Best Emerils Gumbo Ya Ya Recipes

GUMBO

Steps:

• In a large pot, heat the oil. Fry the okra, stirring constantly, for 10 to 12 minutes or until most of the slime disappears. Season with Essence. Add the tomatoes, onions, and celery, stirring occasionally, cook for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are wilted. Season with salt and cayenne. Add the bay leaves, thyme, garlic and water. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Add the shrimp and cook for 30 minutes. Serve with rice and garnish with green onions and Essence.
• Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container.
• Recipe from "New New Orleans Cooking", by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch. Published by William and Morrow, 1993.

CHICKEN AND SMOKED SAUSAGE GUMBO

Steps:

• Combine the oil and flour in a large cast iron or enameled cast iron Dutch oven over medium heat. Stirring slowly and constantly for 20 to 25 minutes, make a dark brown roux, the color of chocolate. Add the onions, celery, and bell peppers and continue to stir for 4 to 5 minutes, or until wilted. Add the sausage, salt, cayenne, and bay leaves. Continue to stir for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the chicken broth. Stir until the roux mixture and water are well combined. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour.
• Season the chicken with the rub and add to the pot. Simmer for 2 hours. Skim off any fat that rises to the surface. Remove from the heat. Stir in the parsley, green onions, and file powder. Remove the bay leaves and serve in deep bowls.
• Combine all ingredients and store in an air-tight container.

EMERIL'S COUNTRY FILE GUMBO

Steps:

• Heat the roux in a medium-sized heavy stockpot over medium-high heat. When hot, add the onions, celery and bell pepper. Stir mixture until onions begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and continue to cook for 1 minute. Slowly pour in stock, whisking constantly to prevent lumps from forming. Add the browned sausage, bay leaves, Worcestershire, hot sauce, cayenne, salt, and pepper.
• Bring gumbo to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer until gumbo is slightly reduced, about 50 minutes. (Gumbo should cook long enough for the roux flavor to mellow and for any floury taste to dissipate.)
• Season the shrimp with the Essence in a small bowl. Stir in the seasoned shrimp, crabmeat, green onions, parsley, thyme and basil. Cook until shrimp are cooked through, about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary. Sprinkle in file powder and cook, stirring, 2 minutes more, or pass file at the table for guests to thicken as desired. Remove bay leaves before serving.
• Serve in warmed soup bowls over steamed white rice.
• Place a heavy, iron Dutch oven, (or iron skillet with deep sides) over medium heat and heat the oil until just smoking. Whisk in flour, a little at a time and cook, whisking constantly, until roux becomes smooth and thick. Continue to cook, constantly stirring with a wooden spoon and reaching all over bottom of pan, until roux darkens to desired color. Be careful not to produce specs of black. The roux must remain an even color throughout process. If specs appear you must start over.
• For a Light Brown Roux, cook the mixture, over medium heat for 1 1/2 hours, or until the color of peanut butter. Remove about 1 cup of the light colored roux, cool completely, and set aside for the Delmonico's Seafood Okra Gumbo.
• For a Medium Brown Roux, cook the mixture, over medium heat for an additional 30 minutes, or until the color of a copper penny when ready. Remove about 13/4 cups of the medium colored roux, cool completely, and set aside for Emeril's Country File Gumbo.
• For a Dark Brown Roux, cook the mixture an additional 35 to 45 minutes. The color should resemble dark chocolate when ready. Remove all of the remaining dark roux from the pan and cool completely. Set aside for the Chicken and Sausage Gumbo. (See Cook's Note)
• Combine all ingredients thoroughly.
• Recipe from "New New Orleans Cooking", by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch, published by William and Morrow, 1993.

GUMBO YA-YA

Steps:

• Heat 1/2 cup of the oil an 8-quart heavy-bottomed pot over medium to medium-high heat. Coat the chicken wings with 2 tablespoons of the Creole seasoning in a large bowl. Pour 1/4 cup of the flour over the chicken and coat evenly, then slowly add additional flour as needed until all of the chicken is completely coated (see Cook's Note). Working in batches, fry the chicken wings until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer the wings to a paper towel-lined plate and set aside.
• Carefully add the remaining 1/4 cup oil to the pot and heat until smoking (there should be a thin faint white smoke coming off the oil). Whisk in the remaining 3/4 cup flour and cook, whisking continuously, over medium-high heat until it turns into a dark chocolate brown roux. If the roux is browning too quickly, remove the pot from the heat and continue whisking until the roux reaches the desired color. Turn the heat down to low and stir in the celery, onions and peppers with a wooden spoon, scraping the bottom of the pan, until the vegetables are coated with the roux, about 1 minute. Add the garlic, cayenne, bay leaves, thyme and 2 teaspoons Creole seasoning and turn up the heat to medium-high. Whisk in the chicken stock in three parts to make sure it's fully incorporated. Add the chicken wings, sausage, Worcestershire sauce and 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Creole seasoning. Stir to combine.
• Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, using a ladle to skim off any foam that rises to the top, until the gumbo is slightly reduced and thickened, about 1 hour. Stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons Creole seasoning, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Combine the green onions and parsley in a small bowl or on your cutting board.
• To serve, ladle the gumbo over bowls of cooked white rice and garnish with the green onion and parsley mixture.

EMERIL'S KICKED UP JAMBALAYA

Steps:

• In a large Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium high heat. Season shrimp with Creole seasoning and saute until almost cooked through, about 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove shrimp and set aside until later.
• Season chicken pieces with Creole seasoning. Add remaining olive oil to Dutch oven and when hot, add chicken pieces and saute until browned on both sides, about 8 minutes. Remove and set aside.
• Add sausage and cook until browned.
• Add onion, celery, bell pepper, garlic, bay leaves, cayenne and thyme and cook until vegetables are wilted, about 6 minutes.
• Add tomatoes and water and return chicken pieces to pot. Season with salt and pepper and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.
• Add rice to pot, stir well and return to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and cook for 15 minutes.
• Add shrimp, green onions and parsley to Dutch oven, mixing carefully, and continue to cook, covered, for another 10 minutes.
• Remove from heat and let sit 10 minutes before serving.