Gumbo
***CUT ALL VEGGIES AND MEAT FIRST! This makes things much easier.
Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- Plus 1 Tbs. of vegetable oil for sauteing the sausage
- 1/2 cup flour
- 3 links of Andouille sausages cut into slices (about 8 oz.)
- 1 lb. of boneless skinless chicken thigh meat diced
- 1 lb. 21-25 count shrimp peeled and deveined. Note: Take the tails off too. If you use frozen shrimp, defrost first!
- 1 1/2 Tbs. tomato paste
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 1 cup finely diced celery
- 1 green bell pepper diced
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 1/4-1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 5 cups chicken stock
- 1/2 tsp. gumbo file
- 1/4 tsp. salt and pepper
- White or Jasmine rice for serving
In a cast iron skillet or saute pan, heat vegetable oil on medium high heat. Add flour and mix with whisk. Turn heat down to medium and whisk occasionally until the roux turns a medium brown color. About 15 min.
Take the plus 1 Tbs. of vegetable oil and heat it in a large pot or Dutch oven. Turn heat to medium high and saute the sausage.
Once browned, remove sausage leaving the juices in the pot and put sausage into a bowl. Now add the chicken to the pot. Season chicken with salt and pepper. When chicken is browned, remove it and put it in the bowl with the sausage.
Add onion, celery, bell pepper, cayenne pepper and tomato paste to the pot and saute until softened. This will take about 10 minutes on medium heat. Add the garlic in for the last 2-3 minutes of cooking the veggies. Don't let the garlic burn.
Add the white wine and scrap the bottom of the pan. Let wine reduce for 2 minutes.
Add the chicken stock to the veggies. Take the roux and a whisk and slowly add it to the stock and veggie mixture.
Once combined, add the chicken and sausage to the pot. Let the gumbo come to a boil, then turn it down to a simmer and cook for 35-40 minutes uncovered stirring occasionally.
When only 5 minutes remain for the gumbo, add your peeled, deveined, tail off shrimp and gumbo file. Stir and finish the final 5 minutes of cooking.
While the gumbo is simmering, make the rice using a quarter cup less water from the directions so the rice is sticky. Ladle gumbo into a bowl and scoop rice into the middle.
Recipe courtesy of: Leslie Dabney, The Vineyard Mom
Cornbread with Sweet Corn
Ingredients:
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup yellow corn meal
- 1 Tbs. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 cup half and half
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter melted
- 1/2 cup sugar (optional if your prefer an unsweetened cornbread)
- 1 cup sweet corn either fresh or thawed
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Spray a 9x9 baking dish with non-stick spray.
Sift together flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt.
Combine the beaten eggs, the half and half, melted butter and sugar (optional) in a separate bowl.
Add egg mixture to the flour and cornmeal mixture and stir to combine for about 10 seconds.
Fold in the sweet corn. DO NOT OVERMIX BATTER or the cornbread will be tough.
Pour batter into a greased baking dish and bake immediately.
Bake for 25-30 minutes. A toothpick should come out of the mixture clean.
Serve with main dish or whipped butter. Cornbread is best when its hot!
Recipe courtesy of: Leslie Dabney, The Vineyard Mom
Be sure to follow Leslie on Instagram @thevineyardmomliving.
