Cooking Lesson #998: New Orleans Instant Pot Gumbo

… from the Perspectives’ Kitchen

How you doin’? What is New Orleans all about? New Orleans is world-renowned for its distinct music, Creole and Cajun cuisines, unique dialect, and its annual celebrations and festivals—most notably Mardi Gras… this year starting with Fat Tuesday on March 4th.

The historic heart of the city is the French Quarter, known for its French and Spanish Creole architecture and vibrant nightlife along Bourbon Street. The city has been described as the most unique in the United States, owing in large part to its cross-cultural and multilingual heritage. New Orleans is a bustling port city on the Gulf where the mighty Mississippi river greets the commerce of the world.

Founded in 1718 by French colonists, New Orleans was once the territorial capital of French Louisiana before being sold to the United States by Napoleon in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. New Orleans in 1840 was the third-most populous city in the United States, and it was the largest city in the American South from the Antebellum era until after World War II.

So, what is it about New Orleans that makes it so special? It’s the excitement, the people and the great food. The food has a wonderful mix of harmonious cultures—Cajun, Creole, African, French, Native Americans (Chitimacha), British, Italian, Irish, Polish and American.

Gumbo is a spicy, thick stew made with chicken, sausage, seafood, and vegetables, including okra; it is traditionally served over rice. The origins of gumbo go back to the West Africans who were brought to the colony of French Louisiana. West Africans used okra to thicken stews made with meat and shrimp. As a matter of fact, the word for ‘okra’ in West Africa is ‘ki ngombo’ and in French, it’s ‘gombo’. Over time French, Native American, Caribbean, Creole, and Cajun influences created the different varieties of gumbo: thick and thin, with or without tomatoes, with seafood, chicken, or sausage, and with or without okra.

Thanks to kitchen technology—the Instant Pot—it doesn’t take long to make it. My Instant Pot Gumbo is a quintessential New Orleans dish that is hearty, satisfying, flavorful and perfect for a crowd. This all-time favorite can be made with a variety of meats and seafood. The one pictured was a light seafood gumbo made with sausage, shrimp, lobster and crawfish (more on crawfish in the ChefSecret below). It truly tastes amazing when served over rice.
 
Prep time:  10 to 15 minutes
Cook time:  20 to 25 minutes
Instant Pot cook time:  4 minutes (allow 10 minutes to get up to pressure and another 10 minutes to cook the shrimp)
 
Ingredients 
1/2 pound shrimp peeled and deveined
1 teaspoon Creole seasoning or Cajun seasoning
1/2 cup olive oil + 2 Tbsp extra for sautéing
1/2 pound Andouille sausage or smoked sausage, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into bite size pieces
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup diced red onions
1 cup diced green bell pepper
1 cup diced celery
2 tablespoons minced garlic
4 cups chicken broth (for seafood gumbo, I used 3 cups broth, 1 cup clam juice and 1 cup Champagne)
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or, to your taste)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 bay leaves (small) or 1 large
2 cups frozen okra, sliced in thirds
1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes or 2 cups freshly chopped tomatoes
1 pound uncooked whole crawfish (optional)
1/4 pound chopped lobster meat (optional)
2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions (green parts only) 
Chopped parsley to garnish
 
Directions

1. Rub the shrimp with Creole or Cajun seasoning and set aside.
2. Select SAUTE mode and when Instant Pot has heated, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the inner pot.
3. Add the andouille sausage and chicken, and cook until browned, about 8 to 10 minutes.
4. Press CANCEL and transfer the chicken and sausage to a plate using a slotted spoon and set aside.
5. To make the roux use a medium saucepan and add remaining 1/2 cup olive oil and all-purpose flour.
6. Cook the oil and flour until the mixture resembles dark peanut butter, stirring frequently, and being careful not to burn. This can take about 10 to 15 minutes. For my seafood gumbo I didn’t get the roux very dark as I wanted to taste the shellfish. Be patient… this is important. If you don’t have the time to cook it right “today” save it for another day.
7. Add the onions, bell pepper, celery and garlic to the roux. Stir until vegetables are slightly soft, about 5 minutes.
8. Using a wooden spatula, scrape the bottom of the inner pot to make sure there are no burnt bits stuck to the bottom. Deglaze with a couple of tablespoons of broth as needed.
9. Moving back to the Instant Pot, select SAUTE mode
10. Stir in the broth (can include clam juice and wine), white, black and cayenne peppers, thyme, salt, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, bay leaves, frozen okra and then transfer the roux mixture to the Instant Pot.
11. Stir in the reserved chicken and sausage.
12. Add tomatoes on top and gently push down with a spatula to submerge. Do not stir.
13. Close Instant Pot lid and set the PRESSURE mode on HIGH FOR 4 MINUTES.
14. After cooking, do a QUICK RELEASE of the pressure and open the Instant Pot.
15. Immediately stir in the shrimp and close the Instant Pot for another 10 minutes.  The shrimp will cook in the residual heat (if using precooked lobster or crawfish let the shrimp cook for 5 minutes then open the lid again and add the rest of the pre-cooked seafood).
16. Open the Instant Pot, stir and ladle the gumbo over Jasmine Rice or rice of your choice.
17. Garnish the gumbo with a sprinkle of parsley and green onions.

ChefSecret: Some recipes suggest cooking the roux in the Instant Pot, I don’t. My Instant Pot is prone to getting a HOT or BURN message. I recommend cooking the roux on the stovetop and adding it to the inner pot after the broth. The darker the roux, the more intense the flavor of the gumbo.  Be sure not to burn the roux, so keep stirring constantly especially as it gets darker.
One of the things I really love about gumbo is anything goes. For the pictured recipe I deleted the chicken and added lobster meat and crawfish as noted in the ingredient listing. The precooked crawfish were a mistake. I got all the flavor, but the meat was barely noticeable. Next time I’ll just get a half dozen or so crawfish and use them as a garnish on the top. You can also add fresh clams and crab meat for more seafood flavor.

Quip of the Day:  “Being trapped in a car with a talkative child is like having an insane parrot glued to your shoulder.”
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