![Gumbo](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2023/10/31/multimedia/ND-Gumbo-cmvz/ND-Gumbo-cmvz-mediumThreeByTwo440.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
Gumbo
Naz Deravian
415 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
415
4 hours 15 minutes
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Make the sauce: Put the date in a small saucepan, add water to cover and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and set aside. When date is completely softened, drain off water.
In a medium skillet over medium heat, combine oil, ginger, garlic and ½ teaspoon of salt and cook, stirring, until the garlic starts to smell fragrant, about 2 minutes. Transfer the contents of the pan to a blender. Add the roasted peppers, cilantro, bourbon, and the softened date and purée until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper. Set aside until ready to serve.
Make the cakes: Combine flax powder and 6 tablespoons water in a small bowl. Mix well with a fork. Cover and refrigerate to let thicken.
Heat the oven to 400 degrees. With a fork, pierce the potato all over then wrap in foil. Bake until tender, 50 to 60 minutes. Set aside to cool. When the potato is cool enough to handle, peel it, transfer to a bowl, and mash until smooth. Set aside ½ cup of the mashed potato for this dish and use the rest for something else.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, toast the millet, gently shaking the pan to ensure even cooking, until the millet smells fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of water and ½ teaspoon of salt and raise the heat to high until the water boils. Immediately turn down the heat to low, cover, and cook until the water has evaporated, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and set aside.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine lentils with 1½ cups water over high heat. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, skim off any foam, and simmer, covered, until just tender, 5 to 7 minutes. The lentils should be soft but not falling apart. Remove the lid, drain off any excess liquid, and stir in a generous pinch of salt. Set aside to cool.
In a medium skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of peanut oil over medium-high heat and until the surface shimmers. Add onions and sauté, stirring often, until soft and just beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté until it starts to smell fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Add berbere spice blend and ½ teaspoon salt and cook, stirring, until combined about 1 minute. Transfer onion mixture to a medium bowl. Mix in the ½ cup of reserved potato, millet and lentils, plus millet flour and the reserved flax seed mixture until thoroughly combined. Season with salt to taste.
Using your hands, form the mixture into 12 cakes, using about ¼ cup of mixture per cake and placing the finished cakes on parchment paper. Transfer to a container with a lid, using parchment paper to separate the layers. Refrigerate, covered, at least 2 hours or up to 2 days to firm up.
When ready to cook, heat oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit and gently reheat the sauce. Spread the toasted panko in a shallow dish and combine with 1 teaspoon salt. Gently dredge each cake in the salted panko, coating both sides and shaking off any excess crumbs. After coating, transfer each cake to a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet.
In a large cast-iron skillet or heavy nonstick pan over medium-high heat, heat 3 tablespoons peanut oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add enough cakes to fit in the pan without overcrowding. Cook until golden, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain, then to the lined baking sheet. Place the cakes in the oven to keep warm. Wipe out the skillet and repeat with remaining cakes.
To serve, spread a generous ¼ cup of warm sauce on the bottom of 4 serving plates. Place 3 cakes on each plate. Garnish with a handful of lettuce and roasted red peppers.
Ground flax and water are a substitute for eggs, so if you don’t care about it being vegan, you could also just use two eggs.
I thought this recipe was delicious, but do take issue with the way in which it was presented. It is most useful if a recipe proceeds in the order in which things need to be done--I found that the presentation was disorganized and there were no clear estimates of the time to be allowed. Next time, I will prepare the cakes and the sauce ahead of time, and just cook the cakes prior to serving.
In the grand tradition of substitutions, I'm going to try this with roasted poblanos, omitting the jalapeño, rather than regular green peppers. Will let y'all know. I've also never seen powdered flaxseed, so I'll just pulverize some in our mini food processor or mortar.
Good lord but that looks like a lot of work.
This makes for a pleasant meal, but I have to agree with the commenter who said that the return on investment isn't enough to justify the prep time and finickiness of the recipe. I did enjoy the nuttiness of the toasted millet seeds and the lightness of this vegan and gluten-free entree. I think the sauce would be improved with acid of some sort. Maybe white balsamic vinegar?
Good lord but that looks like a lot of work.
2/2 I didn’t have 2h to set up in fridge, so I put tray in freezer while I blended up the sauce. Next time I will make the lentils and millet at least 1/2day in advance. I added 2T oat flour (in addition to millet flour) because mixture was too wet. That might be due to lentil grain not being thoroughly cooled. I broke it into steps to have better flow to work. Still a lot to get thru. Next time will garnish w/Smoky Spiced Pine Nuts (NYT)
Made this delicious meal on a weeknight- it took 2-3/4h. I was cooking the whole time. On their own, the cakes are very plain; I thought they would be flavourful. BUT The Sauce! Oh My! I have decided to always have that on hand! Forever! Do Not Skip The Sauce! Recipe is a lot of work and could use every pan in the house! I reused saucepans and skipped the skillets. 1/2
Pretty tasteless overall and the cake batter was thin, had to add flour to make it easier to handle. The 1.5 hr prep time was not realistic unless you have a pair of sous-chefs to run the various preps simultaneously. Alone, plan on 2.5 - 3 hrs prep time.
As a vegan with celiac's, I'm always looking for interesting vegan GF dishes. I usually have to adapt. Here, I substituted GF panko, but that was the only change. Delicious.
Can I make this in an air fryer? My family eats a whole food plant-based diet with no oil or other processed foods for health reasons.
Never again. Too much effort for too little pay off on the burgers. Sauce very nice
Has anyone tried freezing these after step 8 and frying later?
I thought this recipe was delicious, but do take issue with the way in which it was presented. It is most useful if a recipe proceeds in the order in which things need to be done--I found that the presentation was disorganized and there were no clear estimates of the time to be allowed. Next time, I will prepare the cakes and the sauce ahead of time, and just cook the cakes prior to serving.
How many cakes does this recipe make?
Step 8: "Using your hands, form the mixture into 12 cakes, using about 1/4 cup of mixture per cake"
In the grand tradition of substitutions, I'm going to try this with roasted poblanos, omitting the jalapeño, rather than regular green peppers. Will let y'all know. I've also never seen powdered flaxseed, so I'll just pulverize some in our mini food processor or mortar.
Ground flaxseed at Trader Joe’s.
If you have access to Bob’s Red Mill Products in your grocery store, ground Flaxseed meal is available. Keep extra in the freezer. Add it other things in small amounts - cereal, salad dressing, etc. to use it up.
Ground flax and water are a substitute for eggs, so if you don’t care about it being vegan, you could also just use two eggs.
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