Slightly Different Approach to Making Gumbo

[gcdmd]

This past weekend I made a pot of chicken and ham gumbo using John Folse’s recipe for chicken and sausage gumbo as a guide. It was a big hit with the family, probably because I used rich homemade chicken stock. I substituted ham for sausage as my wife doesn’t tolerate sausage well. This recipe has a lot of liquid in it. If you want a less soupy product, I would suggest doubling the amount of both meats.

http://www.jfolse.com/recipes/soups/chicken17.htm

Instead of sautéing the veggies and chicken in the roux, I seasoned and roasted the chicken, along with the veggies (including a whole head of garlic), at 400^O F for one hour.

While the chicken and veggies were roasting I made a medium to dark roux in a stainless steel skillet with a thick multilayered bottom and rounded sides.

I then put the veggies into a blender, along with some chicken stock and pureed them.

I deboned and chopped/shredded the chicken before adding them to the pot and then used the bones and skin, along with some bones I had in the freezer, to make stock for my next adventure.

The rest of the procedure was pretty much as described by Chef Folse.

[Mr. Bones]

Sounds Yummo, Brother!

[MBMorgan]

Now that’s downright inspirational. Gonna have to add this to the cool weather to-do list … and I like the idea of substituting ham. Thanks!

[gcdmd]

You bet. I would have used tasso ham if I could have gotten some. I guess that in the future I should make my own.

[FireMan]

Wow! You hit my buttons at roasting bird & veggies. It will be on my to do list. 👍

[DavidNorcross]

Adding this one to my mix for sure. Thank you for sharing!

[fzxdoc]

Why did you puree the Trinity veggies? Had you had it made that way somewhere? I'm assuming you did not puree the mushrooms and green onions.

I bet that sauce was super rich. Your twist on the recipe sure sounds interesting enough to try. Thanks for posting it!

Kathryn

[LA Pork Butt]

Those would be my questions, too.

[gcdmd]

fzxdoc @LA Pork Butt
I left the veggies (trinity plus garlic) that would normally be chopped either whole or in thick slices or chunks. After roasting I was able to squeeze the garlic cloves out of their wrapping rather than peel a whole head of garlic. I left the celery stems whole and laid them across the chicken and other veggies for roasting but coarsely chopped them after roasting for ease of handling in the blender.

As you might gather, much of my motivation was laziness, but pureeing the veggies also helped thicken the soup. I used chicken hind quarters, and roasting them made them much easier to de-bone and shred and gave me some roasted bones for making stock later. We eat a lot of roasted chicken; so, I've become a bit of a bone collector, as well as a saver of vegetable trimmings for stock.

You're right, Kathryn, I did not roast and puree the mushrooms and green onions, or the parsley, either.

[klflowers]

When I started making gumbo years ago, I was told that gumbo without file' is not gumbo, but lately most of the recipes I see for gumbo leaves it out. What happened?

[LA Pork Butt]

Actually the word gumbo comes from the African word for okra. So, technically if it doesn’t have okra it isn’t gumbo. Creole gumbos typically have okra while Cajun ones don’t and add the file’.

[klflowers]

LA Pork Butt I know about the okra, but the only way I can eat okra is fried. Everybody tells me the okra slime factor goes away in gumbo, but I don't believe them lol

[LA Pork Butt]

Try it. You will like it.