Jimmy’s Jumbo Gumbo

Nigel Barden
1 day ago
3 min read

by James Strawbridge from Salt and the Art of Seasoning (Chelsea Green) Photography: James Strawbridge & John Hersey

This recipe came straight off a menu at a BBQ Smokehouse pop-up restaurant that I ran for a couple of years at festivals. I only have one friend who calls me Jimmy, but this seems to be an appropriate name for the dish. Be generous, invite friends, have fun and make your red salt naughty.

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the gumbo

3 celery sticks, diced

1 red pepper, de-seeded and sliced

2 shallots, diced

1 tbsp Cajun spice blend

1 tsp fennel seeds

2 tbsp olive oil

4 fresh chorizo sausages (about 400g/14oz in total)

55g/2oz cured chorizo, diced

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, diced

1 tbsp plain flour

1 bulb roasted garlic, separated into cloves and flesh squeezed out

850ml/1½ pints chicken stock

2 tbsp hot pepper sauce

175g/6oz raw peeled king prawns

1 tsp Red Salt (see below), plus extra to serve

For the dirty rice

280g/10oz basmati rice

225g/8oz (drained weight) tinned black beans, drained and rinsed

2 tbsp chopped coriander

2 tbsp crispy onions

Pinch of Red Salt (see below), or to taste

Method

Start by cooking the gumbo trio of celery, red pepper and shallots in the Cajun spice blend and fennel seeds with the oil and both the chorizos in a saucepan.

Sauté over a medium-high heat for 5–10 minutes until browned, then add the chicken, flour and roast garlic flesh. Cook out the flour to darken into a sticky brown roux base and then stir in the chicken stock and hot pepper sauce.

Bring the gumbo back to a simmer and then reduce the heat.

Cook, uncovered, for 15–20 minutes until thick and bubbling away nicely, then add the prawns. Cook for a further 5–6 minutes until the prawns are cooked through. Season with the red salt and serve with extra at the table. You will only be seasoning the gumbo a little because the cured chorizo and sausages in the dish itself will taste fairly salty.

Meanwhile, for the dirty rice, cook the rice in a separate pan of boiling water for 12–15 minutes until fluffy and tender, then drain and return to the pan.

Mix in the black beans, coriander and crispy onions and warm through over a medium heat for 2–3 minutes.

Season with red salt to taste and serve the rice with a ladleful of gumbo for each portion.

Red salt

Many modern salts are stripped of their beneficial minerals, coated in anti-caking agents and then sold back to us either as a heavily processed sodium chloride crystal or as over-priced food supplements. In reality, in their natural, unrefined form, sea salts have the perfect balance of minerals for us to thrive, corresponding proportionally to the minerals found in our bodies and so matching our own bodies’ requirements. Salt is essential for life.

Makes about 45g/1½ oz

Ingredients

2 tbsp red Alaea salt (Nigel used Halen Môn sea salt)

1 tsp dried chilli flakes

1 tsp dried smoked chilli flakes

1 tsp Cajun spice blend (Nige says either buy premade or mix your own using black, white & cayenne pepper, onion & garlic powder, & paprika)

½ tsp dried red pepper flakes (Nigel says don’t worry if you don’t have it)

Mix the red Alaea salt (or sea salt) with the combination of chilli flakes, the Cajun spice blend and red pepper flakes. You can tailor this blend to suit what chilli you have available, but remember that it really can afford to be punchy and on the spicy side. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 12 months.

Serve with gumbo (above), cooked king prawns or chilli con carne.

Drinks tasted on air, alongside the dish: