Gumbo

I don't like to cook. I'm not very creative, nor are the palates of my dining companions. I'm also not a recipe follower - I'm a pinch of this, dash of that kind of cook. But recently I've hit on something my hubby asked me to please write down. It's my gumbo. I've made it several times lately and he's asked me to make it when we've had friends over. So here goes my attempt to make a recipe out of my gumbo experience.

First, the roux (pronounced roo, like kangaroo). Traditionally, a roux is made with one part veg. oil and one part all purpose flour. I could get a nice medium roux this way, but if I tried for a dark roux, it would burn. Everytime. A while back, I'd heard of a "dry roux", using only the flour and not the oil. Rather than frying the flour, you are toasting it. I use the same iron skillet and the same amount of flour (1 cup per batch), stir it like usual to keep from burning, and slowly but surely it will darken (a medium heat, stirred almost constantly).
Another nice thing is I can make extra roux to keep for later.

Because I don't cook with them often enough to use fresh, I use Zatarain's dried bell peppers, onions, and green onions. I soak about 1/4c of each of those in a couple of cups of water while my roux is darkening. To that mix, I also add parsley powder(~1Tsp), cayenne pepper(~1tsp), creole seasoning(~2Tsp), and one chicken bullion cube (salt & black pepper as well {~1Tsp each to start}).


I use an 8 quart stainless stock pot, and for this size gumbo, I will use 3 boneless chicken breasts and 1.5 pounds of smoked sausage, both cut & browned before adding to gumbo.


Once my roux is dark enough, I slowly add the seasonings & the water they soaked in. This will bring the roux to a paste.


While I am dealing with the roux and seasonings, I have the browned chicken and sausage cooking in a couple of quarts of water in the stock pot. Once my roux paste is thin enough to pour (yet still thick - cake batter-ish), I pour it into the stock pot.


Then I fill the pot (again, an 8qt pot) with hot water and allow this to cook at a slow boil for as many hours as possible (at LEAST 3). Gumbo is something that gets better everytime it's heated. While it is cooking, it will thicken and you will probably need to add water after an hour or so. It's this step that determines how thick your gumbo will be. And if/when you add more water, be sure to allow it to cook down for at least another half hour. Also, check for seasonings every half-hour or so. I usually add salt & pepper as it cooks. We like our gumbo thick - on the line of a bisque or a cream soup. Some like it thinner. I'd say go with thicker if you're unsure - you can always add a little more water.This is the pot at the beginning of the cook. When it's *ready*, it has cooked down to about 3/4 full.

More traditional gumbo would use chicken on-the-bone for stock flavoring. It would use andoulli, and fresh veggies(~.5c each), perhaps even okra (though we only use okra in seafood gumbo). All of these things can only make your gumbo better. But you can make a very good gumbo without. Just saying...