Good People, we are welcoming Kim Robinson, author of The Roux in the Gumbo, a fascinating book chronicling her family. Sit back and enjoy a taste of Kim and her family gumbo! ~Syd
Hello everyone:
I want to thank Sydney for being so gracious and inviting me to swap blogs. Please stop in at my blog and myspace and check her out. http://therouxinthegumbo.blogspot.com/
http://www.myspace.com/therouxinthegumbo
With the winter months coming, everyone needs to put something warm on their stomach. I am going to share a famous recipe that has been in my family for over 200 years. This recipe kept my grandmother’s restaurant busy, and the Hollywood studios used to cater it in. They say it has healing in it.
I am also going to share a little history about Gumbo and a little poetry.
So get out your biggest stock pot and let’s start cooking. I also prepare my gumbo at book club events. You buy the food and lets get cozy in the kitchen and while you watch me put my foot in it, you can ask me questions about my book, “The Roux in the Gumbo,” which is my family history, or my cookbooks, Food for the Soul and Sweet Satisfaction which features two hundred authors.
I will also give you some juicy excerpts from my upcoming book Street life to Housewife, my life story about how I came to share my testimony in churches across the country. Find out how a drug dealer, addict, madam and call girl washed her sins away.
Life Is What You Make It
To be a woman around times of slavery
You are subject to many acts that are unsavory.
In order to be able to keep your head up
through the depravity
You have to command from your soul
a certain kind of bravery.
The only true freedom that you have
no one can enslave
With your brain you fight back,
even if outwardly you behave.
For the people who keep you back and bound in chains
You pray to God that one day they will know this pain.
They can put chains on your arms, your legs,
and even your behind
But the thing that can’t be restrained is your mind.
Keep the curtains drawn on the windows of your soul, your eyes
Don’t let them see the strength that is inside,
your pride.
Say your prayers every day; hold on to your faith
Just in case, the after life is the place,
The place where you get your taste
Of the good life that our oppressors don’t appreciate
But with some hustle and creativity
you might not have to wait
And the days and nights in this life
don’t have to go to waste.
Life is not how you take it
Don’t spend all your time looking for answers
Your life is what you make it.
You are subject to many acts that are unsavory.
In order to be able to keep your head up
through the depravity
You have to command from your soul
a certain kind of bravery.
The only true freedom that you have
no one can enslave
With your brain you fight back,
even if outwardly you behave.
For the people who keep you back and bound in chains
You pray to God that one day they will know this pain.
They can put chains on your arms, your legs,
and even your behind
But the thing that can’t be restrained is your mind.
Keep the curtains drawn on the windows of your soul, your eyes
Don’t let them see the strength that is inside,
your pride.
Say your prayers every day; hold on to your faith
Just in case, the after life is the place,
The place where you get your taste
Of the good life that our oppressors don’t appreciate
But with some hustle and creativity
you might not have to wait
And the days and nights in this life
don’t have to go to waste.
Life is not how you take it
Don’t spend all your time looking for answers
Your life is what you make it.
MY FAMILY’S GUMBO
3 lbs. snow crab, cleaned and washed
15 chicken wings, cleaned and washed
1 lb. chicken gizzards, chopped fine
4 lbs. diced smoked sausage (Hillshire Farms).
Fry lightly to remove some fat
3 lbs large shrimp, peeled and deveined
4 packs dried shrimp
2 lbs. baby shrimp
4 stalks of cleaned and diced celery
3 diced onions
3 packs of onion soup mix
2 cans of okra; preferably “Trappeys” brand. Drain off liquid and fry in ¼
cup of oil. This removes the slime
gumbo file’ (ground sassafras leaves)
seasoning salt
black pepper
celery salt
prepared rice
Roux:
1 cup of vegetable oil
1 cup of flour
3 lbs. snow crab, cleaned and washed
15 chicken wings, cleaned and washed
1 lb. chicken gizzards, chopped fine
4 lbs. diced smoked sausage (Hillshire Farms).
Fry lightly to remove some fat
3 lbs large shrimp, peeled and deveined
4 packs dried shrimp
2 lbs. baby shrimp
4 stalks of cleaned and diced celery
3 diced onions
3 packs of onion soup mix
2 cans of okra; preferably “Trappeys” brand. Drain off liquid and fry in ¼
cup of oil. This removes the slime
gumbo file’ (ground sassafras leaves)
seasoning salt
black pepper
celery salt
prepared rice
Roux:
1 cup of vegetable oil
1 cup of flour
If you prefer a thicker soup, add more flour. Heat the oil over medium
heat. Sprinkle flour over grease while constantly stirring, so as not to scorch,
based on your preference. I prefer a nut brown or caramel color. Some people like a darker roux. You can always taste as you go along. Set aside.
heat. Sprinkle flour over grease while constantly stirring, so as not to scorch,
based on your preference. I prefer a nut brown or caramel color. Some people like a darker roux. You can always taste as you go along. Set aside.
Gumbo
Use a large stockpot. Fill half way with water and set on high to boil. You
can divide ingredients into 2 or 3 smaller pots. I prefer this method, because it
takes a while to get the water to boil. It will also decrease the chance of your
Gumbo sticking to the bottom. There is nothing worse than a burnt pot of
Gumbo. “Chile just thinking about it makes me want to cry, Gumbo is
something that every time it’s made it just gets better as you add or take away
ingredients to tailor to your taste, much like a fine suit of clothes. Other
variations have bell pepper, tomato puree, oysters, crawfish, rabbit, turkey or
chicken, parsley, green onion and garlic. I could fill this book up with various
ways to prepare this dish. Do not be afraid to experiment.
Add gizzards, onion, celery, onion soup mix, dried shrimp and sausage.
When it reaches a rapid boil, reduce flame to low and cook for an additional 20 minutes. Add Roux and stir. Add chicken, crab legs, okra, black pepper, seasoning and celery salt. Be very careful with celery salt, it can overpower the other flavors. Add 1 teaspoon to entire pot. You can always go back and add more. Boil for 35 to 40 minutes. Add shrimp and boil 5 minutes more. Remove from heat add 1 teaspoon of gumbo file to each pot.
Serve in a bowl over rice.
Sprinkle file’ to taste. Do not be afraid to get your fingers dirty. Also, do
not forget to suck the gravy out of the crab legs before you open them up.
not forget to suck the gravy out of the crab legs before you open them up.
Laissez les Bon Temps Rouler
Let the good times roll!
http://therouxinthegumbo.blogspot.com/
http://www.myspace.com/therouxinthegumbo http://www.kim-robinson.com/
http://www.jadorepublishing.com/ http://us.f501.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=Kim@kim-robinson.com http://us.f501.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=kimscrew@yahoogroups.com
Let the good times roll!
http://therouxinthegumbo.blogspot.com/
http://www.myspace.com/therouxinthegumbo http://www.kim-robinson.com/
http://www.jadorepublishing.com/ http://us.f501.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=Kim@kim-robinson.com http://us.f501.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=kimscrew@yahoogroups.com
