When cooking bacon in your cast iron skillet, don’t wash the skillet. After pouring off the bacon grease, take a paper towel
and wipe the pan shiny clean. Your pan will remain well seasoned.
After all of the rich foods from Thanksgiving and Christmas, January is a month that welcomes “one-dish” meals! Especially
welcoming are hardy delicious soups and chowders. This month I’d like to share my recipe for SHRIMP & CORN GUMBO!
All you need
to add is some hardy crusty bread. If you’re serving company you might want to add a light tossed salad and dessert!
Shrimp & Corn Gumbo
Important: Be sure and do all of the measuring and preparation
before you start to cook.
¼ cup vegetable
oil
¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup sweet onions, finely chopped
¾ cup finely chopped celery
¼ cup finely chopped bell pepper
(Note: I pulse
the onions, celery and bell pepper, separately in the food processor, easier than chopping by hand)
1, 4-oz. can tomato
sauce
1, 10-oz. can Rotel mild diced tomatoes with green chilies
1, 20-oz. roll frozen McKenzie Cream Corn Roll, thawed
2 cups frozen
whole kernel corn or 17-oz. can whole kernel corn, drained
5 cups Swanson’s chicken broth
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. black pepper
¼ or ½ tsp. McCormick Cajun Seasoning (See directions)
1 medium size russet potato, peeled and cut in small cubes
(see photo)
Heat the vegetable oil in large soup pot or Dutch oven pot on medium heat. Add the flour and stir vigorously with a whisk to make
a light colored roux…don’t let it get too brown. Add the prepared onion, celery and bell pepper, still stirring and scraping the bottom
of the pot to keep veggies from sticking. Simmer until they are softened. (I like to use a plastic pancake turner. It is easier
to keep scraping the bottom of the pot.)
Meanwhile peel the potato and cut in small cubes. Put in in a small boiler and boil just until fork-tender. You don’t want them
to get soft and mushy. That’s why you boil it separately and don’t add to the soup pot until last!
After the 45 minutes, the
chowder will have thickened and cooked down. Add the cleaned shrimp and simmer 5 or 6 minutes only. Just before serving, drain the
cooked potato cubes and add to the soup pot, and stir….It will be beautiful and delicious!!!