Mama Zee's Semi-Authentic Cajun Gumbo
This ol' school Cajun-inspired stew dish is made with only a handful of ingredients, yet has the savory flavor of the globe in a bowl. Perfect protein and veg packer for any meal of the day.
Prep Time: 15 mins | Cook Time: 1 hour | Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins
Mama Zee's Semi-Authentic Cajun Gumbo
Mr. Zatarain's ain't got nothing on Mama Zee's New Orleans stolen shoppe recipe. You don't need a special pot, a cast iron, file powder, or fancy southern boudin sausage...just some good quality love and lots of patients.
What's more comforting than eating a hearty bowl of gumbo on a cold midwest winter day? Pour it over rice, roasted potatoes, or eat it straight up, you can never go wrong with all the ingredients in this dish--its simplicity at the very essence.
Great Mama Zee always went down to New Orleans for the winter. "There's something about the folks and food," she remarked every time she came back. "People respect, they recognize who raised them right. The food, music, and art are consistent reminders of that."
In the springtime, with each arrival back north, she always brought back a piece of New Orleans with her via a hand-written notepad filled with recipes, quotes, and thoughts she gathered from locals down by the Crescent City. Now, Mama Zee's original written gumbo recipe, which she says was spoken by dear Willie Mae herself, was so authentic, you needed a full gallon of water to drink right after you were done eating it.
This recipe, however, won't raise your sodium levels quite that high...hence the semi-authentic part.
What is Gumbo and how is Jambalaya Different?
Gumbo is more so a stew that's often served over a little rice, while jambalaya is made with rice cooked into the dish. In gumbo, there should be more liquid than rice, while jambalaya should not be liquid-based or too mushy.
Cajun vs Creole?
Cajun-style cooking includes a deep brown, almost burnt roux due to the onion, bell pepper, and celery being cooked down until very mushy, sweet, and sticks to the bottom of the pot. Creole-style cooking usually contains the addition of tomatoes. It also contains an abundance of dried white or red pepper seeds rather than its counterpart that has more fresh peppers.
How Is This Gumbo Different?
Mushrooms, the lack of okra and file, additional salt, and extra protein is the only difference between this Gumbo and Mama Zee's original NOLA-style recipe. The mushrooms add that extra earthiness to the dish, which was missing from the lack of okra.
Key Ingredients:
Every gumbo recipe, no matter the origin or type, contains a combination of a trinity of vegetables, a protein or two, a roux, and a handful of seasonings.
The Trinity:
One Medium Onion, chopped and finely diced
Three Medium Bell Peppers. Alternate colors are preferable, but the same is fine. Chopped and diced.
1/2 Cup of Portabella Mushrooms, sliced
The Protein:
4 links of Gilbert's Andouille Chicken Sausage (or protein of choice)
The Roux:
3 Tablespoons Corn Starch (see notes below for alternative)
5 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1/2-1 cups of Beef Bone Broth or stock
1/2 Teaspoon of Liquid Smoke
1 Teaspoon of Worcestershire Sauce
The Seasonings:
2 Tablespoons of Garlic Powder
4 large Bay Leaves
2 Tablespoons of Paprika
1 Tablespoon of Cayenne Pepper
1 Tablespoon of Chili Powder
2 Tablespoons of Salt
5 Tablespoons of Black Pepper
How To Make This Recipe:
In a large, but deep-pan, cast-iron, or ceramic pot, add your trinity and protein. Sautee until everything is caramelized/translucent. The volume-density of the items should have decreased.
Add in your dry seasonings and corn starch. Mix for 10 minutes until well combined, scraping the bottom of the pan with a sturdy or wooden spoon as you go, a deep color will start appearing becoming stuck to the pan. DONT PANIC, this is all wonderful flavor according to Mama Zee. Just keep scraping that pan until nothing is no longer stuck to the bottom.
Add in the Worcestershire and liquid smoke
Slowly begin adding the beef broth while scraping the bottom goodness off the pan, yet again.
Add the remainder of the broth and mix for a few minutes.
Cover, lower the heat down to medium-low and let cook for 10 minutes.
Repeat step 4 of this list 3-4 more times. Roughly about 30-40 minutes worth.
Add additional salt, pepper, or cayenne to taste. Add additional broth if you don't like a dense gumbo.
Serve over rice, potatoes, the starch of choice, or eat as is.
Important Notes:
Just like a good stew, keeping this in the fridge will help the flavors marinate some more. A second and third day Gumbo always tastes best.
Feel free to add additional proteins to this gumbo. If adding seafood, wait until the very end and cook until they are opaque.
Beef stock is not necessary, feel free to use veggie stock or any flavored stock of choice.
The original recipe called for flour instead of cornstarch, but due to dietary restrictions, I switched it up. But if cornstarch is a major turn-off, you can use potatoes as a thickener. Just include a 1/4 Cup of finely diced potatoes in your trinity. Cook as directed.
This specific recipe does not work well in the Instant Pot. It's not a set-it-and-forget-it type of dish. Mama Zee always said, "You need to be there to nurture a good gumbo, that's why it tastes like burnin' love with every bite."
Mama Zee's final words: "A good gumbo gotta' have that blackened kick, with a bold but smokey flavor. There's gotta be a barbeque-like char to it. Salty too cause its good , makin' you drink more."
Nutritional Facts:
The recipe above makes roughly 3 servings.
Calories 440 | Total Fat 30.1g | Saturated Fat 5.4g | Cholesterol 40mg | Sodium 1659mg | Total Carbohydrate 37g | Dietary Fiber 10.1g | Total Sugars 8.1g | Protein 13.9g
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