The usual ratio for a mirapoix is 2:1:1, onions, bell pepper, celery. Your tastes may vary.
It’s usually not a taste thing, but more dependent upon how much of a given ingredient I happen to have on hand, and what it’s quality is.
Similarly, when I make salsa during the winter and the tomatoes are scarce and poor, I tend to have a very oniony salsa. In the summer I tend to go overboard with the tomatoes and fresh green peppers, because they are so plentiful and good.
If that sounds like I have pretensions of seasonality, I apologize. More often it’s just about how much of a given thing is in the fridge.
The still better news is that gumbo freezes quite well, so you can make a batch, then freeze several smallish containers to have again another time without all that work.
It is unnecessary. I don’t use it, and my chicken-and-andouille gumbo has been praised from Baton Rouge to Vietnam.
True. Preparation of a dark roux is psychological warfare, cook versus flour. You must convince it that you are going to let it burn, without actually doing so. Looking away during this staring match can spell defeat.
I’m not sure. But I think we can all agree that the role of roux pales in comparison to the rule of roe.
Any room in that cave for just one more?
It really depends on the type of gumbo you’re going for. I tend not to use filé, as it has a very particular herbal flavor, and I generally don’t want that flavor in gumbo. If you like it, though, go for it. It’s quite different from a roux or roux-and-okra thickened gumbo. (And I like okra in my gumbo.)
Once you get the hang of it, it’s not really all that difficult, but it does take a few tries to get it down and know when to pull the pan off the heat to prevent scorching. Once a little bit burns, though, you’re screwed and have to start from scratch. There’s also a microwave method (just google it) that works pretty well and is more idiot-proof. Or you can just buy a jar of roux at either Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s (I can’t remember which, but I’ve bought it at one of those places before.) I tend to like my roux for gumbo on the really cooked side, like a milk chocolate color. The nuttiness and richness it imparts is what I personally am looking for in a gumbo. I do my roux over high heat, moving the saucepan/Dutch oven as necessary, and I can get a dark roux in about 15 minutes or so.
Missed edit: here’s a good overview of the method I use (or at least close enough to what I do, although I’m a little more careful than that, pulling the cooking vessel off the heat at times.)
I don’t feel too bad then, since mine was at least edible!
I started off with shrimp creole, which is relatively easy to make, and similar to gumbo, at least in the preparation.
Has anyone ever tried Alton Brown’s oven roux method? I’d like to give it a go next time I make gumbo.
How does it work?
I remember the episode certainly seemed to make it sound like making roux on a stovetop without burning it was difficult.
Oh, I’ve got it down; that was an old joke, mostly aimed at roux-newbies. I aim for a shade a bit darker than milk chocolate, myself, and I never take it off the burner. I add my mirepoix directly at the proper moment, using it to cool the skillet and supply water. It stops the browning very quickly without producing the burst of steam that pouring in a cup of water would.
And it smell freakin’ delicious! (This is the same technique I use.)
Oh, I understood. I just don’t want the roux-newbies to get scared away by all the mystique surrounding roux. There’s pretty much fool-proof ways of doing it (microwave method), and the stovetop method, while it may take a little practice, isn’t really that hard, but it always helps to have someone to learn from in person.
I assume I could get away with doing the roux without taking it off the heat, but I’m just a little paranoid, and it’s a technique I’ve transferred from doing Hollandaise directly over the burner (I’ve never used a double boiler set-up, as that’s how I was taught.) It’s just an instinct that’s engrained in me. Next time I do the roux, I’ll try it over a constant heat without moving the pan off. (And I add the mirepoix at the same point you do, unless I’m doing a batch to refrigerate and use later. Then I just take it off it the burner a shade before it’s done. Never heard of the pouring a cup of water method myself.)
roux-bies!!!
Fify. 