Roux for cajun foods
1 servings
Ingredients
| Quantity | Ingredient | |
|---|---|---|
| ¾ | cup | Oil vegetable |
| 1 | cup | Flour White |
Directions
INGREDIENTS
DIRECTIONS
Stir together over medium heat in a big heavy skillet till medium brown. Add whatever chopped vegetables your recipe calls for and keep on stirring till the vegetables are soft ++++ adding the vegetables arrests the cooking temperature and will prevent the roux from scorching. Stirring MUST continue the entire time without stopping.
You must have a roux to make good gumbo. The browning of the flour takes away the raw pasty taste of white flour and gives it a nut-like, roasted flavor that is so wonderfully Creole. Roux also adds a degree of thickness and richness that sets gumbo a world apart from ordinary soup. A roux is simply a mixture of flour and fat cooked and stirred till its brown. Slowly heating the flour breaks up the starch molecules and reduces its thickening power while giving it a unique, scorchy flavor at the same time. The degree of doneness is determined by the color, which gets darker the longer it is cooked.
every imaginable brown color comparison has been used to describe roux (coffee, pecan, mahogany). The only thing that can go wrong with roux is that you can let it burn. The secret is very simple ++ Keep stirring until it's brown! And don't go for a very dark roux on your first try. The next color beyond charcoal brown is burned black. Be sure to add vegetables or warm water or remove the roux from the skillet, as it will continue to brown even with the heat off........
From the files of Earl Shelsby. Submitted By DALE SHIPP On 10-27-94