Lauren---Gumbo can have any meat in it...Chicken and sausage, andouille or seafood...Just remember---gumbo is not complete without okra and file' in it!!! Karen--brown rice is all I use!! Yummy--I am hungry for that now!!
RR
RR: That's why I said mine should be called some sort of soup! I don't use file' either. I use either Tony somebody with a C's cajun blend or Emeril's seasoning. And I use a roux. DH decided he wanted to pretend we were a hibachi restaraunt the other night, so I made steak (cooked at very high temps in a cast iron skillet) and fried rice. I have to say, it came out fairly well! I used brown rice, eggs, onions, butter, a little sesame oil (just a couple drops), soy suace and a sweet rice cooking vinegar wine. I can't remember the name of it. I was surprised at how well it turned out.
Lauren: file' is a seasoning blend/thickener. Let me explain about okra. If you cut it up, salt it, coat it in cornmeal and fry it...it is awesome yummy! Even my picky DH likes it. And he hates most veggies. If you boil it on the other hand, it gets slimy! It looks like clear snot coming out of it. How's that for gross? The slime, however, is a thickener, so along with the file' it thickens the gumbo. Gumbo is actually an african word for Okra. That's why my concoction doesn't count as gumbo. I use a roux to thicken mine. I use chicken, smoked sausage, and shrimp. The only other ingredient is onions, yellow and green. Most people use the holy trinity: carrots, peppers and celery (sometimes the celery is replaced with the peppers) and, of course, onions. Andy doesn't like them, the person who taught me didn't use them, so neither do I. BTW, Cracker Barrel's okra is just OK. It's not the super good kind. They use a heavy breading. I will have to have you over for dinner during okra season!
Lisa: andouille is a cajun dried sausage. I am not fond of it. I've used it in a couple recipes and I never developed a liking for it. I prefer chorizo, which is a spanish dried sausage. How did you have the okra prepared? It's two different veggies depending on the method used! See above!
Tricia: I'm sorry, I wouldn't eat yours!! I just can't do it. And the odd thing is, I like pickled okra and fried okra. I just can't do boiled. Do you eat okra and tomatoes? UGH! That's disgusting too. My Dad always had a garden and we always had purple hull, black-eyed and sometimes crowder peas. I like peas. My mom loved to put okra on the top of the peas and ruin the whole darn thing!
LOL You ladies are too funny. I am a total Northern girl too. My gumbo has seasoning and rice and smoked sausage. That's it. lol More of a caserole I suppose. Never had okra and don't plan on it any time soon. We'll be having ham for X-mas dinner.
Molly I am with you!!! I will be having ham as well. I guess we are the yankees of the group. Thats okay with me though.
Karen -- I never actually ate it. I was four when my uncle got married in Beaumont, TX. All I remember is they kept a pot on the stove and when it got low, they would add more, and they ate it at every meal. -- gross!!!
Well I have one more week (finals) and all I have left is 3 more papers, finishing up an art project, finishing a take-home final (5 essays) and 1 test, 1 project for history class. All in all, not much more. I think I can have it all done by Sunday afternoon except for the history project and the art final. Those will be done in class. Then a month of vacation Not that I am excited or anything.
Well it is time for me to get my butt off to bed so that I can be to work early in the morning.
Girls, Girls, Girls!!!
Gumbo isnt gumbo if it isnt dripping with snotty okra!!
I enjoyed the lesson Karen!!! U R nominated as the historian of the group!!
Totally acurate!!
RR
Ohh gross! I am soooo glad that I am up north. I don't even think they sell it in our grocery stores. If they do, it is the frozen variety. Molly do you know?
Just a quick note to say, I made my move to Iowa. It was a trip from H E Double LL but so glad it is over. I just wanted to touch base and see how you were all doing. I did lose another 2 lbs before leaving. I am at the 200 mark. 1 lb away from Onederland. Knowing me I am going to be gaining some weight back while living with my parents. I am just happy to see them again. It's been almost 6 years. My father even noticed that I had lost weight. What a compliment to hear him say that to me. Makes me more determined then ever to lose the weight. Plus showing off to the ex hubby in town doesn't sound bad to me either. I just want to prove it to myself that I can do it. I am so tired of feeling like a total failure. I am just anxious to get to work so we can get our own place and be independent. I hope to be down to 140 by July. That would be great.
I had a long post earlier, but I submitted it and my dad's cable was down. I had to reboot and of course it was gone. So this is like a condensed version.
Now I have a wonderful visual of snotty okra in my mind! How do you pronounce file'...like, filet?
Thats okay with me though.
