Mushroom Gumbo
This is a rich gumbo that uses mushrooms instead of any kind of meat stock. It tastes very clean and spicy! It has a slightly thickened broth and lots of tasty vegetables.
Servings: 6 people
Cost: 6
Ingredients
- 3 Stalks Celery
- 1 Carrot
- 1 Green bell pepper
- 1 Cup Diced onion
- 5 Cloves Garlic
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 1 1/2 Cups Sliced okra About 20
- 1 8 oz Oyster Mushrooms
- 1 Large tomato I used a yellow heirloom
- 1 Tbsp Cayenne Pepper Adjust to taste
- 1/2 Tbsp Smoked Paprika
- 1 Tbsp Old Bay Seasoning
- 1/2 Tbsp Thyme I used dried. If using fresh, use 3 -4 sprigs.
- 1/2 Tbsp Garlic powder
- 32 Oz Mushroom broth I use Pacific Mushroom broth but vegetable broth or water will work just fine.
- 1 Cup Strained tomato juice
- 8 Oz Water
- 1/2 Tbsp Himalayan Salt
- 2 Tbsp Flour See notes
- 1 Tbsp Course ground black pepper
- 1 Tbsp Black Peppercorns Optional
- 3 Cups Cooked rice of choice
- Aleppo pepper or red pepper flakes to garnish
Instructions
- Cook rice of choice per instructions. You will want 1/2 cup per bowl of soup.
- Peel and dice carrots and onions into a 1/2" dice.
- Slice open bell pepper. Remove seeds and dice into a 1/2" dice.
- Remove strings from celery and dice into a 1/2" dice.
- Clean mushrooms and roughly cut into bite sized pieces.
- Dice tomato into a 1" dice. I peel mine but that is my choice.
- Remove caps and tips from okra. Slice into 1/2" slices. I sometimes put them in whole is they are small. Your choice!
- Chop garlic into a coarse mince.
- Add all vegetables except diced tomato to a large stock pot.
- Add all seasoning, broth, water and strained tomatoes to the stock pot. Turn cook top on high to bring soup to a boil then reduce heat to simmer.
- After 10 minutes, taste the broth and adjust your seasonings. You should be able to taste the cayenne and you may prefer more. The Old Bay lends a little sea food flair and the paprika gives it a hint of smokiness. I doubled the amount of Cayenne for us and threw in some whole peppercorns. Add your tomatoes.
- Skim off about 3 or 4 tablespoons of broth and add your flour into into it to make a slurry. When the slurry is smooth, stir it into your gumbo. This will thicken the stock.
- Remove bay leaves. Ladle soup into bowls, top with rice and garnish of choice.
Notes
This is a Snap Pea Sheep recipe!
I only used one carrot in this recipe because it is all I had. Feel free to add more bell pepper, carrots, onions, okra or whatever vegetable you choose. Cajun flavor starts with the trinity of bell pepper, celery and onion so those should be the main focus.
Thyme and Cayenne are also the basis for Cajun flavors. Since gumbo is generally a seafood base, I added Old Bay seasoning that I blended myself after reading the ingredient label on Old Bay. I have not been able to find an organic version otherwise and choose to use organics.
I add the tomatoes toward the end to prevent them from melting into the stock. I prefer my vegetables to be distinguishable in my soups but with gumbo, the vegetables are a big part of the flavor!
The longer the gumbo cooks the more flavorful the stock. Also the mushier the vegetables get! For a more flavorful dish you could hold back the okra, tomatoes and mushrooms then blend the stock ((with the flour slurry) after 15 minutes of cooking. Then add your held back vegetables in PLUS additional bell pepper, celery and onion to your liking!
To add even more flavor, lightly brown your flour before making a slurry with it! Buckwheat flour adds to the depth of flavor here. The flour is to thicken the soup base a little so it is optional.