Adventures in Gumbo
Learning a bird-centric version of the Louisiana classic
Happy New Year! Welcome back to longtime readers and new subscribers alike. I’m so excited for the food adventures we’ll have together in 2022. I have big goals for growing this publication this year and I appreciate your support more than I can say. If you love this newsletter, remember to share it with others and make sure you’re subscribed! It’s the number one way to support Makans of a Chef.
Love,
Jennifer
When I walk into the kitchen, it’s about 11:00 a.m. There’s music playing. My brother’s silver lab comes bounding through the doorway, jumping up for attention. My brother Steven appears a moment later holding a glass bottle.
“Bourbon?” he asks with a mischievous grin.
“Oh, so it’s going to be that kind of day,” I respond.
Steven is the other career cook in the family and my biggest cheerleader. When I left my broadcast journalism career to cook, he’d already been telling me for years I was in the wrong field.
Steven is one of my favorite people to learn from in the kitchen. He also loves New Orleans cuisine. So today, we are learning how to make proper gumbo.
“Every chef should have a gumbo recipe in their back pocket,” he says.
Fortunately, we have Deanie Comeaux Bahan to lead us. Her book Gumbo, From How to Wow: A Guide to One of the World’s Greatest Foods sits on the countertop, ready for splatters and greasy fingerprints.
Our other guide is Dan Worthington, Steven’s colleague and a gumbo wizard who drops off his own batch for inspiration while we’re in the middle of making our second roux (we burned the first one). Dan’s gumbo is one of those dishes that makes you drop your spoon and say “oh my god” after the first bite. If we can make something half as good, I’ll consider the day a success.
Gumbo Components
Gumbo is an improvisational cook’s dream. You can make it with a variety of ingredients. You can make it a different way every time. My gumbo adventure involved multiple cooks and a ton of ingredients, so the recipe for this post won’t be exact. But you can ensure your gumbo is always delcious if you understand the components that go into this famous stew.
The Roux
Roux is the base of all gumbo and arguably the most crucial step. It adds thickness and tons of flavor to the stew. It’s not a complex concept—combine fat and flour and stir until thick and brown—but it’s easy to burn if you’re not vigilant. “If it burns, it’s trash,” Bahan writes. “Nothing will ruin the taste of a dish as much as a burned roux.” Bahan recommends 1 cup of fat to 1 1/2 c of flour. The fat used in a gumbo roux is usually vegetable oil. Steven and I used duck fat, which is as expensive as it is delicious, so burning our first attempt was a costly mistake. Roux can range from white (barely cooked) to a dark brown. Gumbos usually call for a darker roux.
The Trinity
In French cooking, the seasoning base of many sauces and soups is called mirepoix: celery, carrot, and onion. In southern Louisiana, it’s the Trinity: celery, green bell pepper, and celery. Add garlic to make it The Holy Trinity. Chop your vegetables before you make your roux so you are ready to go.
The Proteins
Most gumbos have 2 or 3 proteins. You can choose to highlight seafood: shrimp, crawfish, or crab. You can use chicken, duck, turkey, or sausage. This is by no meas a comprehensive list. You can make gumbo with just about any protein. Steven and I made “three birds” gumbo using duck breast, chicken thighs, and chicken andouille sausage (smoked sausage traditionally made with pork).
The Thickeners
The roux is a key thickening agent in gumbo, but the darker the roux, the less thickening power it has, according to Bahan. Most recipes will also use okra or filé to thicken the stew. The signature “sliminess” of okra will thicken the mixture. Filé is ground sassafrass. Add just a bit when the gumbo is finished and no longer simmering. “Use either okra or filé as your thickener. Not both,” Bahan writes. “And never ever add filé to the pot and cook it. You’ll have a stringy mess if you do.”
Cajun or Creole Seasoning
You’ll find this listed in a lot of gumbo recipes. I won’t get into the differences between Cajun and Creole cooking here, but I did find this helpful explanation. You can buy a premade spice mix or whip up your own. Here’s Steven’s Cajun Seasoning:
2 T paprika
1 T chili powder
2 T sea salt
2 T garlic powder
1 T black pepper
1 T onion powder
1 T cayenne
1 T dried oregano
1 T dried thyme
2 T dried basil
Time
Gumbo is not a quick weeknight meal. It takes several hours for a traditional gumbo to come together, simmering gently on the stove. You don’t want to rush gumbo or you’ll miss out on all the distinctive, powerful flavors the ingredients have to offer. Depending on how you make gumbo, adding certain ingredients at just the right time is critical. But don’t fret. Trust your instincts, taste the gumbo throughout the process, and have fun with it.
