Shrimp & Collards Gumbo

[Majestik]

Technically this isn't 'Q', but I made this as a complement to Cajun Salmon, Drunk_J's Red Beans & Rice with Andoulie Sausage, and Drunk_J's Dirty Rice for my mother's birthday this past weekend....

I got this recipe from www.gumbopages.com.

[my substitutions are in brackets]

Shrimp and Collard Greens Gumbo

A simple but robust gumbo, full of greens (good for ya!)

* 4 tablespoons oil, divided

[i used 2T butter for the roux, instead of oil]

* 2 tablespoons flour

* 1-1/2 pounds uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined

* 1 bunch collard greens, washed, stemmed and torn

* 1 pound okra, trimmed and cut into 1/2" pieces (or 1 pound frozen cut okra)

* 2 onions, chopped

* 1 green bell pepper, chopped

* 4 ribs celery, chopped

* 1 pound (16 ounces) whole canned tomatoes, undrained

[i used two 14.5 ounce cans of sliced stewed tomoatoes]

* 1-1/4 quarts shrimp stock

* 3 cloves garlic, crushed

* 1 bay leaf

* 1-2 teaspoons Creole seasoning blend

[i added 1tsp cayenne, 1 tsp thyme as well]

* Tabasco or Crystal hot sauce, to taste

* Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

In small skillet make a medium (peanut-butter-colored) roux of 2 tablespoons oil and flour. Add onions, bell pepper and celery and cook until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

In 4-quart stockpot, cook okra over medium heat in remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, for about 10 minutes. Add collards and stock, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and cook for 15 minutes. Add roux-vegetable mixture, tomatoes, garlic, red pepper sauce, bay leaf, Creole seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Continue to simmer for about 20 minutes. Add shrimp, cover and cook slowly for 10 minutes.

[Following a tip from Drunk_J, I made a shrimp stock the night prior using the trimmings from the shrimp (shells, etc) and the salmon (skin, bits n pieces) and the vegetables (celery tops, onion skins, etc). Basically, whatever was left from trimming/prepping got thrown in the pot, with a little salt. I boiled it down for a couple hours and then discarded all the ingredients, leaving a fine, delicious stock broth for use in the gumbo the next day.]

Everything I made that day came out wonderful. Many thanks to Drunk_J for his help. Only thing I would change is that I would cut back on the cayenne as it got just a tad too spicy (and I LOVE spicy). The gumbo was delicious, sweet tomatoey spicy silky goodness. I caught my mom throwing the leftover gumbo into one of her tupperware containers. "Hey, what're you doing with my gumbo?" I asked. She replies, "Oh, isn't this MY birthday gumbo?" So I had to grit my teeth, smile, and let her have it. Damn.

There's the rest of it: Wild caught salmon with cajun seasoning, baked hot in the kamado with Alder smoke... Red beans n rice with Andoulie Sausage, and some fine green beans... the Dirty Rice (not shown) was an apetizer. All told, a fine, fine meal.

[Curly]

Yeah man...that got my mouth to waterin

[ThreeDJ16]

Nice!

Man, that turned out real nice looking. The shrimp and collards gumbo looks delicious. That is a combo I had never heard of, but it looks great. Sounded kinda weird to begin with, but so did shrimp and grits the first time I had it, but it was delicious too.

-=Jasen=-

[Curly]

I love okra in soup...ummmm-ummmm

Can't put enough okra in soup for me

[ThreeDJ16]

Fine China?

I see you went all out for Mom's B-day and broke out the fine paper plates - eh? hehe Can't blame you there, we have not eaten off anything but paper plates in my house for many years.

-=Jasen=-

[Majestik]

Hey Man...

Three kids under 5... that's all I gotta say. Everything is disposable.

[ThreeDJ16]

hehehe