I had a whole chicken and shrimp in the freezer and that, along with refrigerated odds and ends, sounded like gumbo to me. Problem is, my file gumbo powder is in Sens and I have never made gumbo with okra, nor have I wanted to. So I decided to make a gumbo-like stew. Don’t worry Loo-siana people, I know a gumbo when I make it.
I was concerned about the German suppenhuhn or soup chicken. Did that mean I’d have to boil it for hours to separate the bones from the meat, ending up with stringy chicken?
Refusing to be intimidated and pretending it was just like any other chicken, I assembled my poaching ingredients.
Still, after browning the chicken pieces, I did wonder about the average age of a suppenhuhn.
And after 40 minutes of “poaching”, the chicken was still firmly attached to its bones. An hour and a half it took; use a regular chicken. And now a completely gratuitous picture of my new avocado colored tajine, the replacement for my manila colored tajine that was cracked on the apartment’s K-Mart quality electric stove. Lovely 🙂
Another reason this is not real gumbo is that I didn’t have andouille or a similar smoked sausage. I wanted to substitute with chorizo but the super nice lady behind the meat counter handed me an Italian dried salami, assuring me that it was chorizo. Politely I said I thought chorizo came from Spain. But she assured me that Italy and Spain were interchangeable. Not wanting to embarrass us further, I just took the salami 🙂 It was okay, it gave the faux gumbo a sort of “que sera sera”, whatever, Mediterranean twist.
This was NOT gumbo but it was a very good stew. I’ll probably repeat this in the future.
Faux Gumbo
1 regular chicken, quartered
Emeril’s essence
2/3 cup vegetable oil
3-4 celery tops with leaves
1 large onion, quartered
4 garlic cloves, quartered
2 tsp peppercorns
2 bay leaves
5 fresh thyme sprigs
1/2 cup white wine
8-12 cups water
2/3 cup flour
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup bell pepper, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
8 garlic cloves, chopped
2 smoke sausages or chorizo, sliced
2 tbsp Emeril’s essence
2 tbsp tomato paste
Salt and pepper
1lb shrimp, shelled and cleaned
Cooked rice
Scallions, sliced
Sprinkle the chicken pieces with Emeril’s essence and rub in. Brown the chicken pieces in the oil, remove and put into a large pot with the celery tops and the quartered onion, garlic cloves, peppercorns, bay leaf, thyme, white wine and water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30-40 minutes. Remove the chicken, allow it to cool, then remove the skin and bones, coarsely shredding the meat. Set the chicken meat aside. Strain the broth and reserve.
Add the flour to the pan and oil you used for the chicken and make a roux by constantly stirring the flour on low heat until it turns a dark brown. Add the chopped onion, celery, bell pepper and garlic and cook until the vegetables are soft. Add the smoked sausage, the Emeril’s essence, tomato paste, salt, pepper and cook for about 5 minutes. Slowly add 8-10 cups of the reserved broth to the mixture, stirring, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the reserved chicken meat and continue to simmer for another 30 minutes. Bring the stew to a boil, stir in the shrimp, boil for 1 minute then remove from flame. Allow the stew to rest for about 10-15 minutes before serving. Serve over rice and sprinkle with sliced scallions.
Wine suggestion: Chianti 🙂
Love it!
Thank you Arthur.
I don’t care if it is authentic. It looks divine!
Thank you. I was a little disappointed that I didn’t have what I needed to make gumbo but was pleasantly surprised at this new stew.
I have never tried file powder. Is it’s flavor distinctive?
I think so. It’s powdered sassafras leaves and aides in thickening the gumbo.
Is it like sassafras root? I drank sassafras tea as a kid… Love that taste!
I’ve never had sassafras root.
If I find some, I’ll send you a bit. It is similar to licorice. Maybe we can swap sassafras treats 🙂
Sounds like a great idea!
I´m loving your faux gumbo with its German/Italian accent! Loving that tajine too 🙂
Thank you Chica. I love this color on the tajine.
Looks like gumbo. I bet it tastes dangerously close… Pretty colored tajine. I like the avocado green.
Thank you Tessa. It does taste good, but not like gumbo.
That does look very good! Amazing what you can think up when you’re limited by ingredients.
Thank you Phil. I just hate to be limited 🙂
It does sound good regardless, though I’d want chorizo in mine ideally. Perhaps a little hot pimentón de la vera would give it a chorizo like flavour 😉
Ideally, I would like the traditional andouille sausage but the chorizo would have been better than the salami.
That was a fun post to read! About the “Soup-hen” and about the “Chorizo=Salami”! It still looks like you managed to make a delicious non-Gumbo! I would definitely eat it, and not care what to call it!
Thank you dary. I think I will never buy a soup hen again but just a regular chicken can serve for any recipe I make.
As long as it tastes good!
(but I would share your frustration at not being able to get what you would prefer)
Thanks Daisy. I’m still not organized. Once we get into a house, I’m sure I’ll find out where to buy everything. This is a city after all!
I’m sure! Once everything gets more settled, you will certainly find the best places to go and shop for provisions. In the meanwhile, it looks like you are giving that Kmart kitchen a serious workout!
The salami definitely doesn’t look like chorizo, but it does look good – and so does your faux-gumbo!
Thank you chaise. The salami had a nice, spicy taste.
That looks pretty excellent despite the reluctant chicken. I totally approve of the gratuitous tajine photo. The gratuitous pics are usually the most revealing.
Best,
Conor
Thank you Conor.
Hahaha.. I wouldn’t know a gumbo from a stew, but I’d have a bowl of anything you whip up:D Love your tagine, btw, Emile!!! xx
I love Emile 🙂
Hahaha! Well, I think this looks just like a gumbo. The roux looks perfect. And love the tagine!
Hi Karista. The roux was a little bit different than I usually make because this time I added tomato paste, afraid for my lack of file.
Whatever you wanna name it, it looks delicious!
Thank you Villy.
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