Cooking Question -- Jumbalaya vs Gumbo

[TSU86]

I've made some decent jumbalaya the last few winters, and was considering giving Gumbo a try (they say it's a lot like sex). My question is (or comment).......... the recipes I read seem a lot like jumbalaya.....Is there any major difference between the 2?

[SeattleParrotHead]

Gumbo is a soup, made with a roux and includes okra. (If it don't have okra, it ain't gumbo!)
Jumbalya is a rice dish, more like a paella or casserole.

Try this . . .

Cajun Seafood Gumbo (Seattle style)
Step 1 – make the Roux:
½ cup oil
½ cup flour
Stir CONSTANTLY over MEDIUM-LOW heat until it’s a dark mahogany brown (~15 minutes)
(like Emeril sez “Is your momma Catholic and can she make a Roux?”)

Step 2 – while the Roux cools, chop up fairly finely:
3 cloves Garlic
3 stalks Celery (leaves and all)
1 large Onion
1 Green Bell Pepper
1 pinch Chili Pepper Flakes
Sauté all the above in a small amount of Olive Oil.

Step 3 - Add the following and bring to boil:
3 cans chicken broth
1 can Diced Tomatoes (w/ juice)
1 bag frozen cut Okra
2 Bay Leaves
the Roux from Step 1 above (don’t EVER try to add the Roux while it’s still hot!)

Step 4 – Add the following and bring back to a boil:
½ pound cooked shrimp (or prawns)
½ pound cooked crab meat (we use Dungeness up here in the Northwest)
½ pound cut up fish pieces (we use Cod or Red Snapper)
Cover and simmer for 1 hour or more (the longer the mo bettah!)

Step 5 – Stir in a pinch of Filé powder and serve it up with a nice crusty loaf of French Bread.

This is really good the first day and even better the second day (if there’s any left over!)

[Saltx3]

Gumbo is a soup, made with a roux and includes okra. (If it don't have okra, it ain't gumbo!)
Jumbalya is a rice dish, more like a paella or casserole.

Try this . . .

Cajun Seafood Gumbo (Seattle style)
Step 1 – make the Roux:
½ cup oil
½ cup flour
Stir CONSTANTLY over MEDIUM-LOW heat until it’s a dark mahogany brown (~15 minutes)
(like Emeril sez “Is your momma Catholic and can she make a Roux?”)

Step 2 – while the Roux cools, chop up fairly finely:
3 cloves Garlic
3 stalks Celery (leaves and all)
1 large Onion
1 Green Bell Pepper
1 pinch Chili Pepper Flakes
Sauté all the above in a small amount of Olive Oil.

Step 3 - Add the following and bring to boil:
3 cans chicken broth
1 can Diced Tomatoes (w/ juice)
1 bag frozen cut Okra
2 Bay Leaves
the Roux from Step 1 above (don’t EVER try to add the Roux while it’s still hot!)

Step 4 – Add the following and bring back to a boil:
½ pound cooked shrimp (or prawns)
½ pound cooked crab meat (we use Dungeness up here in the Northwest)
½ pound cut up fish pieces (we use Cod or Red Snapper)
Cover and simmer for 1 hour or more (the longer the mo bettah!)

Step 5 – Stir in a pinch of Filé powder and serve it up with a nice crusty loaf of French Bread.

This is really good the first day and even better the second day (if there’s any left over!)

(hungry)

[ph4ever]

SeattleParrothead gave the best answer!! His gumbo sounds pretty good too. Back in the south instead of the fish and crab we added chicken breasts and Andouille sausage. If you can't find Andouille then a good polish type sausage works too.

[Ol'_'96'er]

personally:

boneless pork loin, three slices about 1/2" thick, browned, cubed
chorizo sausage, package of 5, cooked, sliced, and then dumped in
2 chicken breasts, cooked, cubed, dumped in
1 # package of 21-25 count shrimp, easier if you get the "ready to eat", dumped in


and definitely 2 loaves of the u-bake french bread baguettes broken in thirds, baked as needed.

only drawback is finding a large enough pot for all the ingredients

[Coconuts]

The secret to amazing gumbo is to make a peanut butter colored roux, not a super dark roux. Most restaurants use a super dark roux, but they do it because it keeps better and they can do it once a month and be done with it or buy it in a tub, rather than having to make it weekly and having better tasting gumbo.

I've never reached a mahogany roux in 15 minutes- peanut butter takes 30.

My gumbo recipe is posted here somewhere, I'll edit this to add it once I find it.

I've made it with seafood beyond shrimp, but all it really does is jack up the price per bowl. I do like adding alligator though.

ETA:

This is the tailgating pot recipe- it's a 34 quart turkey fryer.

