Monday, April 1, 2013

Gumbo, Fox Corner style

Readers who remember my attempts to make gumbo in New York may be interested to know that I recently made it again.

It was tricky enough buying the right ingredients in Manhattan  - with the sassafras being particularly difficult to find. Trying to source all the requirements in Gospel Oak, on a whim, during the Bank Holiday weekend, was a bit of a fool's errand.

On reflection it wasn't the best thought out meal. It came to mind because we had a tin of crab meat that needed eating. We're trying to use up food from the larder and the freezer, before the move next week. Translating a surplus tin of crab into an elaborate Cajun was a bit of a leap, I'll admit. To complete the recipe  I needed to buy some shell on king prawns, Andouille sausages, okra, and sassafras (and some other, less exotic stuff). The otherwise excellent Budgens of Belsize Park fell short, unsurprisingly.

So I made do with some Cumberland sausages, frozen king prawns (some of which I boiled in lieu of shells to make the stock), and frozen okra. A generous dash of cayenne made up for the lack of heat from the spicy Andouille sausages.
English gumbo ingredients

It may not have been entirely authentic but it was still jolly good.
Chuck enough okra in and it looks like the real thing

And now, instead of a tin of crab meat which needs eating, we have half a bag of frozen okra and another of frozen king prawns. Brilliant. Really helped clear those cupboards ready for the move.

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