Gumbo

[giggler]

@ Y'all and Selkie and all others.

Would you please share a few Gumbo recipies?

I love Gumbo and have a few thoughts on this dish myself!

Eric, Austin Tx.

Oh wait, I guess I should start first.

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo.

you need meat.

Brown some sausage of your choice. I like Czech style non smoked pork sausage we get around here. but any kind will do. remove from skilled, let drain on a plate. 3 cps

You need chicken. either roast a whole bird and shread the leftovers, or buy a rotisory type at the store, or stew enough to get about 3 cps.

Fry veggies of your choice, usually onion, bell, cellery, garlic. about 3 cps.
I do'nt like celery, so I use more bell, but it's up to you. sometimes I use carrot or mushrooms, whatever.

Add enough water or chix broth to make a nice chicken soup. about 2 qts I'd say. add spices , usually thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper and red pepper to your taste.

Make a roux. fry 1/2 cp flour in 1/2cp oil. I do it seperatly in my iron skillet to desired color. peanut butter color is lite, chocolate is medium, almost black is dark.

Lite roux gives a lite flavor, medium give a more rich flavor, dark give a very rich smokey flavor and is very strong to me, almost diesle fuel, but nice sometimes.

drain off as much oil from your roux as posible, or your gumbo will be too oily.

add some water 1/2cp to roux and boil to make a gravy, then add gravy to soup.

cook 1 hour or more, untill meat is very tender. serve in a large flat bowl with a scoop of rice.

also, if you like okra, add froze or fresh okra about a cp, at any time. if you add late, it will still look like okra. If you add early, it will completely melt.

 

[salt and pepper]

OK, stop right there, your doing it all wrong! The 1st thing you do is to make a "Trinity" which is 2 parts onion,1 part celery, 1/3 part green pepper. Set aside. Next step is to brown the chicken pieces,( I like to use skinned thighs). no need to cook though, just brown for color, they will finish in the stock. Andouille sausage is the norm but you can use what you like. Brown sausage, slice into 1/4" rounds and set aside with the chicken.If you use fresh okra, brown that too.If not you can add it at the end of cooking. Since this is a chicken recipe a blond roux is all you need, if you like a darker roux thats fine too,just cook in a shade lighter so when you add the trinity it will darken as the veggies are cooked. Have chicken stock ready to add to the roux & veggies. The spices used will be minced garlic,dried basil,dried oregano,dried thyme,cayenne pepper,file powder, creole seasoning & bay leafs.
Since I don't know how much you intend to make I can't give you measurements.
The norm is 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup veg oil for the roux. 1 cup onion,1/2 cup celery, 1/3 cup green peppers. 2 qts chicken stock.1 tsp each of minced garlic,basil,oregano,thyme. 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, file. 2 bay leaves and creole seasoning to taste.
Start by making the roux a shade lighter then you want. When roux is cooked add the trinity and cook until onions are cooked through. Add stock & bring to a boil the simmer. Add chicken & sausage, next yous spices and simmer for about an hour. At about 45 minutes into cooking add okra. Serve.

 

[Silversage]

I like my gumbo seafood style. And I like my okra to look like okra.

 

[CraigC]

Take a gander at Paul Prudhomme's, original Chicken and Andouille sausage gumbo. The one that does not use his spice blends, but gives the recipe for them. I like the fact that he rubs the chicken pieces with cayenne, garlic powder and salt, letting them set for a half hour. The coating flour gets the same three spices and the flour is then used for the roux. I prefer a red-brown roux to start, which will darken when the trinity is added.