Gumbo GOooOOOod !!!

I made Shrimp and Sausage Gumbo, and boy was it gooooood!

The only time I had Gumbo was at Brewerks at Clarke Quay, and it was so good I fell in love with it. Unfortunately, it was also the last time I had Gumbo since. Apparently they took it out of the menu (WHY?!) and I have flushed this want for Gumbo at the back of my head, up until recently. I think this only happens a lot more with women (or maybe just me?). It's really more a food craving. But when it hits you, you just gotta have what you're craving for. Else you're left feeling excruciatingly dissatisfied, and maybe even grouchy. Put anything else apart from what you're really craving for in your mouth, and everything else tastes like paper.

Anyhoos, coming back, I had a big desire to have Gumbo lately, and I couldn't find any. So I decided to make my own. For someone who's accustomed to spicy food, I had added enough Tabasco sauce till I could taste a bit of the spice. I had forgotten that Julien's tongue is still somewhat chilli virgin. So poor Julien was sweating in his seat, but he finished his portion anyways! After which, he asked for something milk based. Lol! Too bad for him, we ran out.

As usual, I did this recipe Ting's style. I was surfing through the internet and I found many Gumbo recipes, but they took way too long to prepare! There was one that required 3 hours or so of cooking time. Completely nuts, although I'm sure it's good. I just can't afford that kind of time to cook a meal. I did away with many things, like the roux. I wasn't going to go out and buy a bag of flour just to make one meal, and never touch it again till the next couple of weeks or months even. I did away with okra (lady's finger) too, although Gumbo's not Gumbo without okra. I just used what I could find at home. So here goes. I did not put in how much to use for some of the ingredients because I estimated them for myself based on how much I like to add.

(Serves 2)

Ingredients:

• Shrimp deveined and peeled. (I used half a bag of frozen shrimp).
• 1 large onion diced.
• 1 bell pepper (the ones selling at our supermarket were TINY, so I got 2).
• 4 sausages finely sliced.
• minced garlic
• Worcester sauce to taste
• Tabasco sauce to taste
• Diced tomatoes (I bought a can)
• Tomato sauce (I bought a can)
• Salt & pepper to taste
  
• Cajun powder to taste
• Basil to taste
  
• Parsley to taste
• Chicken stock (1 can)
  

Method:

1. In a big pot, sweat the bell pepper, onions and garlic with olive oil. Then add in the sausages. Allow this to cook till it's soft. This is also where I add some pepper, cajun powder, basil, and parsley to season.
   
2. Add the diced tomatoes and the tomato sauce and cook till the diced tomatoes turn soft. Add the Worcester and Tabasco sauce to taste.
3. Add chicken stock and let this reduce to a simmer over medium to high heat.
4. Add shrimps. Once the shrimps are cooked through, check for salt and stir well.
5. Serve over white rice.

I really like cooking! The kitchen's my LAB!