There aint no time to stash the gumbo

Or rattle around in a cage. Huh? Yes, these are lyrics to a song, and I have no idea what what they mean. But in honor of this particular band celebrating 30 years of touring this week, it was about damn time to make some gumbo. While the song Gumbo has absolutely nothing to do with the food, nor do I think it has much to do with anything, I feel like I needed to honor this band that has given me plenty of good memories over the years.

Why do I go see them year after year? For the chance to see them create something new on stage, and most of the time they do. Not always a new song, but just taking an old song in a different direction, with no path or end in sight. Sometimes, the new sound they explore within a song they've played hundreds of times lands flat. But more often than not, you're left wondering how they didn't plan this before stepping on stage, it's so good it had to have been practiced.

Much in the same way, cooking provides this type of exploration and chance to create something new. You can take a dish you've made many times and throw in a new ingredient, see how it tastes. It might not turn out great, or the different ingredient won't add much. But it's the only way to learn what's good together. Or, you can just try making something new, a first time played so to speak.

Ok, enough of this soapbox talk. My first time played is gumbo, something I've wanted to try making for a while but laziness often got the best of me. Gumbo is not something to make if you don't have a little time and don't mind standing over a stove for a little bit. But the payoff is worth it. Just put on some of your favorite mindless television or a good album, and you will be just fine. This recipe is adapted from a few different sources, Saveur and Simply Recipes


What you need:
- Boneless Chicken Thighs: 1 lb
- Andouille Sausage or Kielbasa: 1 lb
- Bacon: a few slices
- Okra: about 1/2 lb
- 1 Green pepper
- 1 Red pepper
- 1 Serrano pepper
- 4 Celery stalks
- 1 Onion
- 4 cloves Garlic
- Tomato Paste
- 1 32oz box Chicken stock
- 1 14oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 cup oil


 Seasoning:
- A few Tbsp. Cajun seasoning. This is good to have if you don't have it. You can use it on chicken, black beans, whatever.
- 1 Tbsp. Thyme
- Hot sauce: as much as you want
- Salt & pepper



1. First thing to do is kind of an optional step, but after cooking a stew with okra before and finding out the hard way, you might find it necessary. Okra give off this weird slimy texture, which helps thicken the gumbo. But one way to get rid of this is to cook them in a pan for a few minutes, just so they cook down a bit. You could also roast them in the oven, but let's not get too crazy here.

Okra are more than OK

 2. Next you want to brown the bacon, sausage, and chicken. Throw plenty of salt and pepper on the chicken while it's cooking. Take the meat and okra, set it aside.

 











3. The next part is the what separates gumbo from the rest. What gives it its brownish color is the Roux that you will make. That's ROO for the nonfrancophone among us. You make this by heating up the leftover oil from browning your meat, along with some additional oil (about 1/2 cup in total). You want to slowly add flour to this warming oil, and keep stirring. You will see it starts to thicken, and scrape the bottom of the pan to get the good stuff. Do this for a little while, maybe 20-30 minutes, until your roux is a nice brownish color. Mine wasn't the best, I could have kept cooking it but I got hungry and anxious.

Need

More

Cowbell

4. Once you're done with this somewhat exhausting step, it's time to add your veggies to the pot. Here you use what they call the Holy Trinity of vegetables. Onions, bell pepper, celery. Aka awesomeness. I added garlic and serrano pepper, so we'll call it the Fab 5.

Trinity

Tangled up in Roux

 5. After a few minutes with this mixture getting nice, add in your tomatoes. While this is cooking, you want to heat the chicken broth separately. This will help when you add it in because it will absorb the roux and get all the brown bits off the bottom of your pan. So heat the chicken stock, then add it to this mixture.

Now you can add in your seasonings/hot sauce and that trifecta meat/okra mixture you cooked earlier. Let this all heat up and start simmering. Once it is simmering you can lower the heat, and let it cook pretty much as long as you want, but at least about 45 minutes. The vegetables will all cook and the gumbo will start to thicken. Make some white rice on the side, top with hot sauce, and you're gettin down on some gumbo!