Anyone who cooks regularly knows the importance of a
good rich stock to begin a dish.
Starting with a flavor rich liquid base,
rather than simply using water, sets good dishes apart from great ones.
Gumbo makes it's own stock really, you needn't prepare a
stock to cook a pot of gumbo.
However, in one of the many variations
possible with gumbo,
starting with a good stock rather than water will produce yet another version
of it that
may have you cooking stock before you
ever start a pot of gumbo.
You can use almost anything to cook a stock, vegetable
scraps, bones from chickens, shrimp shells, crab shells, fish bones, pork bones,
fat back, smoked hocks, old boots, etc. etc. etc.
A stock is a liquid that has been
cooked and usually strained of its solid ingredients that gave it the flavor.
One twist to gumbo that I have used and enjoy, it to take
old chicken or duck bones, and to roast or broil the bones in a very hot over,
until they are well browned. Cracked bones and "marrow" have an interesting
flavor as well.
You can also put some onions and garlic on the pan late in the process.
Roasted fowl bones have a flavor all their own, it is distinct, and it adds
yet another twist to the mystery in Gumbo.
Take the roasted bones and add them to your stock ingredients.
You can also use spent turkey bones, or anything left
over from a good meal preparation to make stock.
Once it is
prepared, you can let it cool in the frig, and then scoop the oils from the top
to make a freezable ready to go flavor packed starter for gumbo that will last
for years. Many people continue to cook down stock to a condensed form,
then
adding water to it later at cooking time, to save freezer space.
You can
also use canned stocks, but they are heavily laden with salt and do not have as
good a flavor as home made stocks.
Generally, stock is cooked for a LONG time. This completely
breaks down the solid ingredients, and brings out the flavor of them that only
comes from a LONG cooking period.
These flavors are
very different from a quick cook job, and they add to overall richness and
versatility on the palette.
Usually, I skip a real stock by cooking my meat choice
and kicker in the pot with aromatics that are finely chopped as the first step.
The veggies cook to almost nothing producing a stock, the meat comes out and
the second layer of veggies goes in the pot. If I have them, I will use shrimp
shells including the heads, wrapped in cheese cloth, to add a rich creamy flavor
to stock. Dont overdo them, shrimp have a powerful aroma, only use the shells
from perhaps a pound or so of shrimp.
You may also use crab shells to do this, or crawfish shells, fish bones, they
both add their own distinctive flavor to the pot.
I have cooked stocks adding to them for days and days and days, just to see what happens.
About Gumbo How To Make Roux Ingredients Layering Gumbo Making Stock Recipes
