now that i've seen the princess & the frog... i really want gumbo

[Anonymous]

does anyone have a recipe that will not take all day to cook?
i'm not a stickler for authenticity. i used to love copeland's gumbo which i'm told is all wrong.

[Anonymous]

Cajun lady from Louisiana here-

The easiest trick would be to find either Tony Chachere's gumbo mix or Zatarains' gumbo mix (they both come in a box) and use that as your base. Chop up, real small, one onion, one small bell pepper and about 4 stalks of celery (called a trinity). Cook that down with about 2 teaspoons of olive oil until it starts to brown. Follow the instructions on the box, adding your ingredients in the same pot that you browned your trinity. If you are using sausage, cut that up and brown it separately, then add to the pot. Never bring it to a boil, as the instructions may suggest. Let it slowly cook for about an hour, keeping it covered. You can use shrimp and crab or chicken and sausage as combinations. Please do not put scallops


Serve with rice.

Here are the links to the gumbo boxes:

http://www.zatarains.com/Products/Bases-and-Bean-Seasonings/Gumbo-Base.aspx

http://shop.tonychachere.com/creole-gumbo-mix-8-oz-p-21685.html

Now, if you ever find yourself wanting to make it from scratch, I would highly recommend Chef John Folse. He is a real Cajun who remains true to the art form of Cajun Cooking.

http://www.jfolse.com/newfindrecipe.htm

Enjoy!

[Anonymous]

PP here: Also, use chicken stock instead of water. Adds extra flavor!

[Anonymous]

thanks! for some reason it didn't occur to me to try a mix. although i'm typically anti-mixes, there's just no way i'm going to slave over a pot for hours and hours...

[Anonymous]

Well, the mixes give a base to work with, rather than trying to make a roux from scratch, which I rarely do!