Gumbo!

I regret that our camera is in the car that Joe took to work this morning. I will have pictures of the finished dish, just not of the prep. I lied.....

Gumbo is one of those things that I seriously miss a lot about living in the south. There used to be this restaurant we went to on the gulf that had THE BEST seafood gumbo on the planet. Sadly, the restaurant has since closed down and I cannot just call up to get the recipe. If you ever get the chance, take a trip to SOUTH Alabama and Louisiana. Seriously, just go to eat. There are things that you will find to be so sweet and fresh, yet have so much love into preparing them, that you may not want to leave.

Now that being said, I do believe there are as many recipes for gumbo as there are people named Rachel. That's a lot. I generally stick to a chicken or shrimp gumbo with a chicken stock base, only because I don't make nor use seafood stock in my house. Though you can use any stock you want and have on hand. I would stay away from beef stock unless you are desperate and its all you have. My methods for gumbo are a combination of what I have read and my own experience, having adjusted to my own taste as such. It's all part of the fun of gumbo and it is fun!

Rachel's Gumbo

1/2 cup oil
3/4 cup flour
1-2 chopped onions
1-2 chopped bell pepper
4-5 chopped celery stalks
3 quarts chicken stalk
1-2lbs of andouille sausage
1-2lbs of shrimp or chicken
Dash of paprika
Dash of cayenne
Dash of crushed red peppers


1.) First things first you must make a roux. This for a first timer is a daunting task and all I'm going to tell you is SLOW DOWN. You will be standing above the stove for about 20 minutes, so have time set aside for this. Combine the oil and flour in a large soup pot and stir together with a long handled spoon.

Turn your burner or stove top on 3-4 on the heat range, NO MORE. Start stirring. It will start out looking a little lemony in color, but it's going to change as it heats up. Keep stirring and stirring and stirring. It will change to a tan color as it starts to cook. If you want to, stop here and continue with the recipe, I like my roux as dark as possible without burning so the choice is yours.

Keep cooking until it turns almost a milk chocolate color. If at any time you see a black speck throw it all out and start over. Burned roux has a horrid flavor that will not be saved by any means. The roux will also change texture as it gets to the chocolate color point, almost grainy like. Just be patient.

2.) Once the roux is to your liking add in all the chopped veggies. Be VERY careful with this step, roux is known as cajun napalm... and not for nothing. Stir really well and cook a little longer till the veggies start to soften.

3.) Add in everything else but the sausage and meat. Simmer for 35-60 minutes.
Then add your sausage and simmer another 30-60 minutes, then add the chicken till cooked.

You should have a nice thick gumbo at this point and serve it over rice. Now, there are other versions to this, some use okra and some others use file' powder. I prefer a roux gumbo and so this is what I make 99% of the time. You want to serve this with a good french bread either homemade or store bought. Yum!