FRENCH GUMBO TWIST

NO ROUX, NO HOLY TRINITY, IS THIS REALLY GUMBO !

Now I know traditional New Orleans gumbo does not need tinkering with, I love the history and I love you get what you get when serving, it’s a truly loved recipe in this house, but I recently made a French seafood ragout which was so outstanding, it got me thinking that could I marry the two together creating a lighter gumbo, gluten free for me, but still with that true honest depth of satisfying flavour?

Here it is, I did not use a roux !  I did not use the holy trinity !  I did note use file !  So is this really gumbo, absolutely it is just as lip smacking gorgeous, but lighter, no flavour lost and cooked in 10 minutes.  Ok my husband wanted some spaghetti in the broth ! That I’ll concede to!  Just ignore that bit.

Prep time 20 minutes / Cooking time 10 minutes

Ingredients 

(serves 4)

The Gumbo Stock Sauce

20 fresh prawn heads and shells

1 tbsp butter

1 glug olive oil

200ml water

Gumbo

10 fresh cold water prawns peeled

500g fresh mussels 

250g fresh clams

8 scallops

250g fresh lump crab

1 large squid cleaned and sliced

30g 00 flour

1/2 tsp sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

(toss the squid in the flour with the salt and black pepper)

500ml chicken stock

150ml dry white wine

2 tbsp butter

Olive oil

2 large vine ripe tomatoes skinned, deseeded and finely chopped

1 lemon juiced

1 lemon cut into wedges

2 cloves garlic finely chopped

2 tbsp mix of tarragon, parsley and chives chopped

First make the gumbo stock sauce, heat the butter and olive oil add the raw prawn shells and cook for 10 minutes, add the water and simmer, using the end of a wooden rolling pin or spoon gently bash the shells releasing as much flavour as possible into the stock.  Cook for a further 10 minutes then strain through a sieve and reserve to one side.

Place the mussels and clams in a large pan with a lid, add half the butter, wine and half the garlic, bring to a rolling simmer and cook for 3 minutes, strain the mussels and clams into a sieve, keeping all the cooking liquid.  Remove the meat from the shells and reserve to one side.

Heat a generous glug of olive oil in a saucepan along with the remaining butter, sear the scallops 45 seconds each side, remove and reserve to one side, next cook the squid fast around one minute each side, remove from the pan and reserve to one side.

Add 90% of the mussel cooking liquid, reserving the last bit as some grit or shell maybe present, then the gumbo prawn stock and chicken stock to the pan, reduce by half, next add the remaining garlic, tomatoes, lemon juice, herbs, prawns and lump crab when the prawns are two thirds cooked around 1-2 minutes add the reserved mussels, clams, scallops and squid, stir though for one minute to warm through, check for seasoning, turn off the heat.

Ladle the gumbo into your bowls, pop a lemon wedge on the side, maybe a little more fresh chopped parsley and enjoy.