“Hot soup, comin’ through!”

Easy-to-make Creole Chicken and Okra Gumbo is flavorful, hearty and satisfying, with just the right amount of zing from hot pepper sauce. Recipe below.

The title to this post is a direct quote from my high school swim teacher and coach of the school’s swim team, Coach Otto. It was what passed for etiquette inside his grey crewcut-topped head. Constantly working in the damp, cold [even in warm weather] pool room, Coach Otto had hot soup every day in the cafeteria wihout fail. And every day, he cleared the path before him on his way to the faculty dining area, steaming soup in hand, with his own inimitable version of, “Excuse me, please”… “Hot soup, comin’ through!”

The weather’s been a real roller coaster ride this spring, especially temperaturewise. During one of those Six Flags Over Freezing My Butt Off spells recently, I started jonesing for some soup [for my non-U.S. readers, Six Flags is an amusement park chain—Six Flags Over Mid-America, Six Flags Over Texas, etcetera—that prides itself on having the scariest roller coasters around; they actually budget for a certain number of injury lawsuit settlements every year, rather than slow their coasters down]. But back to soup, I wanted something hearty and filling and warming. But it also had to be quick—it was a weekday, and I was at work.

That soup can even be quick was a revelation to me—and a recent one at that. I had totally bought into the notion that soup had to take hours to make. It was something you started in the morning and occasionally stirred, tended to, added to and fussed over throughout the day. And while there are plenty of soups that do indeed take this kind of time, there are also plenty that don’t. I was stunned and amazed the first time I saw a soup recipe whose total cooking time was in the neighborhood of 15 minutes or so.

In the interest of total honesty, many quick soups—this one included—depend on pre-made ingredients like miso paste or cans of broth, tomatoes or beans. Otherwise, they’d be slow soups.

But all’s fair in love, war and soup. So one recent cold afternoon, I went to Epicurious and searched for quick, hearty soups. I found Creole Chicken and Okra Gumbo. The name was promising, but when I looked at the recipe, I was less enthusiastic. Have you ever read recipes that sound too simple, too stripped down to possibly be good? That was this one in letters five miles high. Only a handful of ingredients and most of those either canned or frozen or somehow processed.

Still, it had okra in it, always a plus in my book. And I reminded myself that the lion’s share of really good New Orleans creole/cajun cuisine makes heavy use of processed foods and herbs and spices. Looking at cookbooks from the region, you’d be justified in suspecting that half the ships you see docked at the Port of New Orleans must be hauling in garlic powder or onion powder. I also reminded myself that I really, really wanted some soup, and I wanted it fast. This soup would be good enough.

Only it was better than “good enough”—really good, in fact. Maybe not omigod-company-dinner good, but flavorful and hearty and satisfying, with just the right amount of zing from the hot pepper sauce. And on an unseasonably cold spring night, it was exactly what we wanted.

I only slightly tinkered with the original recipe. I swapped oregano for thyme, partly because I was out of thyme, but also because oregano pops up in lots of New Orleans cooking. And I divided it, using half to flavor the roux. I also used olive oil instead of the called for vegetable oil. If I’m not using butter or animal fat [usually bacon grease], I go for the healthier oils—olive, canola or grapeseed most often.

Creole Chicken and Okra Gumbo
2 Servings—can be doubled

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 teaspoon dried oregano, divided
1 cup sliced frozen okra
1 14 1/2-ounce can low-salt chicken broth
1 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes
1/2 pound skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
salt and freshly ground pepper
3/4 to 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce [such as Tabasco or Crystal—see Kitchen Notes]

Heat a large, heavy pan [I used a dutch oven] over medium-high heat. Add oil and flour and stir until it becomes a smooth, dark brown roux [see Kitchen Notes], about 3 minutes. Stir in half the oregano about halfway through. Mix in okra, then chicken broth and tomatoes with their juices; bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 3 minutes.

Sprinkle chicken with remaining oregano, salt and pepper. Add to pan. Simmer gumbo uncovered until chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Stir in hot pepper sauce and season gumbo to taste with salt and pepper. Serve.

See? Easy.

Kitchen Notes

Roux. Roux [pronounced roo] is a mixture of flour and fat cooked together, then used to thicken sauces and soups. Often, a roux is slowly cooked over low heat, but the quick method used for this recipe works well too. The fat may be butter, drippings from pork or beef fat—or even lard for cajun and creole dishes. Or you can use oil, as I did here. The trick is to use equal amounts of fat and flour and to stir it until it completely blends into a smooth consistency. I found this wonderful whisk from IKEA ideal for the task. For more about various types of roux, check out what Epicurious says.

Okra. Originally brought to the American south by African slaves, okra remains a popular vegetable there today. We’re big fans and have recently discovered that frozen okra—both whole pods and the sliced variety—cook up pretty much as nicely as the less reliably available fresh pods. Some people don’t care for okra because of the somewhat viscous juices it gives off when cooked, but for dishes like this gumbo, it helps thicken the sauce. When buying fresh okra, pick only smaller, bright green pods. The larger ones can be tough and woody.

Hot Pepper Sauce. Don’t skip this. Choose a mild one, if necessary—I think Tabasco makes a milder version heatwise—but you need the vinegary tang to bring the gumbo to life. The second time I made it, I forgot to add the hot pepper sauce, and we kept passing the salt shaker around, wondering what was off, ’til I remembered it.

Also this week in Blue Kitchen

Dear Diary, today London caught fire. Okay, what if you, like, lived through two major historical disasters? And what if you totally kept a diary? Wouldn’t that be awesome? WTF? Food for random thought.

Again with the beautiful music. Listen in as I once again struggle with issues of music being too listenable at What’s on the kitchen boombox?