I am being sent the fish market to buy something called soft shelled crabs.. an American friend is visiting and wants to make Louisianna Gumbo.. I've never heard of them before, apparently they are new to the Australian market.

Is this what you guys use for gumbo in New Orleons?

Anyway I don't think I've ever had a gumbo.. can anyone give me a clue what else I should pick up that goes well with it? And is there a "traditional" drink you serve with gumbo at all?

thanks

Opti

Opti - Billy would be the definitive opinion and source for Gumbo cooking

In my Gumbo I used a few steamed crab bodies and leg clusters (and backfin meat) but ANYTHING goes into Gumbo. Any meat, seafood (leftovers if you want) so on and so on

you'll also need Okra and/or filé powder which comes from dried sassafras

and Andouille sausage

I suggest a very strong beer full bodied beer to go with it (I put a little beer in when cooking for flavor). Blackened Voodoo Lager would work as well as Bass Ale. Something big and robust

WARNING - If it's a good Gumbo you may become hooked (I've been for years). If it's great Gumbo you'll experience FOODGASMS!!!

You can make gumbo a few different ways seafood / chicken and susage so it does change with your prefrences. I have never heard of soft shell crabs being in gumbo but different people put different things in theirs : )

One of my favorite cook books is River Road Recipes, which you can find online.

If you are lazy you can get everthing you need at http://www.zatarain.com/ (a few stores carry their stuff) they have a mix and all you need to do is add whatever floats your boat : ) I made some great crawfish etouffee the other night, I used 2 lbs of crawfish so you had a tail in each bite !!

As far as what to drink with gumbo.. what do you like : ) Of course if you can get yourself some Abita Beer that would be great but any beer will do.

Vick.. any comments ??

In case anybody wants to make some gumbo here is one "Style"

For shrimp and okra gumbo:

3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
3 tablespoons of flour
l large chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
5 or 6 cloves, chopped garlic
1 cup of chopped green pepper
1 can of tomato sauce
1 can of tomatoes ("Rotel" tomatoes for a spicier taste!)
1 pound, fresh sliced okra (or 2 boxes of frozen sliced okra)
2 pounds of fresh shrimp
2 - 3 cups water
salt & pepper to taste
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of chopped parsley
1 bay leaf


For seafood gumbo, add to the above:
1 small can of crabmeat or 3 fresh gumbo crabs
1 jar oysters

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Slowly stir the flour into heated oil in a heavy cast iron skillet. Continue to stir until the flour is dark brown. Add the next 4 ingredients; stir until onions are clear.
Add tomato sauce. Stir until it gets crumbly or dry. Fry okra in another skillet until it is no longer sticky or stringy. Add tomatoes and fried okra.
Cook slowly, adding 2 to 3 cups of water--a little at a time. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in one teaspoon of sugar.
Cook for about an hour on a low fire, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking to the bottom of pot; adding water if necessary. Add the shrimp and the bay leaf (and if desired, the oysters and crabmeat).
Cook another 30 minutes to an hour, adding seasoning to taste.
Serve over boiled or steamed rice.


PS.. make sure you get some HOT SAUCE !!

Billy we must have been posting at the same time
(where's the food icon!) :P

AWESOME thankyou guys... well she is bringing everything to make the gumbo, home style, I just have to get the crabs (I love being looked after and you two have made me damn hungry now!)

Would this be the same as "Abita Beer"? I know a good shop to get "exotic" beer so I should be able to get at least one fo those three... And hot sauce... I guess thats the same world over... are we talking tabasco style hot sauce?

