Conference turris::cooks

    Sure there is.  I got a "recipe" from my brother-in-law in New Orleans,
    so the amounts are not exact, but you'll get the idea.
    
    You need to start out with a chicken.  Put it into a big pot of
    water (enough to cover the chicken) and start it cooking.  Once
    the chicken is cooked enough to pull it off the bones, take it out
    of the water and bone it.  Now, put the bones back into the water,
    add an onion, a carrot, bay leaf and maybe some parsley leaves to
    make a good stock.  I usually cook this for about three hours and
    end up with about 2 quarts of stock.  Be sure to strain out the
    veggies and just save the stock.
    
    Now that you have that part done, make a dark roux (equal parts
    of fat and flour, cooked and stirred constantly till dark brown).
    Add the chopped chicken to this and stir till the chicken and roux
    are well mixed.  There is no need to cook this.  Sometimes, I will
    add a ham bone or ham hocks or something to give it added flavor
    and another type of meat.  This can be cooked right along with the
    chicken and throw the bone back with the chicken bones in after you 
    have cut the meat off.
    
    In a separate pan, add a couple of tablespoons of oil and heat.
    Add okra that has been chopped into 1/2" pieces, and a whole
    chopped onion.   Cook this till the okra gets slimey (it looks
    disgusting, but it's what thickens the soup!!!!)  Add a large can
    of cut up tomatoes (Progresso chopped tomatoes work real well for
    this) with the juice.  
    
    Now, add the okra and tomato mixture to the stock.  Then add the
    chicken/ham mixture along with some cayenne pepper (to taste) and 
    cook this whole mess together for about 30 minutes.  
    
    To serve gumbo, put about 1/2 cup rice in a bowl, sprinkle gumbo
    file powder over the top (about 1/2 tsp.) and put the soup on top
    of this.  The file powder also helps to thicken the soup, but you
    never want to boil file powder or it gets lumpy. 
    
    During the last 30 minutes of cooking, you can also add some cooked
    shrimp or crab meat.  Makes it real yummy.
    
    Happy eating.
    
    -Barb-

There's an excellent recipe for Chicken and Andouille Sausage Gumbo in
Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen cookbook.  The recommended substitution of
kielbasa for Andouille sausage works wonderfully--I've made it both ways
myself, and I've also had it at Prudhomme's K-Paul's restaurant in New Orleans,
and I can say from experience that the difference when kielbasa is used is
negligible.

--PSW

    A number of years ago my neighbors went down to New Orleans and
    brought me back a bottle of a spice called "file"
    
    I've never used it but I know its used in making gumbo....my question
    is....what IS this stuff and what else can it go in?
    
    Thanks
    
    Rick

    It's pronounced feel-AY.  It's used to thicken gumbo that isn't
    thickened with okra.  It can also be sprinkled over gumbo as a
    seasoning. 
    
    I've never heard of file being used in anything other than gumbo,
    but perhaps someone else can enlighten us...
    
    							Pat

   re:	< Note 1490.1 by DLOACT::RESENDEP "following the yellow brick road..." >


>       It's pronounced feel-AY.
   
   Actually, FEE-lay is more like it.
   
   File powder is ground sassafras root.  The only use I know for it is
   in gumbo.  I'll check with my wife (a transplanted New Orleanian) if
   there are other common uses.  You add it just before serving.  In
   fact, you generally will put it on the table for each to use as
   wanted.  You never want to heat gumbo that has file in it as it will
   make it a slimey, disgusting mess.  
   
   I particularly like it in chicken-and-sausage gumbo.  I much prefer
   okra as a thickener in seafood gumbo, but they are not mutually
   exclusive.  Okra has it's own peculiarities and ways to make gumbo the
   consistency of raw egg whites, if you don't prepare it properly.
   
   D=

File is ground sassafras LEAVES, not roots.  Hence the greenish color.  I
like to sprinkle a little over gumbo just before eating it.  Looking through
Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen cookbook, it occurs as an ingredient in
the seasoning mixes for:

	Seafood Stuffed Flounder
	Seafood Stuffed Zucchini with Seafood Cream Sauce
	Crawfish Magnifique
	Crawfish Pie
	Smothered Rabbit
	Roasted Goose with Smoked Ham Stuffing
	Chicken Tchoupiloulas
	Creole Chicken and Dumplings
	Eggplant Rabbit Rhode IV
	Duck Etouffee
	Seafood File Gumbo
	Poorman's Jambalaya
	Fried-Chicken Salad
	Grillades and Grits

in addition to being something that's really good sprinkled over any gumbo.

--PSW

                          Seafood Gumbo


....from Chef Mike Roussel, Brennan's in New Orleans.

