Butterfly Gumbo & Northwest Hurricane (REUPLOAD)
My own personal, highly researched take on Deep South water, accompanied by a PNW version of the New Orleans staple cocktail
Gumbo is life. Gumbo is God. Gumbo is the soul of humanity. Gumbo is everything.
The primordial soup was Gumbo.
As you can see by the grease and hurricane stains on my original written recipe, making gumbo is an intense experience. I like to make the pitcher of hurricanes beforehand so as to drink it while making the gumbo - it makes everything more fun.
BUTTERFLY GUMBO
Ingredients
2 lbs chicken thighs (with bones and skin)
2 lbs cooked andouille sausage
A handful of shrimps (optional, some people say its not traditional to mix proteins in gumbo, but personally I like a couple shrimps in the pot)
1/2 lb bacon
1 cup of vegetable oil
1 - 1.5 cups white flour
3 quarts chicken stock (preferable to make your own beforehand, but store bought is fine)
2 medium yellow onions
2 cups diced celery
2 cups diced red bell pepper
1/3 cup minced garlic
2 bunches chopped green onion
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of thyme
1/2 cup chopped curly parsley
1/2 lb okra (optional, seasonal, depends on how you like it!)
Steamed white rice
Spice mix
black pepper
white pepper
cayenne pepper
sweet paprika
garlic powder
file powder (also optional for thickening, depending on if you use okra as well, but I like the flavor the file adds so I always put a few shakes in)
IMPORTANT STEP: You must play soul/funk/RnB music loudly, and take time to dance and sing while making this gumbo, otherwise it will not come out right. Feel free to use my carefully curated GUMBO PLAYLIST to start yourself off right.
1 - cook the bacon in a frying pan, then set bacon aside
2 - set aside about 1/4 cup of bacon grease in a measuring cup
3 - add 3/4 of vegetable oil to the measuring cup (enough to equal 1 full cup of bacon grease and vegetable oil combined)
4 - brown the chicken thighs in the frying pan with the leftover bacon grease, then set aside
5 - begin the roux, dry cook the flour in a non-stick pan till lightly toasted
6 - in a large stock pot, heat the vegetable oil/bacon grease mixture, then stir in the flour
7 - lower the heat to medium, stir the roux consistently every 1-2 minutes, be sure to not stir constantly, allow for the roux to brown for a minute or two before stirring again, but if you let it sit too long it could burn very easily. this is the most important step. stir on and off every 2ish minutes for about 25-30 minutes until the roux looks like melted dark chocolate
8 - begin heating the chicken stock in a separate stock pot while the roux is cooking
9 - when the roux is ready, stir in the garlic and holy trinity (onion, celery, bell pepper), saute for 8-10 minutes until the holy trinity gets soft
10 - add whole chicken thighs and cut up andouille sausage, cook on low for 20 minutes, stirring consistently
11 - add hot chicken stock one ladle at a time, stirring and scraping the bottom
12 - stir in half the spice mix, bring to boil, reduce to simmer, then let cook for 1 hour
13 - remove the chicken thighs, separate the meat from the bone and shred (or dice). return the meat to the pot and discard the bones (or freeze them for later use as chicken stock)
14 - add green onion, bay leaf, thyme, and okra (optional), stir and simmer for 2 hours until incorporated, thick, beautiful
15 - add parsley, shrimps, cut up bacon and the rest of the spice mix, cook another 5-7 minutes until shrimps are cooked through
Serve over steamed white rice
Optional to serve with a couple spoonfuls of potato salad
If you’re gonna add hot sauce, Crystal is the best Louisiana hot sauce. Louisiana brand is cool, but Crystal is better.
NORTHWEST HURRICANE
Ingredients
one .750ml bottle of rum (white or brown)
2 cups passionfruit juice
2 cups orange juice
1/4 cup lime juice
6oz package of blueberries
6 oz package of blackberries
1/2 cup white sugar
Maraschino cherries and/or orange slices
1 - in a small saucepan, cook down the berries on medium heat with about 1 cup of water and the sugar
2 - strain out the solids and let cool (you could add a handful of ice cubes to cool down quicker)
3 - in a large pitcher or punch bowl, mix rum (could be the whole bottle or less, to your liking) with passionfruit juice, orange juice, lime juice
4 - stir in the reduced berry mixture
Serve on ice with Maraschino cherries and/or orange slices
Know that when you’re making this recipe, you are experiencing an integral part of American culture, a part that is often misrepresented and looked over by the vast majority of people. A large portion of my family is from Da South, mostly New Orleans and Louisiana swamps so when I say I grew up eatin gumbo and muffalettas and jambalaya and shrimp po’boys, trust me. My first alcoholic beverage before I was even legal was a hurricane from Pat O’Reilly’s, sneakily handed to me at 15 while walking around the French Quarter. New Orleans is often written about by food and travel bloggers, but you won’t fully understand what it’s like in New Orleans without immersing yourself in the food, the music, the architecture, the view, the vibe, and stepping foot in it yourself without being a shitty tourist. It’s wack to even write about it knowing that most people reading this live within decent traveling distance of the place that I most consider home and yet know very little about. New Orleans is an entire experience, so remember that, and be incredibly respectful while making this gumbo. Love.
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