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[darkenedminds]

Two questions:

How far ahead from a party would it be OK to make gumbo? The party is at noon on Saturday - would Thursday night be OK?

Also: do you have any recommendations for a shrimp and sausage gumbo with okra, made from a roux (it seems a lot I'm finding aren't authentic and are based off of tomato paste for ease)?

Comments

Gumbo Yum

[kestrelcat]

Thursday should be fine as long a you follow good food handling and refrigerate accordingly. I often cook my dinners ahead and do just that.

Authentic gumbo recipes are always a fun one. The Louisianan side of my family says there really isn't a recipe. I'd say more properly there isn't ONE recipe for gumbo. Kinda like chili, I suppose.

My understanding is that you substitute the roux for the tomato paste as a thickener/flavor base. The darker the roux the less it can thicken so that is where things like okra and file' powder come in. They will thicken as well. Most gumbos I have had use crushed whole tomatoes and a roux.

My best advice as I don't have a recipe at hand would be to use something like this http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sunday-gumbo/detail.aspx as a guide and thicken with roux and serve over rice.

I hope this helps-
KC

[darkenedminds]

Thanks for the info and link. Yeah, I know theres no one recipe, and I'm OK at winging it, but a could use a guide since this would be my first time making it. What ingredients are you particularly fond of in gumbo? Is Okra/roux enough to thicken it well?

Winging it often work best....

[kestrelcat]

Okra and roux should do it and rice at service.

I generally like pork in my gumbo and chicken as well as seafood. So I usually do smoked sausage, chicken thighs an' put the shrimp in last. I have skipped seafood completely before and it's been fine (I have a no-seafood person in my household).

Aside from protein, I generally use a combo of onions, bell peppers, carrots and garlic for veggies and stock and the crushed tomatoes for liquid.

Whatever you choose, I bet your gumbo is going to be awesome.

KC

[lunanoir]

My hairdresser (whom I've known for 20 years) is from louisiana and gave me a copy of a cookbook he got when he lived here. He says he swears by it and a lot of the recipes are just like his grandmother used to make (she was illiterate and never wrote them down

[kestrelcat]

Yup that is salt pork.

[little_e_]

My only recommendation is to make sure you properly cook the okra... I adore okra, but I have accidentally under-cooked my okra on a couple of occasions, and the results were not fun.
Anyway, good luck with your gumbo--yum!

[molasses]

i love this post and the replies you got!