Making “a good roux” is one of the most important skills that any Cajun can learn. Roux is considered a critical “Cajun life skill,” just behind fishing, hunting, making a great cocktail for breakfast and perfecting a crawfish boil. Making roux has to be as important as reading, writing, and arithmetic in Louisiana.
Simply explained, roux is a mixture of equal parts flour and a fat, such as butter, oil, lard, or even bacon grease. The flour is cooked in the fat until it reaches a desired degree of color or cooking time. The roux can be a light toasted tan, with just a slight bit of flavor, or dark mahogany in color, providing a depth of rich, toasted flavor.
Making a roux (especially a dark roux) can be a slow and painstaking process. Plan to devote your complete attention to it because the flour can easily burn if the mixture is not constantly stirred. If the flour burns, even just a little, then you need to start the entire process over as burned flour will impart a very undesired flavor. However, the good news is that you are not using expensive ingredients so if black spots appear in the roux, just throw it out and start again.
The simplicity of ingredients is made up for in the length of time and focus required. If standing over a simmering pot of hot oil and flour for at least 30-45 minutes is not something you are interested in doing, then you are like me. I do not always have the time and devotion for this so I became determined to find a shortcut or jumpstart to the roux making process.
Cooking roux in the microwave oven is a faster option that I have used multiple times with very good success. It is simple. Combine equal parts flour and oil and cook at one-minute intervals, stirring between each break, until you get to the desired color. However, for me, the roux mixture seems to get to a tan color, but I have never been able to get it to a dark mahogany color.
Without a doubt, my favorite gumbo is from Mr. B’s in New Orleans called Gumbo YaYa. It has been on their menu since the restaurant opened and remains one of the bestselling item on the menu. They reportedly sell 50 gallons a week, so it must be good. The roux used in their Gumbo YaYa is a dark, rich brown and it is one of the most delicious and flavorful dishes I have ever eaten. Rich, but not heavy and that is why I love it so much.
In doing research, I googled Mr. B’s recipe. The chefs at Mr. B’s cook their roux on the stove top to a dark brown color. However, at the bottom of the recipe, I noticed a shortcut instructing you to pre-bake the dry flour in a cast-iron skillet for about an hour, stirring every 10 minutes. The flour gets golden brown and provides a jumpstart on making this dark combination.
Hoping this tip would be the shortcut I was after, I followed their instructions and baked one cup of flour in a 325° oven, stirring every 10 minutes. I also cooked an additional cup of flour on a regular baking sheet to see if there might be a difference.
First, there was no obvious difference with cooking in different pans. You need to stir the flour often so the high-sided cast-iron skillet was much easier to stir without making a big mess. Both techniques appeared to cook and taste identically. I cooked the flour using the pre-bake method over a series of different days, hoping the four would turn a very dark color. I discovered that after at least four hours of cooking the color of the flour did not change that much once it got to medium golden brown. I realized that if I wanted to reach the dark mahogany roux that you will need to finish on the stove top.
That said, pre-baking the flour did not save time, but it did prevent me from having to stand over a stove for an hour or so. It also allowed me to make a large batch of toasted flour and store the extra in a zip top bag until needed.
I admit that I am not a native Louisianian, true Cajun, or gumbo purist. I am just a home cook who LOVES gumbo. Please pardon if my short cuts offend a sacred process.
Mr. B’s Gumbo Ya-Ya
The gumbo recipe came from one of their early chefs, Jimmy Smith. He grew up eating it and explained that the name may have come from women who would cook the gumbo all day long while talking, or "ya-ya-ing."
2 sticks butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
8-10 cups good chicken stock
1 pound andouille sausage, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 tablespoon Creole seasoning
1 tablespoon kosher salt plus additional to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
3 teaspoons minced garlic
2 bay leaves
3 1/2-pound chicken, roasted and boned
hot sauce to taste
boiled rice as accompaniment
In a 12-quart stockpot melt butter over low heat. Gradually add 1/2 cup flour, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, and cook, stirring constantly, 30 seconds. Add 1/4 cup flour and stir constantly for 30 seconds. Add remaining 1/4 cup flour and stir constantly for 30 seconds. Continue to cook roux, stirring constantly, until it is the color of dark mahogany, about 45 minutes to one hour.
Add bell peppers and stir constantly 30 seconds. Add onions and celery and stir constantly 30 seconds. Gradually add stock to roux, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to prevent lumps.
Add andouille sausage, Creole seasoning, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, chili powder, thyme, garlic, and bay leaves and bring to a boil. Simmer gumbo, uncovered for 45 minutes, skimming off any fat and stirring occasionally.
Add chicken meat and simmer 15 minutes. Adjust seasoning with salt and hot sauce. Serve over rice.
Mosquito Supper Club
Real Cajun Gumbo
(Gluten Free)
Melissa Martin, owner, and chef of the wonderful restaurant in New Orleans called Mosquito Supper Club, grew up on a bayou in Louisiana. She is committed to providing a family style, authentic Cajun meal to people at her wonderful restaurant.
