Sunday, September 15, 2002


file gumbo

while perhaps a little outside my purview, i have to take a minute today to enthuse in the most uncool way about the pressure cooker. that's right, after reading too many italian cooking and living magazine spreads, i finally was seduced by the siren call of kuhn rikon. yes, i know -- the pressure cooker fad of 2 years ago is so over.

once the sleek 5 liter hotel pan arrived at my doorstep from ikitchen2000.com (best price i could find on the net that week), i wondered immediately what to make in it. chocolate cheesecake? chocolate bread pudding? pots au chocolat? turkey mole? i turned to mr. right and asked, "well, what should i make now?" and to my utter astonishment he replied, "gumbo."

obviously, dear readers, this is way outside my normal range. i was thunderstruck. i have never made a gumbo in life. "what kind?" "i like shrimp, and chicken and andouille," he said nonchalantly. "with okra." thus the challenge was on.

where to find a decent, authentic gumbo recipe for the pressure cooker? the actual pot had arrived ahead of the cookbook i had ordered for it. "i wonder where i could get a recipe i could trust. . ." "emeril," he answered blithely. long time readers know that i loathe all celebrity chefs, with a special shiver in my veins for martha and emeril. and mr. right knows that as well.

but hey, i'm game. so i hopped over to emeril's website and dug up a recipe for chicken and andouille gumbo, based on a big dark roux. the shrimp is easy enough to toss in at the last minute so it doesn't overcook, right? after some soul-searching tho', we decided that we really weren't sure exactly where to find fresh okra here at this time of year, so we ditched that. we headed to brooklyn's atlantic avenue to acquire all the materials and the spices and herbs.

but nowhere could we find the crucial file, or sassafras powder. as i ducked into local fish store/fry shack la petite crevette, mr. right asked the owner if he knew where we could acquire some file. "why, i'll give you some," he said immediately. and so he did. a nice 2 or 3 tablespoons worth -- just what i would need, and wouldn't take a dime for it. that's brooklyn for you!

as for the gumbo -- well, normally it's an all day recipe. i mean, like 6 hours, with prep and cook. in the pressure cooker, actual cooking time was about 40 minutes total, after i had made the necessary alterations to emeril's recipe. and it emerged just as if it had in fact been simmering for 4 hours in a big cast iron pot. "this is the best gumbo i've ever had," mr. right said in his most heart-felt manner as he spooned rice and gravy into his mouth. "oh yeah," i replied. i love this damn kuhn rikon so much i could cry hot coffee. . .

by the way, when making this recipe, i must point out that you do still have to stir the roux for 40 minutes until it's as dark as 70% chocolate. roasting 1 cup of flour in 1 cup of oil takes some time. but the results! with that amount of oil, you know it tastes so good -- but thank heavens it speeds up from there. . .

the biggest downside is that the gumbo aroma penetrates your house and won't leave for about 2 days, by which time you will have managed to eat only about half of emeril's recipe. serves 4 on what planet? try serves 10!

posted by fortune | 8:39 PM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 0 comments