New Beginning

Today marks a new page in my life. I am official done with my academic life (unless you I choose to go back...)! I have been spending the last couple of weeks writing and editing my thesis. Needless to say, my house is a mess and my husband hasn't had a real meal in a while. So to celebrate, I decided to make seafood gumbo.

Originated in Louisiana, seafood gumbo is full of flavor with a little kick of cajun spices. If you love sea food, this is your dish. You will hear me refer to my husband's pickiness quite a bit through out my blog. He is not a big fan of seafood like most people. But there are certain seafood that he will eat. And that's what I love about seafood gumbo, you can use any combination of seafood that pleases your appetite (imagine the possibilities um...). I picked cod fish, shrimps, and scallops simply because my husband will eat those things.

To begin, you will need a Roux (Roo) to thicken the stew with. A roux is a combination of fat and flour used as a thickener in many southern dishes. I used Kielbasa to flavor my roux. Brown the Kielbasa in oil on medium high heat for a few minutes, remove the sausage onto a paper towel lined plate. Add some more olive oil if needed. Reduce heat to medium low and add flour one table spoon at a time until the consistency is lightly thinner than sour cream while stir. Cook until light brown if you want a Creole gumbo version. If you want Cajun gumbo, cook until it's much darker, more like a peanut butter color.

Sweat okra, onion, celery, garlic, and green pepper in a dutch oven. Stir in cajun spices and a tablespoon or two of tomato paste for Creole gumbo (omit the tomato for Cajun). Deglaze with Sherry. Sherry is a Spanish wine with a lot of flavor, I use it in most of my cooking. Always choose dry Sherry for cooking. Add chicken broth (you can use homemade fish broth. I will share a few secrets about making fish broths with you in another post) and lemon juice and bring to a boil, simmer for a few minutes. The lemon juice helps the flavor of the spices, Sherry, and the seafood jump out at you with every bite. Stir in thr roux and let simmer until thicken. Don't add the seafood until you are 10 minutes away from being ready to serve otherwise they will disintegrate and you won't find them in the soup (which I just did).

I serve this stew with a scoop of long grain rice. I did not include a detailed recipe because there is really no way you can mess this dish up by adding too much or too little of something. The most important part is the roux, stop when its consistency is slightly thinner than sour cream or your gumbo will be very thick.

A former roommate of my husband recently moved to New Orleans. Never been there myself, but I am crazy about Cajun food. Maybe dinner tonight will take us on a short and sweet trip to New Orleans to see our dear friend. Bon appetit!