I reread my microwave roux recipe, and I see that I grossly oversimplified it when I described it here before.

Yes, you can do the roux in the microwave; but it requires a 4-cup pyrex measuring cup to accomodate all the puffing up. Plus, I understated the heating time: it takes 7 minutes on high before adding the desired "seasoning" veggies (onion, garlic, peppers); then a stir and another 4 minutes on high.

Then one must carefully grab the pyrex handle (it should be only warm, but no guarantees) and pour off the excess oil. Stir and add enough water to reach the 4-cup mark, then stir again and let it sit a few minutes.

Then you can use it.

Kathy,

I am not a fan of cooking in the microwave. I will heat leftovers, albeit reluctantly (I hate that I end up with a hot spot and an ice patch within millimeters of each other). Also, there is something meditative about making the roux in a pan, with that smell and all. I do appreciate suggestions, however. You just have to remember that I am a bit of a Luddite.

Steven,

I always thought that gumbo without okra was just wrong, but I have been convinced otherwise by Louisiana friends. I love okra, but there is a place in the world for okra-less gumbos. Funny thing is that one story of the origin of the name gumbo is that it is a West African word for okra.

Dear Erik,

What a relief! I thought for a moment you had lost your senses--gumbo without okra is like water with H2O. But I can see the reasoning--and given the season, you are correct.

By the way okra must have one of the prettiest flowers of any food crop. They are really quite stunning.

shalom,

Steven

Thanks for the suggestions, Erik!

I'd be interested to see what you thought of the "quickie roux." If you ever decide to test it, please report whether you give it a thumbs up or thumbs down!

BTW, I've become a yerba mate fan, too, thanks to Tom of Disputations. I'm trying to cut back on stomach-aching coffee. But I haven't yet invested in a bombilla or gourd (Tom has already gone the whole nine yards).

Kathy,

I am a huge okra fan, but I found plenty of admonishments to only use okra OR file. In the past I have used both, and had to add a lot of water to thin it. So this time I went traditional and used only file (partially because I could not find decent okra this season).

As for sassafras tea, I suppose, but not being a huge fan of infusia I have never tried it. For me yerba mate, coca, and chamomile are the only infusia worth drinking. Yes, that is the same coca as in cocaine, but without refining into that horrid drug. It has been in wide use in the Andes and has many beneficial properties. I do like tea on rare occasions, but so rare that I cannot remember the last time I had it. When I do, I find it remarkably pleasant.

For sausage, you can always count on Niman Ranch (link on the sidebar). Their Italian sausage is good, but not traditional. If you cannot get good traditional Italian sausage, make it yourself with pork, fresh pork fat, red wine, bay leaves, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper. For hot, add red pepper flakes, for fennel, add fennel seed. It will yield a superior product once you get the seasoning balance right. I have good local sources, so rarely have to make my own (I use Molinari's from San Francisco). For the best linguica you should try the Mello Brothers from New Bedford, Massachussetts. Their linguica is incredible. I get kielbasa from a local source in Oakland, as I do my andoille (from Bobby's Backdoor Barbecue in Richmond and Taylor's at the Oakland Housewives Marketplace - Taylor's also makes the best boudin blanc I have ever had).

Boiling the shells is good for gumbo as well as for paella, bouillabaise (although classic bouillabaise is only fish, no shellfish), and seafood risotto. Sometimes I spike it with clam juice and/or Pernod (or other anise liquer).

The best Spanish chorizo available in the United States is Palacio. For the Mexican, I use a local source.

Gumbo was born from necessity, which is why it relies on roux and other thickeners, so when you have access to top ingredients, it really takes off. Like Alicia says, it is GREAT party food. In fact, I no longer make it unless I have a large group to serve it to, as it always yields too much for just the three of us.

If you cannot get local, fresh crabs, I suggest canned crab meat from Trader Joe's. I would not use it for just eating, but in gumbo it should be fine. Of course you do not have the shells for the broth, though.

If I could not get good seafood, I would probably use duck and sausage and leave it at that. In all honesty, I would probably do that before using even the best canned crab, but I live in the Bay Area with the best crabs in the world, so I am biased. I used to catch my own, which is fun, but would not feed San Francisco Bay crabs to Amalia too often, as the bay has become a giant depository of mercury, much of it leftover from the Gold Rush (mercury was important to the second wave of Placer mining, which relied on amalgamating gold from lower grade ore and heating it out in the refining, which has left us with quite a toxic heritage). If I were to go crabbing, I would go to Tomales Bay or Bodega Bay which were not fed by the Sacramento River.

gumbo is like paella - i love to do it as a party food (everyone brings one ingredient and sits and drinks while it is cooking).

Sorry to litter your comments box, but I do love gumbo. I tried making it two weeks ago, after looking at four different cookbooks and despairing at the QUANTITY of ingredients.

Finally (after taking the quickie roux recommendation of one maverick amateur cook), I used crab, lobster (a tad), rockfish, (Chesapeake) bay scallops, and mussels. Wish I'd have known to boil the shells for broth!

The crab seemed thawed and refrozen about ten times. Bleah. I wasn't pleased with the freshness of my seafood, overall (except for the scallops and mussels. God bless mussels! They're always around, and they stay cheerfully alive in every situation!).

But the veggies were fine: okra, spinach, onion, garlic, carrots, celery, chili powder, file powder. (There might have been other stuff, but who can keep track?).

QUESTION: Have you ever tasted Paul Prudhomme's mail order andouille? If so, do you recommend it? Any other mail order sausages good?

My local yuppie supermarkets sell "andouille," "chorizos" of several Central American nations, "kielbasa," and "bratwurst"; but as far as I can tell, they're all just the same old Sweet Italian Sausage, repackaged!

And even THAT'S not as flavorful as real Italian sausage! (Perhaps the kielbasa does have larger gristle chunks, but other than that, it's standard Supermarket Sausage!).

Erik--are you not an okra fan?

File Question:

If you put some file powder in a teabag and brewed it, would you have traditional Sassafras tea?

It sounds great, I wish I could have made it. Do you use a lot of the file powder in your gumbo, I have found that the more I use the better. For some strange reason I cannot put my finger on why this is??? I think maybe the fact that the file makes the food taste and smell like the swamp makes it more authentic to me. As for you florins, please bring me a suitcase full of them, I will see if they have any value in the Southbay.
Ryan

One can speed up the roux in the (gasp) microwave. 4 minutes on high, then add onions and garlic; then another 3 minutes on high.

Definitely turns brown--and darkens even more after you take it out!

The end product certainly tasted good!