Gumbo Season!
 

Well its official, football season has started, ducks are flying, and its not miserable to be outside all day. ITS GUMBO SEASON! I know you guys and gals have some great recipes so lets hear your favorites...I'll get the file'!!!

takes me all day too cook mine... would take me all day to type my recipe on here... i can feed about 50+ with my recipe.

What is Gumbo?

A lot of the food we eat is very similar in how it is made and how it tastes. Is Gumbo a type of Soup? Yes. Is it a Stew? Maybe! Is it made with Tomato products? Sometimes! Well, what is the “defining” difference between Gumbo and all the other similar foods? Is it the File that is sometimes but in Gumbo? Maybe! File is a seasoning.... Finely ground up leaves from Sassafras trees. Is this seasoning the “defining” ingredient of a Gumbo....? IMO, No.

I believe there are two ingredient of a Gumbo that distingue it from the other dishes. One is the Roux. The Roux should be a little darker than what is typically put in other similar dishes and it is used make the Gumbo a little thicker or I would consider it a soup. The second ingredient, and the most important IMO, is a Gumbo must contain Okra. Besides the unique flavor of Okra, it also gives body to the Gumbo. I am sure some people may disagree on this and that is ok. I grew up as a child eating Turkey Gumbo made from the leftover Thanksgiving bird. So here is that recipe as I make it now

Turkey Gumbo


· One left over Turkey carcass with some meat (and dressing?) still on the bones. Two would be even better.
· Break up the carcass bones so that they will fit into a fairly large pot.
· Add about 3” water to the pot, cover and boil until meat falls off the bones. This will take 1 to 2 hours.
· Remove all bones, skin, etc., leaving only the meat. This can best be done by scooping out the meat onto a large baking pan for easier access. There will be a lot of small bones to remove.
· In separate pot, smother 1 or 2 lbs. of cut Okra until very tender. Add 2 tablespoons of oil if using fresh Okra. The amount of Okra depends on the amount of meat on the carcass. Add 1 or 2 cups water to start with and more later to keep from burning. Stir frequently to keep Okra from sticking to the bottom. This should be done on medium-low heat and will take about 1 hour.

Other Ingredients


· 3 to 5 large onions, chopped.
· 1 bunch of celery, chopped.
· 1 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped.
· 5 to 10 cloves of garlic, finely chopped.

Cooking


· Add 1 or 2 tablespoons of oil to large skillet and sauté onions and celery. Add to Turkey stock.
· Add 2 cups boiling water to pot and start simmering.
· Make a dark Roux using ½ to ¾ cup oil. Add ½ of Roux to pot.
· Add smothered Okra.
· Add garlic.
· Add about 3 tablespoons of salt.
· Add about 2 tablespoons of black pepper.
· Add about 1 teaspoon red pepper.
· Add more water, as needed. Remember that the Gumbo should be a little thick.
· Add more Roux, as needed. This depends on size batch of Gumbo.
· Taste and add seasonings, as needed.
· Skim off any excess grease.
· Cook at least 30 minutes........Longer the better.

Serve hot with cooked rice.

Jordan, are you going to post that recipe?

yeah....

Sautee' onions, celery, garlic and jalapeno's
Boil chicken, shrimp---not sausage
Pick chicken
Chop up sausage, chicken, shrimp, etc....
Make roux by "browning flour"..... add flour to a pot, turn fire on medium-high and add oil til its brown..
After you make your roux....add water and add chicken, sausage, shrimp, onions,celery, garlic and jalapeno's etc.....
Add enough water to cover the goodies (being your hard ingredients)
I Also add 2-12oz cans of dark beer to mine.... makes it have that ZIP
Let cook for 4-5 hours...
Put in a bowl, serve over rice and make you some home made tater salad and plop a huge spoon of dat on the side !!!!!

35 minute microwave shrimp and okra gumbo

in a large pyrex bowl
add one cup of cooking oil and heat for 3 minutes
add 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour and stir
cook for 8 minutes stirring every 2 minutes
add 2 small or 1 large chopped onion, 3 ribs celery and a small bell pepper cook for 5 minutes
add a quart bag of pre smothered okra and 3 cloves chopped garlic cook for 3 minutes
add 1 pound peeled shrimp and cook for 4 minutes
add enough water or chicken stock to bring it to the top and and cook for about 10 minutes

You will have a pretty decent gumbo especially if you in a hurry.

Some of y'all Cajuns need to hook a Texas brotha up with some good gumbo, boudain, gator meat, etc. :) PM me for my mailing address to overnight some great Cajun cookin' to. ;)