When I was a child my Mom used to make ‘turkey & oyster gumbo’ every year after Thanksgiving & Christmas. My mom was a stay-at-home mom until I was 10 years old. As a family of six we were on what I can only imagine was a tight budget and my mom could reinvent leftovers or create something new out of virtually nothing! She definitely knew how to make a good gumbo and we looked forward to the gumbo more than the holiday meal. It simmered for hours and filled our home with a flavorful aroma that we experienced only twice each year. It is one of my fondest memories from childhood.
If you want to make turkey and oyster gumbo you do all the same stuff listed above using the turkey carcass and remains, then add the raw oysters and their liquor about 10 minutes before you are ready to serve the gumbo.
If you want to adapt this recipe to seafood you also use the same recipe above. Make a chicken or vegetable or seafood stock to use as the base then add your seafood. Seafood is tricky because you don’t want to over cook it and you add most of it whole, in shells.
GUMBO 6 tablespoons of fat (lard, bacon fat, olive oil, butter, vegetable oil), my preference is olive oil 6 tablespoons all purpose regular flour
1 whole head of celery, chopped
1 cup onions, chopped
1 cup green bell peppers, chopped
6 minced cloves of garlic
2 bags of frozen okra (fresh is preferred but you can use a combination of fresh & frozen) equaling about 3-4 total cups of okra 4 small cans or 2 large cans of chopped tomatoes 2 whole chickens
2 pounds of Italian ground sausage
Salt & pepper, to taste (the sausage and tomatoes are salty so be careful) Tabasco sauce, to taste
File*
Chicken stock: see the recipe for chicken stock on this blog. Use the 2 chickens listed here and to make the stock.
Cooked rice (Uncle Ben’s is my favorite but any rice will work)
1. In a large pot make a roux by cooking equal amounts of the fat and flour over low heat until browned.
The flavor of the roux becomes deeper the longer you cook it but you have to stir it and watch it – it will brown fast. If it burns throw it away and start over.
2. To the roux add the chopped celery, onions, and peppers. Cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly, until they are tender then add the garlic and cook just a few minutes. Garlic burns very quickly so be extra careful. Turn the burner off while you complete these steps:
3. In another pot cook the okra and ½ of the tomatoes in about 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Cook these together until the okra is no longer ‘slimy.’ This is very important because if you do not do this step your whole pot of gumbo will be slimy. The acid in the tomatoes cuts the slime. This will take about 20-30 minutes. As you stir the okra and tomatoes pull the spoon out until you no longer see lines of slime. I know this is kind of weird but it works!
4. While all this is going on you need to be boiling the chicken and frying the crumbled sausage. When both are cooked take the chicken out of the pot and let cool. Pick the chicken from the bones. Drain the sausage.
5. Add the strained chicken stock to the pot with the roux and vegetables, along with the sausage and the chicken. When the okra is de-slimed add it to the big pot also.
6. At this point you just have to taste it and see how to adjust. Add the tomato puree or some additional canned or fresh tomatoes, if you feel the gumbo is too thick.
7. Add salt, pepper, and Tabasco (or another hot sauce) to taste. You can also add bouillon cubes to kick-up the flavor of the overall gumbo. Simmer for about an hour. Taste to make sure it is ready.
8. Serve over rice with saltine crackers. Saltines are the traditional gumbo cracker but feel free to use whatever you like.
*File is an herb made from ground leaves of the American sassafras tree. It is very traditional is creole foods and we always add some at the end of cooking. If using file, do not add while the gumbo is cooking, sprinkle it over the gumbo at the end. It adds a distinctive earthy flavor.
Recipe from: Mina and Angela Durant
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