Sounds like the sort of thing that could go well just with a big salad and some italian style bread sticks.. and some wine too maybe :)

Mmmmm I'm hungry :)))

Hope I can find that beer!... hey is their a down south dessert I may be able to buy or whip in under an hour? (it's 3pm here.. I only have a few hours to organise this stuff and the drive to the fish market will take 90 mins)


:bjump: gumbo for me tonight yipee ;-)



Last edited by Opti at Sep 8 2003, 02:24 PM

OH DAMN... Is this what you throw in a crawfish boil!

http://www.zatarain.com/recipes/recipe.php...ee940e670b4d915

I WANT TO HAVE ONE! "Nawlins Down Under"

Beer Boiled Crawfish

2 ½ gallons Water
1 case Budweiser Beer
32 ozs Salt
4-8oz bottles Zatarain's Shrimp & Crab Boil With Lemon or Garlic & Onion
2 ½ pounds New potatoes (boilers)
2 pounds Corn-on-cob
40 pounds (1 sack) Crawfish


Anything with a slab of beer in the recipe is MY SORTA MEAL! :D

When we have the next Oprano Crawfish Boil you really should try to make it to New Orleans.. its worth the trip : )

http://www.oprano.com/reporter/04062002/index.html

Yeah.. we need a food icon.. whats up with not having one ??

Opti - usually Gumbo is served over rice

Don't know if wine would really match up well with Gumbo
Go with a beer you like that is going to stand up to a hardy meal

I'll probably suggest maybe a nice crustry french style bread to go with it (for dipping and such)

For desert maybe something lite, maybe if you can find some Strawberries in season and get chocolate to melt over them

Or some sort of fruit to drizzle melted chocolate over (I'm also thinking if a woman is preparing Gumbo for you the chocolate and fruit thing could be fun)

Hot sauce is a near and dear to my tastebuds and heart thing. If you can, get the green Tabasco hot sauce if you don't have a favorite. I like the green Tabasco with Gumbo

Gumbo takes a few hours to prepare so maybe you could work in some wine while the Gumbo is cooking and then have a strong (flavored) beer with the Gumbo. Gumbo is very tasty and needs a robust beer to stand up to it. Abita is not the same as Voodoo or Bass but all are good choices

Have a great time, I get the feeling you're going to B)

I love when Vick is around : )

:bwave:

I love when Billy is around :inlove: :D

Just in time Vick! I am running out the door.. Strawberry idea is perfect and easy too! :)

This is a friend's wife I am looking after so although it will be fun (I like to cook and drink and eat a LOT) it wont be that much fun ;-)

Ah.. the cooking time explains why she had to start preparing already before coming! (maybe the soft shelled crabs dont even go in it??)

anyway thankyou again.

Billy.. thats on one my top 3 most want to attend events for 2004! (really)

I am right in the mood for this now! Just need some mardi gras style music and beads I think! :)

Opti - one more thing
The soft shelll crabs you're about to buy will either be live or frozen
If they are live you'll most likely be taking them packed in seaweed

I hate it when you guys get all mushy like that ...

Don't be a hater now : )

I cannot help it if we are in touch with our feminine side :yowsa:

You guys are making my mouth water for some nice Chesapeake Bay crabs... and steamed shrimp... a nice rich seafood chowder in a bread bowl.... arrrrrggggghhhhh

Hey Billy in that recipe you posted, should ya get raw or cooked shrimp?

Edit: "fresh" - guess that means raw ;)



Last edited by Carrie at Sep 8 2003, 12:46 AM

Are you putting the crabs into the gumbo? I've always fried soft shell crabs in butter and either eaten them straight, or made a sandwich out of them. :bdance:

Also, gumbo always tastes even BETTER the next day, so be sure and save some! :)

Of course fresh is always better.. but if you cannot find any I guess any kind would be ok.. even... can...

My coonass family is sharply divided on the okra in the gumbo issue.
Father's side does not use okra but mothers side does.

Thus I only eat my fathers family's gumbo.

Okra sometimes makes the gumbo "snot-like" lol and I wont touch it.

