Comments on: Whatever you do, make a roux

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 13:27:54 +0000

Vegetarian: no problem. The trick is to caramelize half of the vegetables, and let the other half cook just sufficiently and no more. Either reduce the chile a mite or whisk butter in shortly before serving, off the boil — the butterfat cuts the sharpness of the heat and produces a beautiful combination, which otherwise you usually get from shrimp, chicken, and/or pork fat.

To caramelize the veg, there are two basic methods. One is to make the roux hot and add the veg to cool it, but that’s a very different technique from this one here. The other is to put the vegetables into a hot, lightly-oiled pan over very high heat. Toss to coat with oil, then put on a lid. Wait 5 minutes, then stir and scrape up the brown stuff. Cover again and wait another 3-5 minutes, then repeat stirring and scraping. Repeat as necessary. When the brown stuff is very dark and quite difficult to remove from the bottom of the pan, you’re done: add a cup of stock or water, whatever you’re using in the gumbo, and scrape up everything. Now this whole mixture goes in the soup as a base.

Watch out for okra. It has tremendous thickening power, and if you use both okra and roux you can end up with glue if you’re not careful about quantities.

Andouille: The problem with chorizo and hot Italian sausages is that they are not usually smoked. If you find a smoked chorizo, use that. The smoky flavor matters. You want a cured/cooked sausage, too, not a raw one — another point against Italian. If you can find a spicy kielbasa, that’s a good substitute in terms of texture and general flavor, but most regular kielbasa is too bland.

By: admin

admin — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:35:54 +0000

JFB,
I don’t recall seeing andouille in Saint John either, but what I’ve been using is the chorizo sausage from Kuinshoeve Meats in Rothesay. If you haven’t been into the shop before, you should check it out. The meats are all from the Kuinshoeve farm near Sussex, including their sausages, which are likely among the best you can buy in the region. The chorizo are nice and spicy, as are the hot Italian sausages I often buy. They’ve also got wonderful bratwurst and a whole bunch of others. Anyway, their chorizo is far better, I think, than the commercial chorizo from Superstore.

Mike

By: JFB

JFB — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 10:25:51 +0000

Mike,

I’ve seen chorizo at the Superstore in the Saint John area, but haven’t seen andouille anywhere. Is there someplace you can recommend?

By: admin

admin — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 17:01:54 +0000

Hi Tara, I think a vegetarian version could be made for sure. The base flavour, as mentioned, is the roux, so that can definitely still stay. The dish already has several good veggies in it so instead of the shrimp and sausage, just go with a mix of vegetables such as okra, zucchini slices, and maybe an extra red bell pepper. Then just use a vegetable stock or water in place of the chicken stock. That’d be a heck of a good dish!

I’m personally opposed to faux meats and sausages that a lot of vegetarians eat (I don’t like faux anything), but if you like those, you might be able to find a veggie version of some kind of cajun style sausage that would work too. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen them in grocery stores here.

Anyway, whatever you do, make a roux!