Post by pelicanguy on Aug 6, 2006 22:59:56 GMT -5
Just for you, Blaque
You will need:
* 2 lb. bean-blend mixture *
* 3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
* 2 cups coarsely diced onions
* 1 cup coarsely diced celery
* 2 Tbsp. finely minced garlic
* ¼ cup finely minced parsley
* 2 bay leaves
* 1 lb. finely diced seasoning meat *
* 10 oz. Rotel tomatoes with chilies
* 2 cans Swanson’s chicken broth +2 cans water
* 2 tsp. Frank Davis Bronzing Mix
* 1 tsp. salt
* ½ tsp. black pepper
* 1 Tbsp. sweet basil
* 1/8 tsp. ground thyme
* Dash Worcestershire Sauce
* 6 cups steamed white rice
* 6 French bread pistolettes for sopping
The first thing you want to do is to soak your beans overnight. This serves two purposes—it softens the tough hulls so that they’ll cook faster and creamier, and it swells the beans and releases more of their rich legume flavor. Once they’ve been soaked, drain the bean mixture and rinse it one more time in clear water before beginning the cooking process.
To get the dish started, take a large stockpot (I’d suggest a 6-quart or 8-quart size for this particular recipe) and begin heating the olive oil. Then just before the oil begins to smoke, drop in the onions and celery and sauté them over medium heat until they fully wilt (it’s not necessary to caramelize and brown the onions at this point). Then just before the onion/celery mixture is ready, toss in the garlic and parsley and stir them into the blend for about two minutes.
Next, the bay leaves and the seasoning meats go into the pot; and with the fire still on medium stir, stir, and stir until the meats begin to render out some of their locked in juices (figure about five minutes of cooking time here and you’ll be ready for the next step). . .which is to add the pre-soaked beans plus the tomatoes and the chicken broth and water.
Now you want to reduce the fire to low, cover the pot tightly, and let the gumbo begin to take shape., stirring only occasionally to ensure that the beans are not sticking to the bottom of the pot. All total, you want the bean gumbo to cook for a full hour before you continue building the recipe.
Then after the allotted cooking time (adding a little extra chicken broth or water as needed to give the beans a gumbo consistency), it’s time to season the dish. So at this point, you should stir into the bean stock the bronzing mix, salt, pepper, sweet basil, thyme, and Worcestershire sauce. Then once again cover the pot, make sure the fire is on low, and continue to simmer all the ingredients for another hour or until the toughest beans (the reds and the garbanzos) are tender and creamy.
When the gumbo is ready, heat the steamed rice, spoon an ounce or two of it into a soup bowl, and generously ladle the beans (and a equal portion of their pot liquor) over the top. This dish is best served piping hot, with a little extra olive oil drizzled on at the last minute and accompanied by a crispy buttered pistolette to soak up every drop of the tasty bean gravy!
Gotta tell you, though! If you think this stuff is good the day you cook it (and it truly is!), just wait till you try a big bowl of it after it sets in the refrigerator for a couple days! Ummmmmmmm!
NOTES
1. I suggest that you don’t buy the prepackaged "bean mixes" which are available on the market, but instead make your own blends. All you have to do is to purchase individual pounds of mixed beans and then blend them together in a big bowl. The varieties I like best are red chilies, black beans, pintos, blackeye peas, navy peas, great northerns, baby limas, and garbanzos. Once blended, you can divide them into cooking portions and store them in the pantry in Zip-Loc bags.
2. The baseline flavor of the gumbo can be changed simply by changing the kind of seasoning meat. For example, you can have a "ham-flavored bean gumbo" by seasoning the stock with ham. For a "sausage-flavored bean gumbo" you flavor the stock only with some kind of sausage. Other flavorings include pickled pork, tasso, charice, andouille, Canadian bacon, smoked turkey necks, or smoked pork neck bones.
3. You’ll know that you have the correct amount of liquid-to-bean ratio if the liquid (water or chicken stock) covers the beans to the depth of the first joint of your index finger. For a more subtle bean flavor, add bottled water as more liquid is needed; for a more intense seasoned flavor, add chicken broth as liquid is needed.
4. To keep the beans from sticking to the bottom of the pot, I suggest you set the pot on a flame diffuser. This device tempers the intensity of the heat and is ideal for doing beans, grits, potatoes, rice, jambalaya, and other high-starch content foods.
