Low Fat/Cal Gumbo (Recipe)
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BrewerGeorge
Posts: 397 Member
in Recipes
This is my first recipe post here, and I'm not going to lie - it has a rather advanced technique. It's worth trying, though, because traditional gumbo is definitely NOT diet friendly.
The problem with traditional gumbo is the roux. For a pot of gumbo this size, the roux would be one CUP of oil and one cup of flour. Substituting a dry roux (a la Paul Prudhomme) is quite a bit trickier, but removing that oil cuts about 180 Cal and 20 g of fat from each serving - and it still tastes authentic and great. (I should note that I HATE okra which is traditional, so I've left it out. Add about a cup with the rest of the veg if you like that stuff.)
Ingredients:
Andouille sausage, 16 oz
Onions - Raw, 2 cup, chopped
Peppers - Sweet, green, raw, 1 cup, chopped
Celery - Raw, 1 cup chopped
Homemade Chicken Broth - Low Fat, 8 cups*
White flour, all-purpose, 1 cup (you really CAN'T sub whole wheat here, though unbleached is fine)
Raw - Jalepeno Peppers, 1 Peppers
Garlic - Raw, 3 tsp
Cajun Seasoning, 2 tsps or to taste
Chicken Breasts-Raw, 12 oz (could sub a small, whole chicken)
Oil - Olive, 3 tablespoon
Salt and black pepper to taste
*Homemade chicken broth (Use canned if you must, but homemade is MUCH better)
Chicken Breasts-Raw, 12 oz (this is the same chicken as above)
Onions - Raw, 2 cup, chopped
Carrots - raw, 1 cup, chopped
Celery - Raw, 1 cup chopped
Thyme, dry 1 tsp
Bay leaf, 1 leaf
8 cups water
THE DAY BEFORE.
Chop the chicken roughly, including bones and skin. Put everything into a pressure cooker for 1 hour or a crock pot for about 4 hours. When done, reserve the chicken and set aside to cool. When cool, remove the skin and bones and shred the meat. Set aside for tomorrow. Pour stock through a strainer to remove played-out veg. Cover and store in fridge until tomorrow. Skim cold fat off the top before use. (Good stock should be gelatinous when cold, don't worry.)
THE DAY OF:
Making the roux:
Here's the tricky part. Everything else after this is super-easy.
You MUST start with a completely clean, dry frying pan - preferably stainless because the light color is easier to see browning progress. Whatever you do, DO NOT use teflon for this step as temps will be high enough to cause teflon to give off dangerous gasses!
Add the flour (only) to the pan and heat over med-high heat. Stir it CONSTANTLY with a whisk as it browns, and make sure every bit of it gets stirred; the corners of the pan tend to get missed and burn. Stir, stir, stir until the flour gets to be the color of peanut butter. This will take anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes.
This process can be kind of scary and you might have to try it a couple of times to get it down. It's going to smoke some and it might set off your smoke detectors. If the bottom starts to get too hot, too fast, remove from the heat and keep stirring until it calms down then put it back on heat and continue. Or turn down the heat if you need too. If any of it gets actually burnt black, though, throw the whole batch out and start over. You can't rescue burned roux and there's no sense wasting the rest of the ingredients for a cup of flour. Once it's the color of peanut butter, turn it out in a thin layer on a ceramic plate to cool quickly and stop the cooking.
The sausage:
Slice the sausage into thin half-moons and fry until golden brown and crispy on the outside. Remove to paper towels to drain. Wipe as much of the drippings as possible from the pan, then add about a cup of stock and scrape up the fond (brown bits) from the bottom of the pan. Add the resulting liquor to your crock pot or soup pot.
The Trinity:
Sautee the veggies in the 3 Tbsps of olive oil until they are just softened and the onions are barely translucent.
Everything together now:
Add the remaining cold, skimmed stock to the pot without turning on the heat. Whisk in the cooled roux until it's fully incorporated before turning on the heat. Cold is crucial here; if either the stock or roux is hot you'll get lumps. Depending on when exactly you stopped toasting the flour, it should be brick red to dark brown in color after it's all mixed together.
Now add everything else - the reserved chicken, sausage, cooked veggies, spices.
Bring to a boil to gelatinize the starch in the roux and set its thickening power. Test and adjust with more water if necessary. It should be thick enough to just coat the back of a spoon with color, roughly the thickness of say the broth from egg drop soup.
Taste and adjust for salt, pepper, and heat.
Cover and simmer on low for at least 3 hours, stirring occasionally - longer is even better but you may have to add more water as it steams off.
This recipe makes 10 servings of about 1.5 cups each and comes in under 250 Cal, 15 g carbs, 15 g protein, and 13 g of fat per serving (it will vary a bit depending on the sausage and chicken you use). The dry roux almost halves the calories!
It looks like a lot of work, but with the exception of the roux and chopping the veg, most of the time is unattended. It's incredibly flavorful, too, and you can serve it to your friends or family without them ever knowing it's "diet" food. Serve with steamed, white rice to bring the calories up into "full meal" range - or just eat more. :happy:
The problem with traditional gumbo is the roux. For a pot of gumbo this size, the roux would be one CUP of oil and one cup of flour. Substituting a dry roux (a la Paul Prudhomme) is quite a bit trickier, but removing that oil cuts about 180 Cal and 20 g of fat from each serving - and it still tastes authentic and great. (I should note that I HATE okra which is traditional, so I've left it out. Add about a cup with the rest of the veg if you like that stuff.)
