smoke... no raw flour taste. It needs to cool down. I just chopped all my veggies and it was fine... Trinity and bell pepper with about a third of a Jalapeno.. I did not really know who was coming , so I was holding back on the heat. Had it just been Neil and I , I would have added the entire chili. I added a little bit more oil , and cooked my veggies really slow for about 30 min...I used A LOT of garlic, the house smelled great.
Moderate pre dinner snacks....again with the tiny weenies
Ok, so after the veggies had cooked for a while I added the browned chicken and andouille back, cooked a bit, then added some Cajun spices, black pepper , a little bit of red pepper.. THEN added a large can of tomatoes. Cooked a bit, then some chicken stock, I debated between seafood and chicken stock , and in the end went with chicken for the depth of flavor. Put it on simmer and just let it go
What for dessert? Last night , I was all lazy and was just going to go with a Wegman's ultimate white cake, but it was so so cold today, I needed something warm, Gumbo... Bread Pudding!
1000 years ago, The Country Place had a yummy Peach Bread Pudding, So, not like I had not made it lots of times, but could not remember how, so once again the internets.
This is a very good bread pudding,I just cooked it in too large of a pan, so IF it is cooked in a deeper pan, and there for stays "wet" this is a VERY easy, tasty bread pudding!
Neil makes fancy coffee for his pals!
The table , post dinner.. a nice time was had by all. I was very happy to see my pal Bryan.
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