Seafood & Andouille Gumbo - A Little Spoon

Get the Recipe: Seafood & Andouille Gumbo

5 from 2 ratings

Yield12 servings

Prep2

Cook5

Stock Cook Time4

Total11

Ingredients

Shrimp Stock

8 cups water
2½ lbs medium shrimp , heads and shells on
3 carrots
4 celery stalks
½ onion
1 bay leaf
½ tablespoon whole peppercorns
½ teaspoon dried thyme
2 cloves garlic, crushed
½ a lemon

Chicken Stock

8 cups water
1 cut up rotisserie or roasted chicken carcass with as much skin as you can keep
3 carrots
4 celery stalks
½ onion
1 bay leaf
½ tablespoon whole peppercorns
½ teaspoon coriander seeds
2 cloves garlic, crushed
½ a lemon

Gumbo

2 medium onions, small dice
2 green peppers, small dice
4-5 celery ribs, small dice
¾ cup green onions, sliced
¼ teaspoon cumin, toasted and ground
½ teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon black pepper, fresh ground
⅛ teaspoon celery seed
½ teaspoon white miso paste
1 anchovy
4 cloves roasted garlic
1½ lb or 7 cups fresh okra, sliced
1½ lbs andouille sausage
1 lb smoked sausage
1½ cup all purpose flour
1 cup canola or vegetable oil
½ tablespoon kosher salt
1 cup amber ale
6 cup shrimp stock
2 cup chicken stock
1 lb crab meat
2 teaspoon Crystal River hot sauce
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
½ tablespoon gumbo filé
1 lb Shrimp, peeled/deveined
1 tablespoon vodka (optional)

Equipment

1 chef knife
1 cutting board
1 colander
1 mixing bowls
Measuring spoons
measuring Cups
1 enameled dutch oven
1 flat-tipped, wooden spoon

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Instructions

First make the stocks. For the chicken stock, break down the chicken with a boning knife and add in the rest of the ingredients into a stock pot. Bring everything to a gentle boil, uncovered, for 4-6 hours. Skim off any impurities and foam as it cooks. Strain, separating out 2 cups (480ml) and store in the refrigerator.
For the shrimp stock, pull off the shrimp heads and shells, placing the shrimp into a bowl and the exoskeletons into a strainer. Once all of them have been peeled, place the bowl of shrimp into the refrigerator and lightly rinse off the heads and peels. Add them to a stock pot with the rest of the ingredients and bring everything to a gentle simmer for 1-2 hours. Skim off any impurities and foam as it cooks. Strain and separate out 6 cups (1.4L) of stock. Store in the refrigerator.
Next, slice up the okra by taking off the tops and cutting 1/4 inch (.64cm) slices for the remainder of the vegetable. Once cut, heat a large sauté pan on medium high heat. Add about 2 tablespoons of canola oil and then dump in the okra slices. Sautee all of the sliminess out until the okra browns and chars at the edges. It may take up to 30 minutes to get all of the okra dried out. Transfer to a container and set aside.
Prep the sausage by cutting 1/4-1/2in (.64-1.3cm) slices on the bias, so they are cut diagonally. In the same pan that the okra was cooked in, sauté the sausage until it's crispy with nicely browned spots on both sides. Transfer the sausage and grease to a container and chill in the fridge until it's time to add it back into the gumbo.
Now is the time to prep all of the other ingredients. Once you start the roux, there is no time to do any chopping or measuring. Cut up the mirepoix (onion, peppers, and celery) into 1/4in (.64cm) cubes and the green onion into 1/4in (.64cm) slices. Keep them separate and set them each aside. Mash/mix together the roasted garlic, miso paste, and anchovy along with the cumin, paprika, black pepper and celery seed. Also, separately measure out the kosher salt, beer, and stocks into their own containers and have them ready to go.
To start the roux, add the oil to a heavy bottomed stock pot or enameled dutch oven on a stove top set between med-high and high. Bring the oil’s temperature up until you can smell it. Then, pour in the flour and immediately begin stirring and gently scraping along the bottom and sides of the pot with a wooden spatula. Make sure to never stop stirring or the roux will burn. The flour will go from white to peanut butter to milk chocolate and then dark chocolate color within 15 minutes. It will be smoking a bit, that’s okay, just open a window or turn on your oven hood fan, if you have one.
Once you have the dark chocolate color roux, add in your onions and stir for 30 seconds, then add in the celery, peppers, and salt. Continue stirring all of this until you see the veggies start to soften. It shouldn’t take longer than 5 minutes. Then toss in the okra and spices/pastes and mix around for 1-2 minutes. Next, pour in the beer. Continue stirring for 2 minutes and then add in the stocks, sausage, crab meat, and bay leaf.
Let that simmer on low for 4-6 hours. About 30 minutes before the gumbo is done, stir in the crystal hot sauce and fresh thyme. Then, cook the shrimp in the gumbo using a small colander or large mesh strainer. Take the shrimp out and put them in a separate bowl after they cook through. You can then turn off the burner and add in the filé and vodka. Give the gumbo a good stir and then scoop it into a bowl to serve. Make sure to add back in some shrimp to each bowl. Serve topped with rice, chopped parsley, and/or a small sprinkling of additional filé.

Video

Notes

Eating gumbo the next day always tastes better than eating it immediately because the flavors really get to harmonize. I'm not saying you should wait, but I am saying leftovers are very important!

Making Shrimp Stock: If you cannot find shrimp with the heads still attached, you will need to at least double the shrimp tails to get a similar flavor, but it can be done.
Making Chicken Stock: Uncooked chicken can be used for a homemade stock, but it won't be as flavorful. Make a roast chicken or even buy a fresh rotisserie chicken and then use those leftovers for your soup base. Honestly, WORLDS of difference.
Watch your Roux: You'll know the roux is burned if you see black flecks or chunks that are much darker than the rest of the roux and it has taken on a bitter, acrid smell.
Equipment Recommendations: I recommend, using an enameled dutch oven as it holds heat better and won't have hot spots to scorch your roux like a metal stock pot would. If you are using metal, I suggest keeping everything at medium high and no higher, to be on the safe side. I also recommend using a wooden, flat-tipped spatula. I've found that utensils encased in silicone or with many parts, like a whisk, can volatilely affect the surface of the roux causing it to more readily spatter out of the pot. And, let me tell you, oil this hot immediately blisters on impact. No thanks!
Cooking Shrimp Perfectly: Since you will surely have different sizes of shrimp in your batch let me just give you visuals to look out for. The shrimp should turn pink/orange in color fro their uncooked gray. I know an easy one. They should also never be cooked past a gently curled "C" shape. Once they curl tightly against themselves they are the texture of rubber. Don't let it get that far. Even if you only put the shrimp in at the very end, that stew is hot. They will over cook in a matter of minutes. Cook them and then set them aside to be added back in at serving for the best texture.

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