But down on the bayou there weren't no crawdads, Pa!


Friday 22/10/2004

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Diary and Notes

"Mary-Lou-Jane! Mary-Lou-Jane! Now where is that darn cotton pickin chil' o' mine?"

"I's over here Maw. Me an Jimmy-Jo-Jim-Bob was a-rootin' for taters in the patch."

Jimmy-Jo sits up, his hair tousled and his shirt undone.

"Why you low down dirt... Get you big behind outta them taters and run your silly ole' butt down to the swamp and fetch I up some crawdads. You uncle Jo-Bob-Jimbo, uncle Jim-Jo-Jim-Bob and Uncle Bob-Jo-Jimmy-Bob's a comin' 'round for dinner and we's havin a gumbo."

"Ye haw Maw! I'll be reet speedy now, don' you be a frettin'. An' you juss wait here till I's back from the swamp Jimmy-Jo-Jim-Bob, but keep your britches done up tight, them taters got eyes."

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Gumbo has prawns or shrimp or crayfish or crawdads or something that tastes delicious and comes in a shell. You can also add fish. I know this already. However, as the title suggests I didn't have any of these things and so improvised. The resulting gumbo was however very good. I decided to make it because I had some okra left over from yesterday (you cannot make gumbo without okra). I am sure however that you will agree today's light dinner in no way could be confused with yesterday's and thus my challenge has not failed on day 2.



Menu

Chicken Gumbo,
French Bread.


Ingredients

Chicken legs, bacon, salami, olive oil, onions, carrots, celery, green peppers, okra, chillis, fresh parsley, garlic, tomato puree, canned tomatoes, lemon juice, pepper, paprika, oregano.



Preparation

Skin the chicken legs and separate them into the thighs and drumsticks. Brown them in some olive oil. Add the chopped onion, carrot and celery, plus the minced garlic and some roughly chopped chillis. Soften all these over a warmish heat and keep moving to prevent burning. Add the chopped bacon (I used really thick chunks of smoked streaky, about 2cm cubes) and paprika and fry for a further 10 mins. Stir in the peppers and okra, cover for another 10 mins. Mix in everything else with some water to make a nice thick sauce, cover and cook on a really low heat for two hours.


I made another gumbo on 11/11/2005 but this time had some canned clams and some filé seasoning I bought on the internet. I took a photo for posterity. Still a might fine dish over a year later.


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