Gumbo
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil (or as needed)
1 cup all-purpose Flour
2 tablespoons all-purpose Flour
6 cups Chicken Broth
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup diced Bell Peppers
1 cup chopped Celery
4 Green Onions, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried Thyme
1 Bay Leaf
1 teaspoon ground Black Pepper
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper, or to taste
1 cup diced fresh Tomatoes
2 cups Water, or as needed
1 cup Pickled Okra, rinsed and sliced (optional but more authentic)
1 tablespoon chopped Green Onion
Meat Suggestions: (Choose at least 3 pounds of meat to add)
1 pound Andouille Sausage, thickly sliced
1 smoked Ham Hock
1 pound Gulf Shrimp
1 pound Crawfish Tail meat
2 Duck Legs
1 pound shredded cooked Chicken
Process:
Meat Preparation: (Meats are added at different times based on whether cooked, for texture, and consistency)
Duck legs - Heat vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook duck legs in the hot oil, skin-side down, until duck legs are browned and skillet contains rendered duck fat, about 10 minutes on the skin side. Flip and cook 3 to 4 minutes on the meat side. Remove duck legs from skillet, leaving rendered duck fat in the skillet.
Andouille Sausge - Brown andouille sausage in a large Dutch oven over medium heat, about 8 minutes, leaving rendered fat in the pan.
Ham Hock - Add Hamhock to sauteed Vegetable mixture.
Gulf Shrimp - With heat on medium-high, bring final gumbo to a boil, and stir in shrimp and crawfish tails. Cook until shrimp and crawfish tails are bright pink, about 3 minutes
Crawfish Tail meat - With heat on medium-high, bring final gumbo to a boil, and stir in shrimp and crawfish tails. Cook until shrimp and crawfish tails are bright pink, about 3 minutes
Cooked Chicken - Add Cooked Chicken to sauteed Vegetable mixture.
Other meats may be used (Clean out the Refrigerator!) just be mindful of the texture and cooking times needed for any substitutions if raw.
Process:
Whisk 1 cup flour into the duck fat, adding enough vegetable oil to make the flour mixture a thick and smooth roux (all Vegetable oil if not using Duck Legs). Turn heat to medium-low and cook the roux, stirring constantly, until it turns a rich reddish-brown color, about 40 minutes. Whisk 2 more tablespoons flour into roux and cook for 2 minutes.
Whisk chicken broth into roux, 1 cup at a time, until all broth has been incorporated. Remove roux mixture from heat.
Stir in onion, peppers, celery, and 4 green onions into Andouille Sausage pan, cooking until onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Stir thyme, bay leaf, black pepper, and cayenne pepper into sausage mixture, followed by diced tomatoes. Stir to combine.
Place smoked ham hock into the center of the sausage and vegetables. Pour roux mixture over ham hock along with enough water to cover. Place duck legs into mixture. Bring to a simmer, turn heat to low, and cover with a lid set at an angle to let steam out. Simmer slowly, stirring occasionally until duck and ham hock meat are tender, about 4 hours. Skim as much fat as possible off the top as it simmers. (Note if not cooking meats in the roux mixture cooking time may be adjusted).
Remove duck and ham hock to a bowl and let cool. Stir pickled okra into gumbo. Pick meat from duck legs and pork hock and return meat to the gumbo. Simmer gumbo for 45 more minutes.
Turn heat to medium-high, bring gumbo to a boil, and stir in shrimp and crawfish tails. Cook until shrimp and crawfish tails are bright pink, about 3 minutes. Stir in 1 tablespoon green onion, taste and adjust seasoning, and serve.