Anyone still want any Gumbo?

After my mussel adventure last weekend, this started a spark to see if my parents would want to try my fabulous mussels, so I started slow...with it being summertime, and so many amazing things in season, I decided to make a fresh pot of homemade gumbo. Of course this was still coming from my inspiration from the week before, but I had never tried making my own gumbo, and wanted to give it a shot. Again, I looked through my Whole Foods App, and found two recipes that I decided to tweek a little bit. I did not want to make "roux" or use file powder like most traditional gumbos, so this is why it's my own :)

(with a little inspiration from whole foods of course)

Chicken Gumbo with Fresh Okra and Corn

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces

Sea salt

Ground pepper

3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

1 small green bell pepper, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped with leaves

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour

1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 pound fresh cut okra

4 ears fresh corn kernels, shucked and cut off

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

2 teaspoons bay seasoning

2 teaspoons fresh thyme

Sea salt, to taste

1/8 to 1/4 teaspoons cayenne pepper

12 raw peeled large shrimp, fresh or frozen (optional)

1/2 lb mussels (optional)

Cooked long-grain white or brown rice

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon of oil. Season chicken with salt and pepper and add to skillet. Brown chicken on all sides, about 5 minutes total. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Add garlic and sauté briefly, until lightly golden. Add pepper, celery and onion to pot and cook, until softened, about 10 minutes. Add flour and stir into vegetables until well coated. Add tomatoes, okra, corn, stock, bay seasoning, thyme, salt and cayenne pepper. Stir well, cover and simmer 15 to 20 minutes. Just before serving, stir in the shrimp and mussels and cover. Cook, stirring gently occasionally, until mussels open and shrimp is pink, about 8 minutes. Serve immediately over rice.

Parents liked the mussels, and it was fabulous with the gumbo....I think with a little more tweeking, I have a good start on a great gumbo recipe...can't wait to make more! Oh wait, I still have some...anyone want leftovers??

...check out these guns...

Two weeks ago, me and a fellow friend of mine, Amanda went to eat at the fabulous Little Savannah in Forest Park as kind of a "splurge/treat ourselves well" kinda night. We started off with the Lobster Caprese, and then while I had the braised pork cheeks with polenta she had this wonderful bowl of different types of seafood in this amazing broth that we did not know how to pronounce, ha. Our meal was amazing and it was a wonderful night of conversation, drinks (including 3 homemade cellos that about kicked our butt) and fabulous food. While we were trying each others entrees, she opted to get me to try a mussel because I had never had one before. I knew I would probably like it because I like oysters, but I actually liked them even more. Maybe it was the combination of everything in the bowl along with the amazing broth, but I seriously went to bed that night and woke up at 5am thinking about making my own big bowl of broth and mussels!

While I was awake, I searched in bed on my blackberry for recipes for this wonderful concoction called Cioppino. I found two recipes on Whole Food's website that I liked, so that was my mission for the day.

With it being summertime, I love eating seafood, even when I'm not at the beach, so if you're in the mood for something different, here is my recipe for Mediterranean Cioppino with Bacon, if you want to see both recipes you can find it here and here.

Mediterranean Cioppino with Bacon

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

3 slices smokehouse bacon, diced

1 1/2 pounds mussels, scrubbed and debearded

1/2 lb medium peeled and deveined shrimp

1 shallot, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup white wine

2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 tablespoon butter

1/3 cup chopped Kalamata olives

6 leaves basil, chopped

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

For the mussels, soak mussels in a bowl of cool water for 20 minutes to help remove any sand. Drain, rinse well, then drain again.

Heat a large soup pot over medium heat. Add oil, shallots, garlic and bacon and cook 2 to 3 minutes, or until garlic is soft and bacon is cooked but not crispy. Add tomatoes, broth, wine, vinegar, sugar and salt and bring to a simmer; cook for 10 minutes. Add butter, allow to melt, then add mussels, and shrimp cover and simmer for 8 minutes, or until mussels open and shrimp is pink; discard any unopened mussels. Stir in olives, basil and zest.

Scoop mussels and their broth into bowls and serve with warm bread on the side.

*this is also great topped over linquine pasta!

For the first time making this, it turned out about as amazing as I would have dreamed of it at five am!