....serves 6 to 8

Ingredients:

1-1/4  cups vegetable oil
    1  large onion, finely chopped
    2  stalks celery, finely chopped
    5  to 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  1/2  green pepper, finely chopped
    4  sprigs fresh parsley, finely chopped
    2  8-oz cans tomato sauce
    1  8-oz can whole tomatoes, mashed
    3  oz Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
    2  cups water
    4  lb fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
    4  hard-shell crabs, boiled and broken in half
1-1/2  lb fresh okra, cut up (or 2 pkg frozen cut okra)
    2  bay leaves, broken up
1-1/2  tsp salt
    1  tsp black pepper
  1/2  lb lump crabmeat

1.  Put the oil in a heavy 6-qt aluminum pot.  Add all the 
    chopped vegetables except the okra and simmer over medium 
    heat untilthe vegetables begin to get soft.  Add the tomato 
    sauce and the mashed whole tomatoes and simmer for a few 
    minutes more.  Then add the water, shrimp, crabs, okra, bay 
    leaves, salt, pepper, and Lea & Perrins.  Stir gently to mix.  
    Cover and cook over low heat until the shrimp and okra are 
    tender.  Turn off heat and leave the gumbo in the pot, 
    covered.  When you are ready to serve, turn the heat on low 
    and add the lump crabmeat.  Heat just until the gumbo and 
    crabmeat are warmed through.

    Serve over boiled rice.

    This is a great recipe which gets better every time I make it.  I
    have experimented a bit with the ingredients and the seasonings.
    I would recommend that you season it to taste, using the prescribed
    amounts only as guidelines.  
    
    One of the secrets of a good gumbo is making a good, dark roux.
    If you need instructions on that, please let me know.  Another key
    ingredient is fresh okra.  Whenever I find it in the grocery store
    (and that's not always easy in New England), I make gumbo.  Fresh
    seafood is also required - don't use canned or frozen.
                               
    
     	2 whole chicken breasts
        2 quarts water
        4 tbsp vegetable oil
        4 tbsp flour
        1 medium green pepper, chopped
        1/2 red pepper, chopped
        1 large onion, chopped
        2-3 stalks celery, chopped
        1 bunch scallions, chopped 
        1 or 2 large tomatoes, finely chopped
        2 cloves garlic, minced
        3 tbsp parsley
      	1 lb fresh okra, trimmed and cut in 1/4 - 1/2 inch slices
        1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
        3/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
        1 or 2 dashes Tabasco
        1/2 lb crabmeat (imitation crab is good too)
        1/2 lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
        1 tbsp file powder
        Several cups of fluffy white rice
    
    Cook chicken breasts in water seasoned with garlic salt, celery,
    onion, pepper, and parsley (about 45 minutes).  Remove chicken from
    broth and cool.  Reserve broth and seasonings.  Cut chicken into
    bite-sized pieces and set aside.  
    
    Make a dark roux with the flour and oil while the chicken is cooking
    (this will take about 20-30 minutes).  Add the chicken broth to
    the roux, stirring constantly (a wire whisk works well).  
    
    Saute the onion, peppers, scallions, garlic, and celery in a little
    butter until soft.  Add to the roux mixture along with the tomato and 
    parsley.  Stir constantly until boiling.  Add okra and seasonings.
    Add salt and pepper to taste.  Stir thoroughly and taste, adding
    more seasonings if desired.  Add more water and chicken boullion
    if needed.  Cook 30 minutes over low heat.
    
    Cook rice according to package directions (don't use Minute Rice
    or another instant rice - "real" rice is much better).  Set aside
    rice if it is done before the gumbo has been completed (keep warm).  
    
    Add chicken meat to gumbo and cook 10-15 minutes.  Add crabmeat
    and shrimp and cook 4-5 minutes, or until shrimp are done.  Remove
    from heat.  Slowly add file powder, stirring gently but constantly
    so file won't make the gumbo lumpy.
    
    Put warm rice in bowls; pour gumbo over it.
    
    
    Hope you enjoy this.....    Joan
     

    Better late than never. This recipe comes from Commander's Palace
    in New Orleans, one of the best French/Creole restaurants in the
    city.
    
    				Seafood Gumbo
    
    3 c. diced onions			1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
    2 c. diced green bell peppers	1 1/2 lb. okra
    6 med. tomatoes, diced		2 qts. seafood stock
    1 c. tomato puree			60 medium shrimp, cooked, shelled
    1 1/2 tsp. thyme			    and deveined
    1 1/2 Tbsp. granulated garlic	24 shucked oysters, drained
    4 bay leaves			1 lb. fresh lump crabmeat
    1/2 tsp. salt			3 Tbsp. file' powder
    
    
    Combine onions, peppers, tomatoes and tomato puree' in a 2-gallon
    pot (do not use cast iron, it will discolor the okra). Cook on medium
    heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add thyme, garlic, bay
    leaves, salt and pepper. Blend well and simmer for 10 minutes. Add
    okra. When okra is bright colored and cooked, but still crisp, add
    seafood stock. Bring to a rapid, rolling boil, then lower heat.
    Add shrimp, oysters and crabmeat and simmer for 15 minutes longer.
    
    Combine file' powder with one cup of broth. Remove from the heat
    and stir file'-soup mixture into the gumbo. Correct seasoning to
    taste and serve. Serves 10.
    
    You may want to try to cut the recipe down unless you just won
    Megabucks! ;*)

    RE: .3 
    
    >and I can say from experience that the difference when kielbasa is
    >used is negligible.
    
    I must wholeheartedly disagree with this - that is if you like your
    gumbo to be spicey!  When making Chicken (Sausage) Gumbo, the flavor of 
    your gumbo is directly related to what you use for sausage.  
    
    If I run out of my stock of andouille, I will use a spicier sausage
    like choriso.  I tried kielbasa in the past but the result was rather
    bland in comparison.
    
    -alison