I love anything thickened with a roux. I make Béchamel for all my casseroles instead of using canned cream soups. I make a roux for the base of macaroni and cheese, roux for Étouffée, roux for gravy. And then of course, I make a roux for gumbo. I’ve heard it said that gumbo is actually love you can eat, and I buy that.
I just stood in the kitchen for about 4 hours, stiring and adjusting, and loving the hell out of a gumbo recipe found on 101cookbooks. com. I highly recommend that recipe. However, the best part of the entire meal was browning the roux in my Le Creuset dutch oven. Andy bought the 6 3/4 quart and 3 1/2 quart models in my favorite blue over the last year. I’ve been using them for every roasted bird, stewed stew, pot roast, or loaf of bread I’ve made since.
Using the enameled cast iron allowed me to brown the perfect roux. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten one darker than today’s, and it didn’t burn even a little. The heat distribution and retention is great on cast iron, so you get an evenly browned mixture. Plus, since the le creuset are enameled, the pan comes perfectly clean as you scrape it with a wooden spatula. Somehow, using this pan instead of my usual cast iron skillet let me cook the roux for much longer (around 50 minutes). It smelled like toasted popcorn and tasted like roasted nuts.
If you have the dime you must pick one up. http://www.amazon.com/Creuset-Enameled-Cast-Iron-4-Quart-French/dp/B000EWNXKS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1229046979&sr=1-3
This was about 40 minutes in. 1 cup of butter, 1 cup of flour. It ended up chocolate brown.
Tags: cast iron, Food, le creuset, recipe, roux
Not The Knowing One 
December 24, 2008 at 8:55 pm |
I made gumbo a couple weeks ago in my new le creuset dutch oven. making the roux was easy peasy!
What’s your recipe for gumbo?
January 11, 2009 at 1:04 pm |
that is the most lovely roux!