Ingredients:
Andouille sausage, 16 oz
Onions - Raw, 2 cup, chopped
Peppers - Sweet, green, raw, 1 cup, chopped
Celery - Raw, 1 cup chopped
Homemade Chicken Broth - Low Fat, 8 cups*
White flour, all-purpose, 1 cup (you really CAN'T sub whole wheat here, though unbleached is fine)
Raw - Jalepeno Peppers, 1 Peppers
Garlic - Raw, 3 tsp
Cajun Seasoning, 2 tsps or to taste
Chicken Breasts-Raw, 12 oz (could sub a small, whole chicken)
Oil - Olive, 3 tablespoon
Salt and black pepper to taste
*Homemade chicken broth (Use canned if you must, but homemade is MUCH better)
Chicken Breasts-Raw, 12 oz (this is the same chicken as above)
Onions - Raw, 2 cup, chopped
Carrots - raw, 1 cup, chopped
Celery - Raw, 1 cup chopped
Thyme, dry 1 tsp
Bay leaf, 1 leaf
8 cups water
THE DAY BEFORE.
Chop the chicken roughly, including bones and skin. Put everything into a pressure cooker for 1 hour or a crock pot for about 4 hours. When done, reserve the chicken and set aside to cool. When cool, remove the skin and bones and shred the meat. Set aside for tomorrow. Pour stock through a strainer to remove played-out veg. Cover and store in fridge until tomorrow. Skim cold fat off the top before use. (Good stock should be gelatinous when cold, don't worry.)
THE DAY OF:
Making the roux:
Here's the tricky part. Everything else after this is super-easy.
You MUST start with a completely clean, dry frying pan - preferably stainless because the light color is easier to see browning progress. Whatever you do, DO NOT use teflon for this step as temps will be high enough to cause teflon to give off dangerous gasses!
Add the flour (only) to the pan and heat over med-high heat. Stir it CONSTANTLY with a whisk as it browns, and make sure every bit of it gets stirred; the corners of the pan tend to get missed and burn. Stir, stir, stir until the flour gets to be the color of peanut butter. This will take anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes.
This process can be kind of scary and you might have to try it a couple of times to get it down. It's going to smoke some and it might set off your smoke detectors. If the bottom starts to get too hot, too fast, remove from the heat and keep stirring until it calms down then put it back on heat and continue. Or turn down the heat if you need too. If any of it gets actually burnt black, though, throw the whole batch out and start over. You can't rescue burned roux and there's no sense wasting the rest of the ingredients for a cup of flour. Once it's the color of peanut butter, turn it out in a thin layer on a ceramic plate to cool quickly and stop the cooking.
The sausage:
Slice the sausage into thin half-moons and fry until golden brown and crispy on the outside. Remove to paper towels to drain. Wipe as much of the drippings as possible from the pan, then add about a cup of stock and scrape up the fond (brown bits) from the bottom of the pan. Add the resulting liquor to your crock pot or soup pot.
The Trinity:
Sautee the veggies in the 3 Tbsps of olive oil until they are just softened and the onions are barely translucent.
Everything together now:
Add the remaining cold, skimmed stock to the pot without turning on the heat. Whisk in the cooled roux until it's fully incorporated before turning on the heat. Cold is crucial here; if either the stock or roux is hot you'll get lumps. Depending on when exactly you stopped toasting the flour, it should be brick red to dark brown in color after it's all mixed together.
Now add everything else - the reserved chicken, sausage, cooked veggies, spices.
Bring to a boil to gelatinize the starch in the roux and set its thickening power. Test and adjust with more water if necessary. It should be thick enough to just coat the back of a spoon with color, roughly the thickness of say the broth from egg drop soup.
Taste and adjust for salt, pepper, and heat.
Cover and simmer on low for at least 3 hours, stirring occasionally - longer is even better but you may have to add more water as it steams off.
This recipe makes 10 servings of about 1.5 cups each and comes in under 250 Cal, 15 g carbs, 15 g protein, and 13 g of fat per serving (it will vary a bit depending on the sausage and chicken you use). The dry roux almost halves the calories!
It looks like a lot of work, but with the exception of the roux and chopping the veg, most of the time is unattended. It's incredibly flavorful, too, and you can serve it to your friends or family without them ever knowing it's "diet" food. Serve with steamed, white rice to bring the calories up into "full meal" range - or just eat more. :happy:
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Replies
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This looks soooo good! Thanks for posting. I def plan to try soon.0
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Looks great! (I'd have to add in the okra--gumbo's just not the same without it for me!) Thanks for sharing!!!0
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bump0
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please share more! this is my kind of recipe. you explained each step wonderfully. how about a MFP cookbook!!0
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Oh thank you! I've been trying to figure out how to make roux for gumbo without using a ton of oil. I'll have to try this roux method out when I have the time.0
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Sounds delicious! Wish you would make it for me
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Yum, will have to give this a go0
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I'm not a very accomplished chef but I'm craving a good, hearty gumbo for this fall/winter. Definitely worth a try. Thanks for explaining everything for us. I'll try to post again after I try this one.0
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Just started! I was worried about finding good recipes that are low fat/cals. I love to cook and this sounds like a keeper. I am going to make this for Tue. Thanks for posting that recipe! :-)0
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Bump0
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Very good but made better with some seafood stock. I used Penzeys.0
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