Online Recipe Book

Gumbo 4 (30 min)

Source
The Best 30-minute recipe, by America's Test Kitchen, page 89
Yield
Serves 2 to 3
Prep info
Prep time
Not set
Cook time
30 minutes
Time required
30 minutes
Oven preheat
N/A
Type
Mains - Misc
Status
Rejected
Tags

Ingredients

  • oil (1.5 Tbsp plus 1 tsp)
  • 3 T flour
  • 8 oz fish stock (or clam juice)
  • 1/2 c water
  • 1/2 lb smoked sausage (or andouille, cut into 1/2" pieces)
  • 1/2 c finely chopped onion
  • 1/2 finely chopped red bell pepper (cored)
  • 1/2 finely chopped celery rib
  • 1 t Emeril's Essence (or other Creole spice mixture)
  • 1/8 t dried thyme (or 1/2 t minced fresh)
  • 1/8 t salt (plus more to taste)
  • freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
  • 2 t minced garlic
  • 1/2 lb shrimp (peeled and deveined)
  • 2 thinly sliced green onions

Method

Making the minutes count: Prepare the sausage, onion, bell pepper, and celery while the roux browns.  Place your cutting board near the stove, so you can keep an eye on the roux.  If this isn't possible, prep the sausage and vegetables ahead.

1. Make roux and sauce: Stir 1.5 Tablespoons of oil together with 3 Tablespoons of flour in a small suacepan over medium heat.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is the color of an old copper penny, about 5-7 minutes.  Slowly stir in fish broth and water, and bring to simmer.  Continue to simmer until needed in step 3.

2. Saute sausage and vegetables: While roux cooks, heat remaining 1 tsp oil in large dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add sausage, onion, bell pepper, celery, Emeril's, thyme, and 1/8 tsp salt; cook until lightly browned, about 7 minutes.  Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

3. Assemble gumbo: Slowly stir roux mixture into vegetables, scraping up any browned bits.  Simmer until vegetables are tender, 5-7 minutes.

4. Cook shrimp: Stir in shrimp and continue to simmer until shrimp are cooked through, about 3 minutes.  Off heat, season with salt and pepper to taste.  Sprinkle with green onions before serving.

Notes

SJ Note: Halved from original to try; halved everything except sausage - calls for 1/2 pound sausage and 1 pound shrimp for 4-6 servings, originally.  Might swap this if we decide to keep this recipe.

SJ Note 24 Jan 2016: It's edible, but it's not tasty, and we don't like the method.  Adding the stock to the roux in step 1 made it splash up and burn us, and form lumps.  We remain fans of adding vegetables to the roux, and then stock to that.  It needs more seasoning, and it's missing the flavor of tomato and file.  Definitely not a keeper.