Mardi Gras and Gumbo

Week 7  (February 16, 2010)
Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lenten season for me, and since we are planning on attending church that night, we decided to move our cooking night to Tuesday. Tuesday also happens to be Mardi Gras and what better way to celebrate it but with some New Orleans fare! Since Geoffrey is still wounded, I decided I was going to cook and picked out a recipe for Chicken and Sausage Gumbo. However, Geoffrey felt well enough to cook, so he took over the kitchen. I was his sous chef:)

I picked this recipe because 1) it didn't involve okra (which I sometimes like, but sometimes can't get over its slimy texture), 2) it didn't contain seafood and 3) we had most of the ingredients on hand. It was also interesting that this recipe didn't call for a roux, Geoffrey just had to brown the flour. 

Next, he chopped the "holy trinity" of vegetables: onion, celery and bell peppers. Didn't he do a good job? Geoffrey has become a master chopper!

While the gumbo was simmering, I made the cornbread and opened our last bottle of wine for the next 40 days and 40 nights (we are giving up alcohol for Lent this year). We thought a special bottle was in order, so opened the Top Chef Quickfire Chardonnay we received for Christmas from the Carroll's. It was delicious and paired well with gumbo (thanks again Zack and Sarah!)!



We rated this recipe an average of 7 (Mayra: 7 , Geoffrey: 7). It was easy-ish to make, didn't require too many crazy ingredients and can be made ahead of time for a potluck or dinner party. At first we thought it could have used a little more flavor and figured this was due to it being a Cooking Light recipe, but when we had it as leftovers over the next few days, we found that the flavors definitely marinated more and the gumbo got tastier.  Note: we use Crystal Hot Sauce for this recipe and topped off our dish with a few extra dashes.

Hope everyone had a wonderfully sinful Mardi Gras!