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Back when I was still living in New Orleans, I wrote a post about a lovely evening:
Sitting on the back porch balcony (off the kitchen) this eveniing. I smell gumbo cooking (from my own kitchen) and jasmine that is growing over the fence. I hear the night birds singing at dusk as I watch the date palms sway in the breeze. I sneeze because of the pollen in the air and someone walking by calls out, “God bless you.” This is the New Orleans that I love.
That was a lovely memory on that late February evening. Of course, at that time I used my traditional gumbo recipe I made the roux with oil and white flour. It is delicious, but that doesn’t fit in with how I eat today.
But you have to have a roux, right?
Right! So, what is a girl to do who wants great gumbo, but doesn’t use white flour or seed oils (canola, vegetable, etc.) because of its immflamatory properties. Well, I had to find a way to improvise without giving up great flavor.
I looked and looked and finally found a way to make a “roux” that works without compromising flavor. All of the ingredients are not readily available in most grocery stores, but can easily be found online.
The flour replacement is King Arthur, Keto Wheat Flour Blend. I tried lots of other options, but this one is the only one that worked, and it really worked great!
Once I had the roux down, I just followed the rest of my recipe and it turned out great! Hooray, Gumbo can still be on my menu!
Of course, there are a couple of issues. One is about adding tomatoes to the gumbo. That may not be an issue where you are, but in Louisiana it is a thing. So the bottome line is that Cajun gumbo typically does not contain tomatoes, but Creole bumbo – especially seafood gumbo does call for tomatoes. Whew, glad we got that settled.
The other issue is what to serve with the gumbo. Ususally, gumbo is served over rice (or with a side of potato salad, which will be a complete other post). We usually serve gumbo with rice, but that is not a carb friendly option. There are a couple of options here.
Serve with cauliflower rice. I’m not a big fan of this, because cauliflouwer has too strong a flavor and isn’t really the right texture. However, if you want to be strict with your carbs it is a viable option.
Serve with low glycemic rice. This option is pretty good. The LSU Ag Center came out with a high protein, low clycemic rice called Parish Rice. It is a good option if you want to stay low glycemic, but it does still have a pretty high amount of carbs. My husband makes this and I sometimes will eat a really small amount.
My favorite option is to just eat the gumbo with no rice. It has a great flavor and can really stand on it’s own.
I’m glad I stuck with my experiments to find this really flavorful gumbo that is full of fresh flavors and is a treat for your palate.
Low Carb Seafood Gumbo
Enjoy this flavorful seafood gumbo, knowing you are staying low carb and low glycemic for your health!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cups avocado oil or bacon grease (or a combination).
- 3/4 cups King Arthur Keto Wheat Flour Blend
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
- 1 can diced tomato
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- Cajun seasoning to taste (I make my own – recipe to come soon)
- 1 quart seafood stock
- 1 pound small shrimp
- 8 oz. to 1 lb. lump crab (optional)
- 1 cup diced andouille sausage that has been browned
Instructions
n a dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat (I just happened to get a new cast iron dutch oven as a Christmas gift from my mother and bonus father). Add the flour and whisk. Continue whisking the oil/flour mixture over the heat until the mixture (roux) is the color of a pecan (kind of medium dark brown). Note: this will not take as long as traditional all-purpose flour.
Add the onion, celery, bell pepper and garlic. Cook, stirring for about 5 – 7 minutes. Add the tomato and seasonings and stir until they are warmed up.
Whisk in the seafood stock. Heat until just boiling, then turn down the heat to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes.
Add the shrimp, crab and andouille and return the cover to the pot. Depending on how your stove simmers, you may be able to turn off the burner at this point and let the seafood cook for about 10 – 15 minutes until the shrimp is cooked through. If your simmer is really, really low you may need to keep the stove on at a simmer for the 10 – 15 minutes to get the seafood cooked – just be sure not over to cook the seafood.
Serve over rice and offer File` and hot sauce along side.