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Gumbo


1978horn

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9 hours ago, Brisketexan said:


Yeah…my eyebrow went up too.
Dude. You pour it into a container and put it in the fridge once it cools down off the simmer a bit. You don’t just leave it out at room temp all night.

With frozen crawfish tails, what could go wrong?

 

I'm guessing, the roux process involved many drinks (understandable), and by the end of it all, the chef passed out and the gumbo sat out, cooling naturally on the counter.

 

/ICBW

Edited by dcbc
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50 minutes ago, dcbc said:

With frozen crawfish tails, what could go wrong?

 

I'm guessing, the roux process involved many drinks (understandable), and by the end of it all, the chef passed out and the gumbo sat out, cooling naturally on the counter.

 

/ICBW

I did wake up next to an empty bottle of Weller.....

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1 hour ago, South Austin said:

Cooling gumbo overnight on the kitchen counter helps release the electrolytes in the roux.

riboflavin

whenever my kids ask questions about food and nutrition I just start talking about riboflavin. Please understand I have no idea what riboflavin is.

"Do I have to put milk in my cereal?"

"Yes"

"Why?"

"It activates the riboflavin."

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On 9/21/2024 at 7:26 PM, freyguy said:

Never cooked the roux this dark before...I trust u guys...

20240921_192607.jpg

As an fyi, Alton Brown did a segment on gumbo a while back, and got all scientific on the darkness of roux, and the gist of it is that if you go darker, while you might get a bit more flavor, you lose its thickening properties.  So it's trying to find the sweet spot between what you posted above and a light/blonde roux.

For me, I usually take the roux off the heat and add the trinity when it's a dark reddish brown, as the roux will continue to darken a shade or so as it cooks the veggies.

Edited by South Austin
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That's good info.  On my last few gumbos, I went with a much lighter color, and it turned out more like a thick, flavorless ettoufee.  

This time around was much thinner & more flavorful.

I definitely credit the slow ramp down of temperature for all this.  It facilitated a prolonged breakdown of plant & animal tissue, thus releasing precious riboflavin....

image.png.da09564c03c10d2b84cdca51c8360541.png

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2 minutes ago, freyguy said:

On my last few gumbos, I went with a much lighter color, and it turned out more like a thick, flavorless ettoufee.  

Pro tip from my Breaux Bridge friend that I've offered before on this thread:  If you want to add flavor aside from spices and whatever you get from however you make the roux, add a tablespoon or so of soy sauce.  It's a subtle unami kick that turns it up.

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26 minutes ago, South Austin said:

As an fyi, Alton Brown did a segment on gumbo a while back, and got all scientific on the darkness of roux, and the gist of it is that if you go darker, while you might get a bit more flavor, you lose its thickening properties.  So it's trying to find the sweet spot between what you posted above and a light/blonde roux.

My daughter placed in her middle school science fair with a comparison of the thickening properties of different colors/cooking times of roux.  A quick white roux (like you use as the base for a basic white sauce) thickened like glue, my classic dark roux for gumbo barely thickened at all.  BUT....it's more delicious.  So, thicken with okra or file instead.

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31 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

My daughter placed in her middle school science fair with a comparison of the thickening properties of different colors/cooking times of roux.  A quick white roux (like you use as the base for a basic white sauce) thickened like glue, my classic dark roux for gumbo barely thickened at all.  BUT....it's more delicious.  So, thicken with okra or file instead.

agree

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1 hour ago, South Austin said:

As an fyi, Alton Brown did a segment on gumbo a while back, and got all scientific on the darkness of roux, and the gist of it is that if you go darker, while you might get a bit more flavor, you lose its thickening properties.  So it's trying to find the sweet spot between what you posted above and a light/blonde roux.

For me, I usually take the roux off the heat and add the trinity when it's a dark reddish brown, as the roux will continue to darken a shade or so as it cooks the veggies.

For thickening, you can also add filé at the end of the cook, which helps thicken it up.  I drop about a tablespoon into the pot.

 

/edit: I see this was covered.  Carry on

Edited by dcbc
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