You will need:
* 2 lb. bean-blend mixture *
* 3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
* 2 cups coarsely diced onions
* 1 cup coarsely diced celery
* 2 Tbsp. finely minced garlic
* ¼ cup finely minced parsley
* 2 bay leaves
* 1 lb. finely diced seasoning meat *
* 10 oz. Rotel tomatoes with chilies
* 2 cans Swanson’s chicken broth +2 cans water
* 2 tsp. Frank Davis Bronzing Mix
* 1 tsp. salt
* ½ tsp. black pepper
* 1 Tbsp. sweet basil
* 1/8 tsp. ground thyme
* Dash Worcestershire Sauce
* 6 cups steamed white rice
* 6 French bread pistolettes for sopping
The first thing you want to do is to soak your beans overnight. This serves two purposes—it softens the tough hulls so that they’ll cook faster and creamier, and it swells the beans and releases more of their rich legume flavor. Once they’ve been soaked, drain the bean mixture and rinse it one more time in clear water before beginning the cooking process.
To get the dish started, take a large stockpot (I’d suggest a 6-quart or 8-quart size for this particular recipe) and begin heating the olive oil. Then just before the oil begins to smoke, drop in the onions and celery and sauté them over medium heat until they fully wilt (it’s not necessary to caramelize and brown the onions at this point). Then just before the onion/celery mixture is ready, toss in the garlic and parsley and stir them into the blend for about two minutes.
Next, the bay leaves and the seasoning meats go into the pot; and with the fire still on medium stir, stir, and stir until the meats begin to render out some of their locked in juices (figure about five minutes of cooking time here and you’ll be ready for the next step). . .which is to add the pre-soaked beans plus the tomatoes and the chicken broth and water.
Now you want to reduce the fire to low, cover the pot tightly, and let the gumbo begin to take shape., stirring only occasionally to ensure that the beans are not sticking to the bottom of the pot. All total, you want the bean gumbo to cook for a full hour before you continue building the recipe.
Then after the allotted cooking time (adding a little extra chicken broth or water as needed to give the beans a gumbo consistency), it’s time to season the dish. So at this point, you should stir into the bean stock the bronzing mix, salt, pepper, sweet basil, thyme, and Worcestershire sauce. Then once again cover the pot, make sure the fire is on low, and continue to simmer all the ingredients for another hour or until the toughest beans (the reds and the garbanzos) are tender and creamy.
When the gumbo is ready, heat the steamed rice, spoon an ounce or two of it into a soup bowl, and generously ladle the beans (and a equal portion of their pot liquor) over the top. This dish is best served piping hot, with a little extra olive oil drizzled on at the last minute and accompanied by a crispy buttered pistolette to soak up every drop of the tasty bean gravy!
Gotta tell you, though! If you think this stuff is good the day you cook it (and it truly is!), just wait till you try a big bowl of it after it sets in the refrigerator for a couple days! Ummmmmmmm!
NOTES
1. I suggest that you don’t buy the prepackaged "bean mixes" which are available on the market, but instead make your own blends. All you have to do is to purchase individual pounds of mixed beans and then blend them together in a big bowl. The varieties I like best are red chilies, black beans, pintos, blackeye peas, navy peas, great northerns, baby limas, and garbanzos. Once blended, you can divide them into cooking portions and store them in the pantry in Zip-Loc bags.
2. The baseline flavor of the gumbo can be changed simply by changing the kind of seasoning meat. For example, you can have a "ham-flavored bean gumbo" by seasoning the stock with ham. For a "sausage-flavored bean gumbo" you flavor the stock only with some kind of sausage. Other flavorings include pickled pork, tasso, charice, andouille, Canadian bacon, smoked turkey necks, or smoked pork neck bones.
3. You’ll know that you have the correct amount of liquid-to-bean ratio if the liquid (water or chicken stock) covers the beans to the depth of the first joint of your index finger. For a more subtle bean flavor, add bottled water as more liquid is needed; for a more intense seasoned flavor, add chicken broth as liquid is needed.
4. To keep the beans from sticking to the bottom of the pot, I suggest you set the pot on a flame diffuser. This device tempers the intensity of the heat and is ideal for doing beans, grits, potatoes, rice, jambalaya, and other high-starch content foods.