Recipe: Mobile Bay Gumbo
I was born on the shores of Mobile Bay and I have spent more than 30 years living, hunting, fishing, cooking and most importantly eating beside its lapping waves. This beautiful and historic body of water provides a bounty of food especially seafood and wild game. This particular gumbo uses proteins found in or around Mobile Bay – duck, shrimp, oysters and flounder. Dig it!
| Mobile Bay Gumbo |
- 4 duck breasts
- Olive oil (if needed)
- 1/2 cup flour
- 2 onions, diced
- 1 bunch celery, diced
- 3 bell peppers, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound fresh okra, sliced
- 1 gallon seafood stock (give or take)
- 1 TBL oregano
- 3 Bay leaves
- 1 TBL thyme
- Salt, pepper and/or Cajun seasoning to taste
- 2 pounds flounder filets, 1″ diced
- 2 pounds peeled shrimp
- 2 pints oysters (with liquid)
- Worcestershire Sauce to taste
- Louisiana hot sauce to taste
- Lightly season the duck breasts and put skin-side down in a heated gumbo pot and cook until fat is rendered and skin is crispy as all get out, roughly 7 minutes. Remove the duck meat but leave that glorious fat.
- Add olive oil (if needed) so that you have 1/2 cup of fat in the pot and then add the flour, season to taste and cook the roux until the color of chocolate (about 15 to 20 minutes) stirring constantly.
- Add the onions, celery and peppers and cook another 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic, okra and stock. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.
- Add the herbs and season to taste.
- Dice the duck and add to the gumbo. Cook for 20 minutes.
- Add the fish and cook for five minutes.
- Add the oysters and cook for three minutes.
- Add the shrimp and cook until pink, about 5 minutes.
- Season to taste with Worcestershire Sauce and Louisiana hot sauce.
- Serve over rice.
If you can’t find flounder then sheepshead or even catfish will do.
ICA: Flay vs. Hastings
Iron Chef Bobby Flay faces off against Challenger Chris Hastings, chef and owner at Hot and Hot Fish Club in Birmingham, Alabama. Judges are Anthony Anderson, Donatella Arpaia Stewart and Simon Majumdar.
It has taken 12 years but there is finally a chef from Alabama battling in Kitchen Stadium. Why is this a big deal? Alabama has one of the richest food traditions in the country – West Indies Salad, Fried Green Tomatoes, White BBQ Sauce, et al. And what a chef they have chosen.
Christopher (along with wife Idie Hastings) is the chef and co-owner of the nationally celebrated Hot and Hot Fish Club in Birmingham, Alabama. Located in a historic 
building on Birmingham’s Southside, the award-winning restaurant has earned a reputation for serving some of the finest, freshest dishes in the region.
Hastings graduated from the Johnson & Wales Culinary School in Providence, Rhode Island and then returned to the South in 1984 to work at the Atlanta Ritz Carlton. After stints at Highlands Bar and Grill and Botega, Chef Chris moved to San Francisco, where he helped Bradley Ogden open the Lark Creek Inn.
In 1995, the Hastings returned to Birmingham to open the Hot and Hot Fish Club where Chris focused on the dinner menu and Idie used her pastry experience (earned in the kitchens of Jeremiah Towers’ Stars Café and Wolfgang Puck’s Postrio) to develop the dessert menu. Today, although the menus change daily to highlight the best possible products available, several signature items remain: the Hot and Hot Shrimp and Grits made with Country Ham, Fresh Thyme, Tomatoes and Ver Jus is always a favorite among the locals.
For more on Chef Christopher Hastings and the Hot and Hot Fish Club check out this great article from the Year of Alabama Food web site.
To see what happen when Hastings takes on Iron Chef Bobby Flay in Battle: Sausage tune into the Food Network this Sunday at 10/9 CT. If you haven’t already be sure to check out my exclusive interview with Iron Chef Bobby Flay (HERE).
For the outcome check below.
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Flay Hastings
Taste: 29 Taste: 15
Plating: 12 Plating: 14
Originality: 11 Originality: 14
Total: 52 Total: 53
Bowl Game Grub: “War Eagle” Buffalo Chicken Cheese Dip
Well football fans the post season is on us. The first week of bowls has given us a few fireworks and the intensity keeps building all the way up to the most important game of the college football season – the Peach Bowl between Virginia and my Auburn Tigers. The LSU/Alabama rematch is pretty important too. The NFL playoffs for their part are almost decided. Whether you prefer your bowl games of the Peach or the Super variety it’s time to whip up some special recipes.
This was submitted to me by Chef Kelley Self Whatley, an Auburn fan, for a series on tailgating I did for Current Magazine. With the defending national champions set to play on New Years Eve I thought this a good time to break this one out.
| “War Eagle” Buffalo Chicken CheeseDip |
- 5 or 6 large cans of white chicken breast (not dark and white mixed)
- 1 to 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 medium Vidalia onions, chopped
- 1 cup Frank’s Hot Sauce (do not use any other kind)
- 2 large packages of cream cheese
- 1/2 cup Ranch Dressing (not low fat)
- 2 cups shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
- Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add chopped onions and cook until tender
- Lower heat and add cream cheese, chicken (drained and break apart the large chunks), hot sauce, ranch dressing and 1 cup cheddar cheese. Stir until well blended over medium heat.
- Put mixture in greased casserole dish and top with 1 cup cheddar cheese (more if desired).
- Bake 350 for 20-25 minutes.
- Serve with bagel chips, tortilla chips or butter crackers.
Bowl Game Grub: Cuban Sliders
Well football fans the post season is on us. The first week of bowls has given us a few fireworks and the intensity keeps building all the way up to the most important game of the college football season – the Peach Bowl between Virginia and my Auburn Tigers. The LSU/Alabama rematch is pretty important too. The NFL playoffs for their part are almost decided. Whether you prefer your bowl games of the Peach or the Super variety it’s time to whip up some special recipes.
| Cuban Sliders |
- 12 dinner rolls
- 1 pound (or more I won’t judge you) Cuban pulled pork
- 6 ounces sliced smoked ham, cut to fit the dinner rolls (should make 12 servings)
- 12 pickles
- 3 slices aged Swiss cheese, quartered
- Mustard to taste
- 2-3 TBL butter, melted
- Preheat a griddle or pan to medium heat.
- Slice the dinner rolls to turn them into buns.
- On the bottom of each bun put a dab of mustard, a spoonful or so of pulled pork, ham, pickle and Swiss cheese. Put a little dab of mustard on the top of the bun and place on top of the slider.
- Paint the bottom of the griddle with some melted butter and place the sliders in the griddle and paint the tops with more melted butter. Place a large, heavy skillet on top of the sandwiches and cook for two to three minutes.
- Flip each sandwich and place the second pan back on top of them. Cook for another two to three minutes.
- To serve turn the sliders back over and brush with a little more melted butter.
