Cajun Everything Stew

(Check out previous blog post for a little rambly story about this recipe)

Gumbo is one of those incredible cultural dishes that require love and time to prepare. You need a bouillabaisse, sausage, shrimp, okra; a large pot, at least 3 hours of simmering time.

When I get home from work, I don’t want to wait 3 hours. I want gumbo straight away.

The obvious solution is to make a huge batch and eat it gradually or freeze it. But I have poor impulse control, especially when it comes to delicious stew sitting in my fridge, waiting for me.

So I experimented with a couple versions of the original basic gumbo recipe from New Orleans, made with ingredients from Aldi. Authentic, eh?

Luckily, it is a stew which you can throw literally anything into, and as long as you have the same base, it is going to be delicious

Serves 2 hungry people, perfect for after a long day or when you’re ill

• Cajun spice mix (essential for the flavour and spice)
• Tinned tomatoes
• Jug of stock (I prefer chicken stock for this recipe)
• Butter, or flavourless oil
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 stick of celery
• 1 red pepper
• A couple corn on the cobs (NOT tinned corn, you will see why)
• Anything else you fancy; I’ve had prawns, courgettes, sausage, quorn pieces, pineapple, etc etc

1. All you need for this recipe is one big frying pan or a wok – its a one pan miracle. Start by dicing the onions and garlic, and frying them until translucent in your oil of choice (butter is lovely and rich alongside the stock)
2. Add in sliced celery and sliced red peppers (and any other similar vegetables) and fry for 3-5 minutes on a medium to high heat
3. Once all the veggies are cooked slightly, add in the tinned chopped tomatoes and the stock. It should look too watery to be a stew – it will reduce over time.
4. Simmer for 10 minutes and then add cajun spice, and taste – add in more spice, or salt/stock if the flavour is weak and watery, add some sugar if it is too salty and overpoweringly spicy
5. Now – as the stew is simmering but still relatively liquidy, slice up the corn on the cob into wheels (just slice width ways however thin you want – when it’s just me, I just dump the whole cob in) and add them to the stew
6. Make sure the corn is as submerged as possible and shift it around every so often to allow it to soak up the stew
7. After roughly 15 minutes or when you can easily pierce the corn, it is ready to eat!

Can be served over rice, couscous, with bread or on its own as a stew!

Slurp up the stew and save the gorgeous corn on the cobs till the end; they will have soaked up the spicy juices of the stew and the ingredients (absolutely lovely when using prawns and pineapple).