Gumbo

[Dana]

If I'm using fresh okra, I usually put it in the roux with my seasoning vegtables and "fry" it for a bit before adding to the stock. It will cook for a long time and pretty much break apart. If you use canned, it never seems to break apart, unless you smash it with a spoon. I've never used frozen.

No self respecting cajun would ever put beans in a gumbo. Just about anything else, but never beans.

[fifi]

Actually, I have spent a significant part of my life in New Orleans and South Louisiana so a Texan addressing the all-important issue of gumbo isn't as heretical as it sounds.

Jason started this. He mentioned the dark roux gumbo in the Commander's Palace thread, discussing the difficulty of acheiving that.

Hmmm... I have been making that for years. I learned at the side of a wonderful lady in LaPlace, LA who was an absolute authority on gumbos in general and the dark roux variety in particular. That was her favorite.

I considered trying to weasle some cooking bags out of him in exchange for a lesson on my dark roux technique when he dropped a bunch of recipes on me in the Mirlitons thread.

Ah well. Duty calls. I have entered my recipe for Chicken & Sausage Gumbo into recipeGullet. It includes the details of technique for acheiving that dark roux and provides a pretty good basic gumbo recipe.

We all know that there are as many gumbo recipes and techniques for making a roux as there are cooks in Louisiana. This could get interesting. Read. Chew. Discuss.

[Jason Perlow]

I LOVE the dark roux gumbo. But its also possible for the blonder light roux gumbos to taste really good too. We had one at Lagniappe Too in New Iberia that was really, really good.

Medium Dark Roux Gumbo at Commander's Palace

Blonde Gumbo at Lagniappe Too

DARK roux gumbo at Upperline

[fifi]

Thanks for the pictures, Jason. Mine comes out looking just about like the Upperline version.

Yes, all versions are good. Most folks prefer a little lighter roux for seafood. I never met a gumbo I didn't like. Well, I will make some exceptions for those with too much okra. I am not in the okra camp. (That should start some discussion.)

Yes... I know... Gumbo is supposed to be the original African word for okra. However, the language has moved on.

[Mayhaw Man]

There will be a meeting of the OLA (Okra Lovers of America) tonight at my house. We will be enjoying an appetizer of Dill Pickled Okra. The entree will consist of Turkey Gumbo with Okra with a side dish of leftover Okra and Tomatoes. Okra Cornbread will served along with the gumbo.

[fifi]

Weeelll... Yaaa'll jes have a reeeaal good time, now. Ya hear?

[Mayhaw Man]

Mercy buckets , ma'am.

I'm sure we will laissez les bon ton roulez.

Duck hunting marathon starts in the morning. Weather will be cold and windy (unfortunately it will also be blue skies) so I have two out of the three requirements for successful shooting. Freezer filling follows directly afterwards.

Duck and Andouille Gumbo for dinner Saturday night (no okra, that would be wrong )

[Mayhaw Man]

It's a little cool here (hell, it's cold) and the duck season is closed in my part of the state for two weeks, so tonight's bill of fare is going to be Duck and Italian Sausage Gumbo w/jalapeno cornbread and Pecan Pie (baking now) for dessert.

I thought you might want to know

And while I am thinking about this, there is the other thread going about Corporate America and this meal pretty much qualifies as the opposite of a Corporate meal :

Ducks: 2 mallards and a woody killed by me and one of the little Mayhaws

Sausage: Made fresh at a butcher shop about 2 miles from my house

Pecans: Outta my yard or my Mom's yard (not sure as they are picked already)

Syrup for Pie: Steen's from Abbeville

Jalapenos- Outta my garden

[fifi]

Sooooo... What style of gumbo, and how dark is your roux?

[Mayhaw Man]

Ducks were SPATCHCOCKED and grilled over charcoal. Meat was stripped (Wednesday, I had the day off) and the carcasses were then cooked for stock along with backbone that got whacked off of it before grilling (the usual, onion, celery, green bells, garlic, and bay leaves).

Stock was cooled overnight and fat was skimmed off (there is plenty of fat still on the meat, but not as much as you might think, as these are wild ducks and not some big tub of a farm raised duck ).

Today I browned some really, really nice italian sausage (sweet) and set aside to drain on paper towels.

I made a roux of equal parts flour and butter/duck fat (reserved) and browned until the color of cafe au lait (not dark brown, but not roux blanc either)

I sauteed in roux- onion, celery, red and green bell pepper, garlic, and some leeks (they were going over and it seemed like the right thing to do. It is, after all, gumbo).