Recipe: Three Birds Gumbo
Ingredients:
2 c flour
1 c duck fat (or about 1 1/2 c oil. Again, duck fat is expensive), plus a little extra
2 medium yellow onions
1 green bell pepper
3 stalks celery
4 cloves garlic
3 quarts of chicken stock (ours also had a little turkey stock made and frozen after Thanksgiving)
4-5 boneless chicken thighs
4 duck breasts
12 oz. okra (it’s not in season in the winter so we used frozen.)
1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes
2-3 chicken andouille sausages
About 1 T Cajun seasoning, you may want more or less
Worchestershire sauce to taste
Louisiana hot sauce to taste
2-3 bay leaves
12-16 oz beer (pilsner or light lager is best)
1 bunch of green onions
Cooked white rice for serving
Sea salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
Start by taking the chicken and duck breast out of the fridge so it can come up to room temperature. Remove the duck skin (save it to bake or fry later!). Season both sides of the chicken thighs and duck breast generously with salt and pepper. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Set the chicken and duck aside.
Next, dice the yellow onion, celery, and green bell pepper. Mince the garlic. Set it all aside, keeping the garlic separate from the rest of the trinity.
Heat up a large frying pan (do not use nonstick for this!) over medium high heat. Add enough duck fat or oil to lightly coat the pan. Sear the duck breast 5 min per side, starting on the side that had skin on it. Then, stick the pan in the oven and leave it for 20 min. When it’s done, let cool for a few minutes, then slice the duck. (Side note: in hindsight, we really should have scored the duck skin and kept it on during the searing and baking, then removed before slicing.)
Now, slice the andouille sausage and brown it in another frying pan. This will render out some of the fat so your gumbo isn’t so greasy. Drain and set aside.
Cut or tear the chicken into bite-sized pieces and set aside.
Now that the other components are prepped, time for the roux. In a large, heavy-bottomed stock pot, combine the flour and duck fat over medium high heat, stirring constantly. It will become a thick, ever-darkening paste. Stir for 20-25 minutes, until the roux is a deep brown. If you start to see dark brown or black specks, it’s burned. Time to start over.
When the roux is ready, add the onion, bell pepper, and celery and keep stirring another 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and stir 2 minutes more.
Now add the stock, diced tomatoes, chicken, duck, sausage, and Cajun seasoning. Add a couple dashes of Worchestershire and hot sauce. You can always add more later, so no need to go crazy here. Add the bay leaves. Give it all a good stir and bring the gumbo to a boil. Then, turn down the heat and let it simmer 1 1/2 to 2 hours. I encourage you to head over to the stove and taste the gumbo every so often while it’s simmering. You’ll start to notice it getting more and more flavorful.
During that simmering time, prep the okra. Rinse it off in a colander and let dry. Do this early if the okra is frozen so it can thaw. Slice 1/4” thick (frozen okra may come pre-sliced) and throw out the hard end pieces.
Slice 3-4 stalks of green onion just past the white part.
In the last 10 minutes of simmering, add the green onion and okra and stir again.
Remove the bay leaves. Next, add the beer. One 12-ounce can should do it. Taste. You can add more salt, hot sauce, or Worchestershire sauce, depending on what you think the gumbo needs. More seasoning? Salt. Like it spicier? Hot sauce. Needs umami? Worchestershire. At this point, Steven and I ended up adding more beer because our gumbo was a bit salty.
When you’re satisfied, spoon rice into a bowl and ladle the gumbo over top. Garnish with more sliced onions. Dig in!
Final Thoughts
This multicultural, hearty, warming dish is worth all the effort. It’s easy to customize, feeds a crowd, and tells such a beautiful story. There are things I will definitely do differently the next time I try it, but I found it to be a very forgiving dish, aside from the roux. Please like this post and comment to tell me how the recipe goes for you, and how you made it your own!
I had never had gumbo before. This was great!!!!!