Thanksgiving Leftovers--Louisiana Style {Smoked Turkey and Okra Gumbo}

Gumbo made with leftover Thanksgiving turkey 

will soon be bubbling away 

on back burners across Louisiana.

The number of gumbo recipes equal the number of cooks.

There are many types of gumbo.
Chicken, hen, guinea, turkey, dove, duck, goose.  Rabbit, squirrel.  Seafood.
Beef and pork (except for sausage) are rarely seen in gumbo.

There are also different styles of gumbo.  Cajun gumbo is almost always made with a very dark roux and rarely has tomatoes and/or okra.  Cajuns also tend to stick with poultry and game--seafood gumbo is not their "everyday gumbo."

Tomatoes and okra are usually found in Creole style gumbos.  Seafood is more prominent as well.

My gumbo rules:
1-- I like a dark roux.  A dark roux adds a layer of flavor that can't be beat.  Keep in mind that the darker the roux, the weaker the thickening power.

2-- I don't go crazy mixing a lot of different meats/proteins.  Gumbo is meant to feed a crowd at a low cost.

3-- And meat doesn't get mixed with seafood, except for possibly shrimp and andouille sausage.  You may see chicken, shrimp, crab, and sausage gumbos in cooking magazines, but on most Louisiana tables, chicken (or other fowl or game) and seafood are not traditionally mixed.

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Smoked Turkey and Okra Gumbo is probably more Creole than any other gumbo I've made.  

It has a tomato-y base, is flavored with bay leaves (a common seasoning in the New Orleans area), and contains okra.  

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How to make a roux

How to make stock

Print It

Smoked Turkey and Okra Gumbo

Turkey stock (8-10 cups)
2 large onions, chopped
4 ribs celery, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups sliced okra
3 Tbsp tomato paste
1 lb andouille sausage, sliced
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup flour
2 bay leaves
1 tsp salt, or to taste
½ tsp black pepper, or to taste
¾-1 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste
¾ tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
6 cups leftover smoked turkey
cooked rice
chopped green onion

Start by making a stock with the turkey carcass, onions, celery, and garlic.

Make sure all of the vegetables are chopped before starting the roux.

Brown the sliced sausage in a large cast iron or stainless steel pot.  Remove.  Add oil to the pot and heat over medium.  Test by sprinkling in a pinch of flour. If the flour sinks, continue heating the oil. If the flour bubbles, sprinkle in all of the flour. Slowly stir and scrape the flour, moving the mixture constantly. If pools of oil form on the surface, sprinkle additional flour over them. Continue stirring and scraping until the roux is brick red or light chocolate colored.

Immediately add the chopped vegetables (onion, celery, bell pepper, garlic, okra) to stop the roux from burning.  Add the tomato paste to the mixture and saute until the vegetables are tender.  If the mixture is dry, add liquid from the diced tomatoes to help cook down the vegetables.

Slowly pour warm stock into the pot, stirring to prevent lumps.  Add the seasoning and tomatoes and simmer for 1 hour.  Add the sausage and turkey to the pot and simmer another hour.

Serve over cooked rice.  Sprinkle green onion over the top of each bowl.

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From the Marsh into the Pot {Crab and Shrimp Gumbo}

Summer is usually not the time for gumbo.

Who wants to stand over a hot pot stirring roux forever when it's 90+ degrees?
And who wants a hot pot simmering all day when the house already feels like a sauna?

Click the picture for a step-by-step on how to make a dark Cajun roux

But I came back from a summer fishing trip with shrimp and crabs pulled from the marshes south of NOLA.

What else ya gonna do?

Well, plenty I guess.  But some of our crabs were gumbo crabs.  Meaning they were too small to boil (not worth the trouble of picking them).  Gumbo crabs aren't really meant for eatin'.  They're used to flavor seafood gumbos.

Plus, they look bad-ass cool sittin in your bowl.

How's that for garnish?  Booyah!

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For some people, gumbo means throw watcha got in the pot.  But you know me.  I have rules about these kinds of things.  Strict rules.  (That don't matter to anyone but me.)

1. Chicken does not mix with seafood in a gumbo.
2. Sausage does not mix with seafood in a gumbo.
2A. Exception: in the absence of crab and oysters, shrimp and sausage (such as andouille) gumbo is perfectly acceptable.

While gumbo crabs will give a lot of flavor to a seafood gumbo, shrimp or seafood stock will take it over the top.  HERE is how I make shrimp stock.

Print It!

Crab & Shrimp Gumbo

3/4 cups vegetable oil
1 cup flour

2 large onions
1 bell pepper
2 stalks celery
6 cloves garlic
9-10 cups shrimp stock (see link above)
1-1 1/2 tsp salt (to taste)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp Tony's Creole Seasoning
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
few shakes hot sauce
2 bay leaves

1 lb peeled shrimp
1 lb crabmeat
8-10 gumbo crabs
cooked white rice
2/3 cup green onions (optional)

Step 1: Chop the onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic so that they are ready when your roux is done.

Step 2: Make a roux by adding vegetable oil to a cast iron, or stainless steel pot. Do not use non-stick cookware. Heat the oil on medium-high heat. Wait until oil is very hot. Then, gradually sprinkle in the flour, stirring/scraping constantly with a flat-edge spatula. Keep adding flour as roux browns; you will know you've added enough when all of the vegetable oil has combined with the flour and when the roux no longer looks oily.

Stir constantly. This step takes time, usually about half an hour. Roux is done when it is a dark brown color, almost the color of chocolate.

Step 3: When the roux is done, add the chopped vegetables to stop the roux from cooking further.  Saute for 10-15 minutes (the mixture will be a sludgy paste and that's ok.).  Add 2 cups of the stock and simmer on low for about 20 minutes.  The idea is to get the vegetables cooked down and softened.  Go ahead and add more stock during this process if needed.

Step 4: Add about 7 more cups of stock along with the seasonings and simmer for about 30 minutes.  Add the gumbo crabs and simmer another 20-30 minutes.

Step 5: Add the shrimp and crabmeat and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the shrimp are cooked through.

Serving: Taste for seasoning before serving.  Serve gumbo over cooked rice, adding a gumbo crab to each bowl. Top with green onions.


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