Quote:
Originally Posted by Doorbread
instructional post would be greatly appreciated
recommend any other good soup / stew fish? don't fancy catfish
I didn't inline pictures to keep the length of this manageable.
Step 1: Make shrimp stock.
http://instagram.com/p/Pag3TKM2Vx/
Shells from like 5lb shrimp, 3Q water, some scraps from onion, carrot, celery, mushrooms, garlic, and some spices (I used bay leaves and thyme). We save and freeze scrap veggies often, but you can just use whole ones if you have them around. In fact, shrimp shells and water get the job done well enough for this recipe I'd think. Boil the **** out of this -- like 30-45 minutes at least. If you can go longer, do, but after about 45 minutes, the marginal utility decreases quit a bit it seems. If you're making soup with this, you should find a good recipe. If you're using it to make risotto, rice, or a stew, close enough is certainly fine.
Step 2 (once the stock is on): Make roux.
http://instagram.com/p/PahE62s2V6/
It's easy but time consuming. I heated 1.5c oil over medium heat and then whisked in 2.5c of flour. Then stir, stir, stir, and don't stop stirring for like 20-30 minutes (an assistant helps) until the roux has a peanut butter color. You don't want it to burn or stick. Black flecks are bad. When done, it should look like
http://instagram.com/p/PalJXks2ZX/
Step 3: Saute veggies in roux.
http://instagram.com/p/PanxiDs2bt/
I chopped up 2 cloves of garlic, 2 bell peppers, a big onion, and a couple celery stalks. I used about 1.5c of the roux (~1c is leftover in the fridge -- it's just oil and flour, so it keeps) and sauteed/softened the veggies and garlic in the roux over medium heat.
Step 4: Add stock, beer, and meat.
http://instagram.com/p/Par_HRs2fJ/
Once the veggies were soft, I added ~2.5Q of the stock, 2 or 3 bay leaves, some crab boil (I had one of those seasoning bags but obv you can replace with similar spices), a little cayenne, half a beer (I was drinking a 1554 black lager from New Belgium brewery), and about 1.5lb of chorizo and linguica that I sliced and quickly browned in a frying pan (ok, ok, I browned about 2 lb and snacked on the remaining 0.5 lb). In the picture you can see the film on top of the pot. Keep skimming that off. Boil this all for like 30-45 min. 20 if you're real impatient. Or hungry. If you used a bag of crab boil, remove. Also remove the bay leaves.
Step 5: While step 4 is happening you'll have idle time during the boiling, so season the fish and shrimp unless you seasoned them the day before and marinated it overnight. Probably you should peel the shrimp at the very beginning and use these shells for the stock. I used a creole seasoning and cayenne. And I used catfish, because it was super cheap, but any fish that is a little meaty and will stand up to the cooking (grouper?) should be good. Crawfish would be good in here also.
Step 6: Still, while step 4 is happening, saute some okra in vegetable oil. Should take about 10 minutes.
http://instagram.com/p/PawHWIs2Sx/
I used a little over a quart before it was chopped.
Step 7: Add the fish, shrimp, and okra to the gumbo. I think it was like 1.5lb shrimp, 1lb fish. I think I put the fish in 2 minutes before I put the shrimp in, and then cooked everything for maybe 4-5 minutes.
http://instagram.com/p/Pax1vCM2UD/
Serve over rice, garnish with parsley or green onion. FWIW, this is a good omelette topper too. Maybe a shrimp omelette. Yield was about 3.5Q. We froze about 2 quarts and kept the remainder and made a few meals out of it. The frozen gumbo is gonna be awesome over the winter.