She locally sources everything, and in her new cookbook, she made an astounding statement when she said that no real cook from south Louisiana would ever thicken their gumbo with a roux. She explained that in her part of the state, and in Cajun homes across south Louisiana, they prefer a lighter and thinner “gumbo.” It appears more like a soup to us but is called gumbo. Martin says she did not have a gumbo with dark rich thick roux until she moved to New Orleans and joined the restaurant scene.
She explains that roux definitely has a place in all Louisiana dishes, but not in the gumbo on her table. She said that people on the bayou just did not serve it that way.
This blew my mind. The photos of the gumbos in her cookbook show this wonderful dark and rich looking stew and I was confused. She explains that the color was achieved by caramelizing onions for the gumbo at the beginning. This flavor profile makes what she calls authentic gumbo. It is delicious, and gluten-free at the same time.
3 tablespoons canola oil
3 pounds yellow onions, finely diced
5 pound whole chicken cut into about eight pieces with skin removed
2 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt plus more as needed for seasoning
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons hot sauce plus more as needed for seasoning
2 cups cooked okra
1 bay leaf
1 1/4 cup finely diced green bell pepper
1 1/4 cup finely diced celery
12 cups chicken stock
Cooked rice for serving
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley for garnish
1/4 cup chopped green onions for garnish
In a large Dutch oven or stock pot, warm oil for about two minutes and add the onions. Cook stirring often until the onions are golden brown or for about 45 minutes.
In a separate bowl, season chicken with salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and hot sauce. Marinate at room temperature while the onions cook.
Stir the cooked okra into the onions and add the bay leaf. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting and cover and let the vegetables smother together for at least 20 minutes. Add the bell peppers and celery and stir. Cover and cook until bell peppers and celery are soft or for about 20 minutes.
Stir well and add chicken pieces to the pot rearranging the vegetables so they cover the chicken. Reduce the heat to low and cook covered for 30 minutes. Add the stock and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
Reduce the heat and simmer and cook until chicken is falling off the bone or for about 90 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow the gumbo to sit covered for an hour before serving. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding more salt and pepper and hot sauce.
Serve the gumbo over rice with parsley and green onions.
Taggart Family
Southern Gumbo
This recipe came from my first boss and good friend, Andy Taggart. He is originally from Moss Point and currently enjoys life on the Mississippi Gulf Coast with its bounty of seafood. His recipe came from his mother, Janette Taggart Grantham, and was included in a cookbook (complete with her hand-drawn illustrations) she presented to the family for Christmas in 2017 when she was 82. Andy calls the cookbook a “National Treasure” for his family. So often these family recipes become a part of our family lineage and are as important as old family photos and stories.
Andy explains that he has made a few small changes and updates over the years but continues to come back to this special family recipe. We agreed that the food memory of his mother makes this gumbo taste extra special. I rate this gumbo as one of the best I have ever tasted.
1 cup oil
1 cup flour
8-10 stalks celery, chopped
3-4 large onions, chopped
1 bunch scallions, chopped
1-2 green bell peppers, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon salt
Red pepper flakes, optional
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
1-2 bay leaves
2 quarts chicken stock
2 quarts shrimp stock
2 cups cooked chicken
1-2 pounds lump crab meat
4 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined
Andy also adds:
2 pounds of Conecuh sausage, sliced
2 jars of fresh oysters (Andy’s mom did not like oysters)
2 bags of frozen okra
2 cans of chopped tomatoes
Combine oil and flour in a large Dutch oven or stock pot; cook over medium heat stirring constantly until roux is the color of a copper penny (10 to15 min.). Andy indicated that his roux took longer to get to the proper color.
Stir in celery, onion, green pepper, parsley and garlic. Andy normally cooks the vegetables two to four minutes before adding garlic just to make sure it does not burn. Simmer vegetable mixture for an additional 45 minutes to one hour, stirring occasionally. (at this stage mixture can be cooled, packaged, and frozen or refrigerated for later use). Andy explained that he finds it easier to sauté the vegetable mixture separately and then add to the cooked roux.
After vegetables have been saluted, add next 10 ingredients and the sliced sausage, if using. Simmer for two and half to three hours, stirring occasionally.
About 30 minutes before serving, add cooked chicken, crabmeat, oysters, shrimp, and okra. Simmer 30 minutes. Serve with hot rice.
Crockpot Roux Gumbo
While I am tearing apart multiple Cajun cooking rules, I wanted to include this gumbo made in the crockpot. I know it may not be traditional, but it was incredibly easy and delicious.
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 tablespoons butter
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons biscuit mix such as Bisquick
1 1/2 cups water or broth
1-6 ounce can tomato paste or 1 can seasoned tomatoes and okra
1 bay leaf
1 dash of sugar
Salt and pepper or creole Cajun seasoning to taste
2 pounds shrimp, shelled, and cleaned
In a skillet, sauté the onion, bell pepper, and celery in the butter. Stir in garlic and cook until onions are translucent.
Add biscuit mix and stir well to make an easy roux. Cook for about one minute. Meanwhile, in your crockpot, combined the broth or water and tomato paste and whisk well.
Stir in the roux and vegetables and season with bay leaf, sugar, salt and pepper and other seasoning. Set crockpot on low and cook for about six hours. About an hour before serving, stir in the shrimp and turn it on high.
Serve with some hot rice and add more broth if the gumbo is too thick.
