Recipes with Helen Austin |
"First you make a roux."
Many an old South Louisiana recipe begins with these words. A generation or two
ago, it was assumed anyone who read the recipe would know how to make a roux.
We can't assume that any more. So the following recipe includes ingredients and
instructions for roux-making. If you've heard it's tricky or time consuming,
fuhgeddaboutit. You do need to watch the roux and stir frequently to keep it from
burning, but it takes just minutes to make, not the hour plus you may have heard.
Roux is used as a thickener. Without it, this recipe would be just a mess o' greens.
Not that there's anything wrong with that, the roux just makes it a heartier, more
sustaining dish. Add a hunk of cornbread and you've got a meal.
This recipe has more ingredients than most I share with you, but it's not difficult to
make, just a little time consuming. And it's a great way to use fresh spring greens.
Wash chopped greens thoroughly and set aside. Spread flour in an 8-inch iron skillet. Brown over
medium heat, stirring frequently. When flour is light brown, stir in cooking oil. Continue stirring until flour
is thoroughly incorporated into cooking oil – it will make a thin paste. Season to taste and add
chopped celery and onion, stirring frequently until translucent.
Heat water or stock in a saucepan or pour into a 2-cup measure and give it about 3 minutes on HIGH
in the microwave. Stir into roux mixture; it will lump, but just keep stirring until no lumps are left
Add chopped greens, cover, and cook about 30 minutes, stirring frequently, at least every 5 minutes.
When greens are cooked to taste, remove from heat.
Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to three days. Garnish with chopped green onions, if desired.
NOTE: If you don't spray your back yard, you may see pokeweed (sometimes called poke salad or
sallet) "volunteering" this time of year. If you can pick the young shoots when they're no more than 6 or
8 inches long, they make a delicious addition to this and other dishes. They can even be cooked like
asparagus. But don't wait too late to harvest poke; old-timers warn that mature poke leaves are a
"powerful medicine," i.e. a laxative.
*Zhebes is a corruption of the French sept herbes or seven greens. In South Louisiana, Gumbo
Zhebes is traditionally eaten the Thursday before Good Friday for luck. You can put more than seven
kinds of greens in the pot but, according to legendary New Orleans restaurateur Leah Chase, they
should add up to an odd number (7, 9, 11, etc.). Ms. Chase said when she was a little girl, they'd go
out to the neutral ground (median) between the lanes of Canal Street and pick nut grass for Gumbo
Zhebes.
© 2009 Helen Austin. All rights reserved.
medium heat, stirring frequently. When flour is light brown, stir in cooking oil. Continue stirring until flour
is thoroughly incorporated into cooking oil – it will make a thin paste. Season to taste and add
chopped celery and onion, stirring frequently until translucent.
Heat water or stock in a saucepan or pour into a 2-cup measure and give it about 3 minutes on HIGH
in the microwave. Stir into roux mixture; it will lump, but just keep stirring until no lumps are left
Add chopped greens, cover, and cook about 30 minutes, stirring frequently, at least every 5 minutes.
When greens are cooked to taste, remove from heat.
Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to three days. Garnish with chopped green onions, if desired.
NOTE: If you don't spray your back yard, you may see pokeweed (sometimes called poke salad or
sallet) "volunteering" this time of year. If you can pick the young shoots when they're no more than 6 or
8 inches long, they make a delicious addition to this and other dishes. They can even be cooked like
asparagus. But don't wait too late to harvest poke; old-timers warn that mature poke leaves are a
"powerful medicine," i.e. a laxative.
*Zhebes is a corruption of the French sept herbes or seven greens. In South Louisiana, Gumbo
Zhebes is traditionally eaten the Thursday before Good Friday for luck. You can put more than seven
kinds of greens in the pot but, according to legendary New Orleans restaurateur Leah Chase, they
should add up to an odd number (7, 9, 11, etc.). Ms. Chase said when she was a little girl, they'd go
out to the neutral ground (median) between the lanes of Canal Street and pick nut grass for Gumbo
Zhebes.
© 2009 Helen Austin. All rights reserved.
½-1 cup, chopped, of each of seven different kinds of greens:
mustard, collards, spinach, turnip greens, beet greens, Swiss
chard, carrot tops, green onion tops, Italian flat-leaf parsley,
poke shoots (SEE NOTE), etc.
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cooking oil (I use canola)
Salt and pepper or Cajun-Creole seasoning to taste
1 cup (approximate) chopped celery
1 cup (approximate) chopped onion
2 cups water or stock (chicken broth, veggie stock, etc.)
Chopped green onions (optional for garnish)
mustard, collards, spinach, turnip greens, beet greens, Swiss
chard, carrot tops, green onion tops, Italian flat-leaf parsley,
poke shoots (SEE NOTE), etc.
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cooking oil (I use canola)
Salt and pepper or Cajun-Creole seasoning to taste
1 cup (approximate) chopped celery
1 cup (approximate) chopped onion
2 cups water or stock (chicken broth, veggie stock, etc.)
Chopped green onions (optional for garnish)
Helen Austin was food editor at the Arkansas Democrat for six years and has since been a
contributor to Active Years and the Arkansas Times. She is also writing for Arkansas Newsixty, a
quarterly publication of the Arkansas Times. Having no formal education in either journalism or
home economics, she credits any expertise in these fields to a lifelong interest in food and writing.
Helen's food philosophy consists of getting the best, freshest ingredients available, then cooking
them in the simplest manner possible. She and her husband, Jerry, prepare most of their meals at
home.
contributor to Active Years and the Arkansas Times. She is also writing for Arkansas Newsixty, a
quarterly publication of the Arkansas Times. Having no formal education in either journalism or
home economics, she credits any expertise in these fields to a lifelong interest in food and writing.
Helen's food philosophy consists of getting the best, freshest ingredients available, then cooking
them in the simplest manner possible. She and her husband, Jerry, prepare most of their meals at
home.
Gumbo Zhebes |
| An Old South Louisiana Recipe |