I actually had a nice shrimp gumbo last night mmmmmmm

I dont like okra either

Cue Louis Armstrong

Do you know what it means to miss new orleans
And miss it each night and day
I know I’m not wrong... this feeling’s gettin’ stronger
The longer, I stay away
Miss them moss covered vines...the tall sugar pines
Where mockin’ birds used to sing
And I’d like to see that lazy mississippi...hurryin’ into spring

The moonlight on the bayou.......a creole tune.... that fills the air
I dream... about magnolias in bloom......and I’m wishin’ I was there

Do you know what it means to miss new orleans



Opti - Please let us know how the Gumbo and dinner turned out

I don't smoke, I don't shoot smack
But I got a spicy monkey ridin' on my back.
Don't eat beignets, too much sugar and dough,
But I will play for gumbo
Yes, I will play for gumbo

It started at my Grandma's kitchen by the sea,
She warned me when she told me "son the first one's free"
It hit me like a rock or some Taikwondo,
Cause I will play for gumbo
Oh yea, I will play for gumbo.
Chorus
A piece of French bread
With which to wipe my bowl,
Good for the body.
Good for the soul.
It's a little like religion
And a lot like sex.
You should never know
When you're gonna get it next.
At midnight in the quarter or noon in Thibadeaux
I will play for gumbo
Yes, I will play for gumbo.

I'm not talkin' quesadillas or a dozen Krispy Kremes,
Or a pound of caviar that's a rich man's dream.
No banana split or fillet of pompano.
No, I will play for gumbo,
Yeah, I will play for gumbo
Chorus
Maybe it's the sausage or those pretty pink shrimp
Or that popcorn rice that makes me blow up like a blimp.
Maybe it's that voodoo from Marie Leveaux,
But I will play for gumbo
Yeah, I will play for gumbo

The sauce boss does his cookin' on the stage,
Stirrin' and a singing for his nightly wage.
Sweating and frettin' from his head to his toe,
Playin' and swayin' with the gumbo
Prayin' and buffetin' with the gumbo

Damn it
Now I have an urge to make Gumbo (where's the food icon) :P

oh man I want gumbo now..haven't had it in years. I cooked it once for hubby when I first moved here and he didn't like it (not a fish fan) so I haven't had it since.

Damn it, now I have the urge for you to make Gumbo and send it to me - where's the FedEx icon? :okthumb:

Damn it, now I have the urge for you to make Gumbo and send it to me - where's the FedEx icon? :okthumb:[/b][/quote]
You're right it is better the next day :P

You guys are just awful... I'm finding this thread at lunchtime too! lol

I know it's cheating but way out here in California, Zatarain's is about all we've got... I've been making Jambalaya lately for the family and they are crazy about it. Not as good as what we had in Nawlins a few years back, but good enough to make me want to hop on a plane and go back. :awinky:

The kids prefer it with just shrimp, but I like it with the sausage & shrimp mixture... we need to put in a request to one of the conferences to get us all back to NO soon! I still say Fay's show there was tops - the time of year, the laid-back atmosphere and the NatNet suite - they definitely raised the bar on our expectations of how an after-the-show party should be done.... with class! :rokk:

BWAAAAAAAAHH... several days to recover!

I want to move to nawlins.. I like places that have cuisine that people get all excited for! (we have a Spanish restuarant strip here in Sydney that feels that way too)

Thanks everyone.. we had a great night... hate to say it, but the food wasnt quite up to expectations... although I could see good Gumbo would be GREAT.. Ill have the good stuff over there early next year for sure!

I didnt get the soft shelled crabs! They were sold out! But Peaches was correct that they were for a side dish anyway.

Ended up with budwieser beer instead of blackened Voodoo lager :\ (but got french bread sticks as ordered!)

Ok.. now that I wont get caught saying this by the cook.. I have to say... um well.. err.. the gumbo wasnt that great to look at.. I was expecting something like a seafood laksa... and ended up with something that reminded me more of a meat porridge!

(Did someone mention SNOT.. yes it definitely had a generous helping of snot in it for sure!)

But the taste was great...

Gumbo was already going to have trouble making me happy after I knew about the crawfish boil recipe with a slab of beer on the ingredient list!

That's what I want this week! Anyone else want to come over and be guest American chef this weekend? :D

Damn its lunchtime here... anyone in Sydney feel like a bite?!?!

(still no food icon here)