Make roux w/ equal parts oil and flour (I usually just use Wesson because it's easy)- about 3/4 cup of each- I usually do this the day before.
1 large onion (diced)
2 stalks celery (diced)
2 green peppers (diced)

1 head garlic, diced

1 jumbo (cafeteria sized) can of tomatoes

Chicken and lobster stock (I use equal parts Orrington Farms chicken and Better Than Bullion Lobster Base, if you can find it. I can't anymore, but the Penzey's seafood base is as good)

Equal parts Spice Hunter Salt-Free Creole seasoning and Morton and Bassett Cajun Spice Blend, plus 4 Turkish bay leaves- at least a tablespoon of each, but seasoned to taste.

1 baked chicken, pulled off the bone- Costco rotisserie is fine, but most others aren't (if it tastes like salty mush, don't use it). Leftover roasted duck is even better, especially if you made stock with the bones.

2-3 pounds Andouille sausage. If you can't find andouille, you want a very lean, smoked hot seasoned sausage. You can always order from Jacob's Andouille.

3 pound bag of frozen small, tailless, precooked shrimp. Using raw shrimp is fine, but it doesn't improve anything, so it's a corner I cut.

1. Add trinity to olive oil and sweat until onions are translucent.
2. Add garlic and cook until just done.
3. Add tomatoes and juice and lightly brown- most of the juice will evaporate.
4. Add stock, seasonings, roux and meats except shrimp. Bring to boil and let simmer for about an hour.
5. Add shrimp- just long enough to warm through, or simmer for at least another hour.

Add file powder to the gumbo once it's in the bowl- if you boil file, it gets stringy.

Serve over rice.

Bread-wise, this is out of this world- http://steamykitchen.com/168-no-knead-b ... sited.html. It does need to rise for 18 hours though. If you want something faster, her french bread is the best I've ever made.

http://steamykitchen.com/75-baking-the- ... bread.html

[ph4ever]

How can it be gumbo without okra?

[Coconuts]

It's file gumbo. The file thickens it, you don't need okra to do that.

[SeattleParrotHead]

The word "gumbo" supposedly comes from the Bantu word "achinggumbo", which means okra.

No okra . . not Gumbo!

[ph4ever]

It's file gumbo. The file thickens it, you don't need okra to do that.

File is the spice. It's from the sassafrass leaves dried and ground up. You can call the spice "file gumbo" but it's the okra that makes it gumbo. The okra is not used as a thickening agent for gumbo it's a primary ingredient. File is used for favoring. If you've made a proper roux that will also help thicken it up.

[Whodat81]

What the hell is a Jumbalya

Jambalaya JUST KIDDING.

sounds like they led you in the right direction. A good jambalaya is making sure you have cooked the rice to perfection with right amount of water to make it butterfly and not gummy.

[BeachBumJim]

I make Gumbo from a recipe that my sister and bro in law taught me. They lived in Lafayette, La for years and learned from some locals.
I choose not to use seafood for mine. I like good ol' chicken and sausage. Andouille or smoked pork and venison (Savoies). I make a darker roux than the peanut butter color described above.

I serve with File on the table as the guests can add their own if they like.

Also shaved green onions make a nice topping as well.

Yep... good bread on the side with a pat of butter.



Also... a neat Cajun market if ever in the Lafayette/Scott area is Don's right on I-10. GREAT fresh cracklin...and awesome meats.
The do mail order as well. http://www.donsspecialtymeats.com/

[Whodat81]

Beachbum - These are unbelievable. I grab some about once a month when i am coming down I-10. Try some next time you place an order. also there Boudin is really good.
http://www.donsspecialtymeats.com/index ... Itemid=115

[chippewa]

Jambalaya v. Gumbo?

I thought this was the finals of a 64-dish Tailgating Food Tournament
How did Jell-O shots upset bratwurst in the Midwest Region?

[ph4ever]

Beachbum - These are unbelievable. I grab some about once a month when i am coming down I-10. Try some next time you place an order. also there Boudin is really good.
http://www.donsspecialtymeats.com/index ... Itemid=115

mmmm boudin. I just drooled on my keyboard.

[Ol'_'96'er]

Jambalaya v. Gumbo?

I thought this was the finals of a 64-dish Tailgating Food Tournament
How did Jell-O shots upset bratwurst in the Midwest Region?

the Wisconsin votes were disqualified

[VanillaGrl]

Beachbum - These are unbelievable. I grab some about once a month when i am coming down I-10. Try some next time you place an order. also there Boudin is really good.
http://www.donsspecialtymeats.com/index ... Itemid=115

mmmm boudin. I just drooled on my keyboard.

Me too!

[JollyMon66]

Believe it or not the Costco cookbook I picked up free several years ago at the store has a pretty good Jumbalaya recipe.

[citcat]

You can leave the chicken out of gumbo, for my part. But it's gotta have shrimp, fish of some sort, and sausage. Yum...good thing I'm eating lunch or I'd be hungry.

[BeachBumJim]

Beachbum - These are unbelievable. I grab some about once a month when i am coming down I-10. Try some next time you place an order. also there Boudin is really good.
http://www.donsspecialtymeats.com/index ... Itemid=115

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