Tiana’s “Bayou” Gumbo Recipe

INTRODUCTION

Welcome back friends! This week we’ll be cooking up the gumbo Tiana makes in the bayou from Disney’s The Princess and the Frog!

This recipe is featured on Tiana, Naveen, Louis and Ray’s journey through the bayou to reach Mama Odie. When they stop to rest for the night, she teaches Naveen how to help prepare the food and they learn a little more about one another. She is such a talented cook that she can still create a delicious gumbo from the ingredients on hand.

I used a little more than the ingredients she had on hand, but I did keep it to a vegetarian theme and baked it in a pumpkin, which was so fun! How often do you get to make food inside of a pumpkin?

“BAYOU” GUMBO IN A PUMPKIN

• 1 medium-sized pumpkin
• 1/2 cup of butter
• 2/3 cups of all-purpose flour
• 2 red bell peppers, cored and diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 white onion, peeled and diced
• 1 cup of fresh or frozen okra, chopped
• 1 small cauliflower, chopped into florets
• 1 lb. of baby bella or button mushrooms, diced
• 14 ounce can of fire-roasted tomatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne
• 2 teaspoons of Creole or Cajun seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 cups of vegetable stock
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Green onions (optional garnish)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Wash and dry the outside of the pumpkin, then cut the top off and thoroughly clean out the pulp and seeds.
2. Place the pumpkin (and it’s top) on a baking sheet lined with foil and set aside.
3. Melt the 1/2 cup of butter in a dutch oven, or large heavy-bottomed pot, over medium-high heat, then whisk in the flour until combined.
4. Continue to cook the roux, stirring constantly, for about 20 minutes or until it turns a dark amber-brown. If it’s cooking too quickly, or starts to smell faintly burnt, turn the heat down a little.
5. Stir in the bell peppers, celery, garlic, onion and okra until they are completely coated in the roux.
6. Cook these ingredients for about 5 minutes or until the vegetables have started to soften, stirring every 10-15 seconds.
7. Add the cauliflower, mushrooms, tomatoes, cayenne, creole/cajun seasoning, thyme, and the bay leaf.
8. Cook and stir for another 5 to 10 minutes until the ingredients are well combined and the new additions have softened a little.
9. While the ingredients cook, set the rack to the lowest point of your oven and pre-heat to 375 F.
10. Carefully ladle this mixture into the pumpkin and slowly pour in the broth, stirring the ingredients a little to smooth out the broth.
11. Place the tablespoon of butter on top of the gumbo and replace the pumpkin’s top.
12. Bake the pumpkin in the oven for about an hour, but please keep an eye on it! When done, the outside of the pumpkin will turn a dark orange. The inside of the pumpkin should be slightly tender, but not overly so, we are not scraping the sides to use in our gumbo.
13. Remove the baking sheet with the pumpkin from the oven and carefully remove the top. Remove the bay leaf, stir the contents and add salt and/or pepper to taste.
14. Serve and enjoy!