Shortcuts for Making Roux for Gumbo
First, start with a visit with the “Cajun chef”…and then spend time with Leah Chase.. and then with Cooking with Carolyn…
There were ample leftovers from our weekend roast chicken and my husband is away on a business trip. It’s been a while since he’s had his favorite dish. Wouldn’t it be nice to make a pot of gumbo to surprise him when he gets home?
So first thing I have to do is to make a roux.
A roux is a mixture of flour and a fat. For gumbo, that’s flour and a vegetable oil. The word roux is a shortened form of a French term, beurre roux, for brown or cooked butter. Roux is pronounced like the English verb to rue, meaning to bitterly regret.
To rue, as in many people will rue their decision to start a roux when they have been stirring the damn thing for 30 minutes and it’s not done yet.
Or …many people will rue neglecting their roux for even a minute when they fail to keep stirring and burn the damn thing after spending 40 minutes on it, and have to throw out that mess and start over.
Or.. as almost happened to me tonight — and I’d bet already has happened to someone living in Louisiana — you will rue leaving your phone on a kitchen shelf where it could tumble into your…