Added roughly chopped duck meat and sausage and cooked over very, very low heat for about two hours. This made for a very rich and rediculously meaty concoction that would command a premium price at one of our local gumbo joints (if they could use wild ducks)/

During this time I concocted jalapeno cornbread with some extra whole kernal corn and some thin sliced okra for added color and okra deliciousness

I then talked to Mrs. Mayhaw, who was out doing a little light damage to our credit situation, and she told me that she was running behind due to all the phenomenal bargains she had found and that I could begin, accompanied by the Tee Mayhaws, to devour this delicious concoction.

We did and now I am telling (bragging) you about it.

[Nick]

And while I am thinking about this, there is the other thread going about Corporate America and this meal pretty much qualifies as the opposite of a Corporate meal :

This doesn't have much to do with gumbo, but about all I've been eating for the last week is deer meat, brussels sprouts that the deer didn't get, and other goodies locally grown and stored. Food lovers unite and stop eating from the corporate trough!

One of these days I've got to learn how to make gumbo - northern style.

[fifi]

and not some big tub of a farm raised duck

hmmmph!

Yes... adding the leeks before they "went over" is exactly the thing to do. That is what gumbo is for. Let nothing go to waste. Put it in the gumbo.

That sounds exceedingly delicious. Then you had to go and put okra in the cornbread.

Nick... Did you use the brussel sprouts as a lure for the deer you are eating? There seemed to be a karmic connection there.

[Mayhaw Man]

That sounds exceedingly delicious. Then you had to go and put okra in the cornbread.

I was thinking fondly of you as I chopped the okra

[Jason Perlow]

I like Okra. Interestingly enough none of the Gumbos I sampled in Louisiana that week had it.

[Nick]

Nick... Did you use the brussel sprouts as a lure for the deer you are eating?  There seemed to be a karmic connection there.

No, the brussels sprouts were not a lure. That's illegal. Years ago I got busted by the Maine game wardens for "enticing deer." Had something to do with apples being found under a pine tree.

But no, Susie raised the Brussels Sprouts and now has enough dogs to keep the deer away. The deer meat came in the form of a "care" package from the feller that built my house a few years back. It was a fine package. Some liver, some heart, some steak, and some "hamburger". Mighty fine eating.

[fifi]

Nick, You mean they didn't believe you when you told them that you left the apples for the bunny rabbits?

Hmmm... I can't think of any way to make a gumbo out of deer meat and brussel sprouts. I can, however, highly recommend this Chili Recipe from Huevos del Toro. I made it last night and it is now my new favorite. I tampered with it a bit and had to use unsweetened cocoa instead of Mexican chocolate but it sure is good.

[Dana]

It must be the cool weather we're having here in the south, 'cause we had a hankerin' for a gumbo, too. Mine looks like the first pic of Jason's, meduim dark, I guess. I put in chicken, deer smoked sausage, and shrimp. I'd have added the leeks, too. This is GUMBO, not rocket science, as I attempted to convince someone on a similar thread several months ago.

Gumbo is like potato salad - everyone's is different, but everyone's is good.

[Nick]

I can, however, highly recommend this Chili Recipe from Huevos del Toro. I made it last night and it is now my new favorite. I tampered with it a bit and had to use unsweetened cocoa instead of Mexican chocolate but it sure is good.

Thanks for that link Fifi. I just happen to have all that stuff on hand, except for the cocoa or Mexican chocolate. How important are they?

[fifi]

Not all that important. Having venison to start with makes up for a lot.

[Mayhaw Man]

Nick,

Probably too late and you have already fallen into Fifi's Chili Trickbag , but next time you might try something like this Venison Sauce Piquant served over a little white rice and acompanied by some crusty bread and a salad. MMMMMMM. C'est ci bon!

Actally, Fifi got me thinking about Chili and I am thawing out a couple of beef shoulder steaks and going to cube em for chili tommorrow night.

With Beans (but no Okra is involved)

[fifi]

And this from Jason Webley:

Gonna carve a jack-o-lantern, hang the garlic high,

This crop's been coming for a long, long time.

Flaming red peppers will rain down from the sky,

And your tap water'll turn into okra slime.

[Lucille]

I was laughing as I read this thread about Gumbo.

Very interesting....

[Mayhaw Man]

I was laughing as I read this thread about Gumbo.

Very interesting....

Welcome Lucille,

As you can see from this thread there are manykinds of people here (including, incredibly, one's who don't like okra ) and I hope that you will continue to post.

[tryska]

can i ask a question?

can you make gumbo in a crockpot?

i've never made gumbo before at all, and about the only step i know is the roux.....

[fifi]

I have seen it done. You just can't do the whole thing in the crock pot. You have to do the roux in a cast iron skillet or other heavy skillet, dump the vegetables into the roux and then transfer it to the crock pot for the slow simmer. I don't do that because I just like to dirty my one big heavy pot.