Doktor Dough

gumbo, Brunswick stew, jambalaya, bourgu these are the one pot work horses of the kitchen. the structure is loose but each has it own ingredients and if you mis-fire somebody will tell you about. i once worked with a chef who kept a ‘gumbo box’ in the freezer, into to this went all edible meat scraps, and some things that where questionable. i once had bouillabaisse outside of gulf shores Alabama that included shrimp shells and chicken necks.

there are three ways to thicken gumbo; roux, file` or okra. roux is flour and fat slowly cooked to a rich brown, for flavoring as much as a thickening agent, file’ is mainly the inner bark of the sassafras tree and okra when cooked produces it’s own thick exudate. creole and Cajun cooking often rely on three ingredients as a base; onions, green pepper and celery. seafood is one of the staples of the Louisiana pantry, so gumbo should have a little bit of fish or shellfish. outside of these ground-rules the recipes vary, i like to think i make a decent sausage gumbo. so clean out your cooler and join me in a mardi gras tradition at my house.

sausage gumbo

1/2 cup celery, diced brunoise(1/4 in)
3/4 cup onion, 1/2 in.dice
1/2 cup green pepper, diced brunoise
olive oil, salt/pepper
dried thyme, whole leaves
4 cloves garlic(2-3 Tbsp) minced

saute` ‘trinity’ in olive oil, add
dried thyme (i use dried and fresh, adding the fresh thyme just before serving)
and garlic, saute 2-5 minutes
add
1 lb fresh pork sausage or andouille sliced
brown along with previous ingredients breaking up chunks
add
1 lb chicken thigh meat 1-2 in. dice
add
2 (14 oz) cans, about 3 cups of
petite diced tomatoes
add
1 qt seafood or poultry stock
bring a boil and simmer for 1-2 hours
while you are doing this make the roux

1/4 cup oil/fat (in a pinch vegetable oil)
3/4 cup flour
heat oil in cast iron skillet, preheat oven to 375 F
add flour to hot oil and blend, heat roux for 10 minutes stirring every so often
pop in oven for 15-20 minutes the color we are eventually looking for can range
from a light brown to a mahogany color depending on taste , i go for a ‘coffee w/cream’ color.

after simmering you can finish the gumbo by thickening the mixture with the roux
add
1-1.5 cups sliced okra fresh or frozen
fresh thyme

serve over rice