Blonde Gumbo

My wonderful friend Bonnie, our resident NOLA transplant, makes the best gumbo! As soon as she gives me her recipe, I will be replacing this one almost immediately. That said, one week I was craving gumbo. I was stressed out and generally when that happens, I spend a lot of time in grocery stores planning a lot of dishes that I will cook for that week. The problem is, naturally, I plan these meals on my day off when I am not as stressed, as tired, or as bogged down by the day-today bustle. This week I planned to make gumbo and eat it for a couple days, in addition to two fish dishes and loads of chicken pesto salad, veggies, and fruit. Sounds great in theory…keep reading….by the time that I got around to making the gumbo my kitchen was nearly packed as I was moving three days later. So instead of working out, doing hour 14 of my 15 hour workday, or packing, I was laboring for nearly an hour over a roux (which I had wrong from the beginning). This is the definition of “rational” in Andiland. Apparently, three degrees and nearly 100k in college costs cannot buy you common sense…but that is another story….

The gumbo came out very tasty – it did not however taste exactly like gumbo due to the roux failing to brown because I was too scatter-brained to do it properly. However, the soup was tasty and gumbo-like if nothing else and there was a ton of it.

Note: As much as I love seafood, I dislike seafood gumbo – crime, I know. I always use or eat chicken or duck and sausage gumbo. Make yours whatever way you like.

Blonde Gumbo

Serves 6

Two cups Roux, recipe follows
Two cups diced onions
One cup diced celery
One green bell pepper, diced
One pound Okra, washed sliced into 1/8 inch pieces
Four tablespoons finely chopped garlic
Three quarts chicken broth (preferably homemade)
One pound Bone In chicken thighs or quarters
One pound chicken breasts, bone in
Three or four links of Andouille sausage, sliced into 1/4-inch thick rounds, browned in a skillet, and drained on paper towels
Two bay leaves
One tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
One tablespoon (or more to taste) Tabasco hot sauce
Cayenne to taste
A couple good pinches of salt
One tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
One bunch green onion, chopped
Half-cup coarsely chopped parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/2 cup file powder, or to taste
Pinch each of: Paprika, Oregano, Garlic and Onion Powder (to taste)
Steamed White Rice and Crusty French Bread, for serving

*Make Roux first. I have included Emeril Lagasse’s roux directions, because I am not the person who should be telling you how to make at roux –yet.

Emeril Lagasse’s How to Roux:

3 cups oil
5 cups flour

Place a dutch oven, (or iron skillet with deep sides) over medium heat and heat the oil until just smoking. Whisk in flour, a little at a time and cook, whisking constantly, until roux becomes smooth and thick. Continue to cook, constantly stirring with a wooden spoon and reaching all over bottom of pan, until roux darkens to desired color. Be careful not to produce specs of black. The roux must remain an even color throughout process. If specs appear you must start over.

For a Light Brown Roux, cook the mixture, over medium heat for 1 1/2 hours, or until the color of peanut butter. Remove about 1 cup of the light colored roux, cool completely.

For a Medium Brown Roux, cook the mixture, over medium heat for an additional 30 minutes, or until the color of a copper penny when ready. Remove about 13/4 cups of the medium colored roux, cool completely.

For a Dark Brown Roux, cook the mixture an additional 35 to 45 minutes. The color should resemble dark chocolate when ready. Remove all of the remaining dark roux from the pan and cool completely.

Yield: about 4 1/2 cups roux

NOTE: The timings for various shades of roux will vary depending on the cooktop as well as the amount of roux made. (A smaller amount will cook in much less time.) If this is your first time making a roux, the slower you cook it, the less likely you will be to burn it. The important thing is to cook the roux to the desired color, as specified above.

For Gumbo stew

Season the chicken with salt, pepper, and Cajun seasoning of choice. Sear chicken on both sides until just brown in a large dutch oven/stock pot, working in batches as necessary. Remove chicken from pan and reserve. Add sausage links to the pan (before slicing them) and brown well. Remove, cool, and slice. Add the roux to the pot and heat over medium heat, adding the onions, garlic, celery, bell pepper and a pinch of salt when hot. Saute for about five minutes.Slowly pour in stock, whisking constantly to prevent lumps from forming. Add the chicken, browned sausage, bay leaves, Worcestershire, Tabasco, cayenne and other herbs and seasonings, salt, and pepper. After about an hour, add green onions and parsley. In a separate pan, flash fry the okra and then add to the soup. Slowly add file powder and sprinkle and stir well for about two minutes. Remove from heat and serve with rice and crusty, hot French bread.