Making Gumbo

There are few things better on a cold, football Sunday than a big one-pot dish of comfort food. If you live in, near or are from Louisiana, that classic one-pot dish is gumbo. I am not from Louisiana. Never even considered cooking gumbo until about two years ago. But when you marry a cajun, it's part of the deal that you learn some of those bayou classics. I embraced the challenge and it has become a favorite and regular in our home!

Gumbo is all about the roux. If you get that right, the rest is downhill. If you cook much, you have probably made a roux. But a gumbo roux is special and very serious. It requires a little extra TLC and time. Lots of time. But it's so worth it. And it feeds an army. Or freezes well for multiple meals for your small army.

Now there are probably as many different ways to cook gumbo as their are Louisianans. The method of cooking the roux alone can cause major family rifts. I have heard you can do this in the microwave. Some use oil instead of butter. I personally believe the method with butter is probably the most classic and find the slow process of stirring it over the stove very therapeutic. Classic or not, here is my version of Mr. B's Gumbo Ya-Ya (this recipe requires a pot larger than any I have - I always cut it in half, even for a crowd).

Step 1 - Prep! Read through the entire recipe first. Get all the ingredients prepped. Make sure all children are sleeping or well fed and entertained. Use the bathroom. And have a back-up pot-stirrer (the real kind, not metaphorical) for the unexpected bathroom break or kid incident. Once you get the roux started, you cannot stop. For anything. I warned you - this is serious.

Step 2 - Make the roux. In a large dutch oven melt 2 sticks of butter over medium heat. If you don't have a dutch oven, get one. We were given a Martha Stewart one as a wedding gift and use it at least once a week! Le Creuset is a great brand but this one works just as well and is much less expensive.

Add 1 1/2 cups of flour - and this is where the serious part begins. Take your wooden spoon and stir. And don't stop stirring for 30-60 minutes. Yep. 30-60 minutes. I told you it was time consuming. You have to stir the entire time. Do not let the roux burn or it's ruined and you have to start all over again.

At first it will look white, thick and lumpy like this.

And then the magic happens. About 10 minutes into the stirring process, it begins to thin out and starts turning a light caramel color. This is also when it becomes even more important that you do not stop stirring. As it thins and darkens, it will come dangerously close to burning several times. Don't panic. Just keep stirring. Feel free to lower the heat a bit so that you can keep up.

It's also around this point that (in my humble opinion) it begins to smell like fresh baked pie crust. I love this smell and normally drink in this moment. Unless... you happen to be holding a child with a poopy diaper, while your back-up pot-stirrer is feeding the other child. Clearly, I failed to pay attention to Step 1.

Note - a large bucket of popcorn - thank you Brandi Brown - will tide a toddler over until you are done. Because unless someone is bleeding or stopped breathing, DO NOT STOP STIRRING.

Back to the roux. All that work pays off - right before your eyes you will see the color become a rich caramel color. You can move on to the next step after 30 minutes and the gumbo will turn out just fine but try to hang in there a little longer. It's become sort of a challenge for me... am I committed? Do I have what it takes to stick this out another 10, 15, 20 minutes??? Yesterday I made it about 45 minutes - the beautiful results below. It's very satisfying. Few things say "I'm a cook" like slaving over a warm stove for close to an hour, nursing flour and butter until perfection. It is so simple, it's genius. Sigh. Now the best part is done. Therapy session over.

Step 3 - Dump everything else in the pot and let it do it's thing. Seriously, it's that easy.

I add the holy trinity and let it cook and soften a bit. Trinity, you say? If you live in Louisiana, this requires no explanation. The holy trinity is some combination of onion, bell pepper, celery and a little parsley (yes, that was 4 items, not 3... don't question, just go with it) and it is found in every grocery store, already chopped and combined for you. If you don't live in Louisiana, just chop up some combination of those ingredients. This time I only had onion and bell pepper. You would never know the difference.

Add the seasoning. Then the chicken stock - about 10 cups or 2.5 boxes. If you have homemade chicken stock available, use it. Otherwise, I really like the Kitchen Basics brand in a box. The very best gumbo's I've ever made have been when I had homemade stock, but who has had time for that lately!

When it is heated back up, I finally add the chicken and sausage. I usually buy a rotisserie chicken the night before or day of and debone it. Then I freeze the carcass to make aforementioned chicken stock. If you want to roast your own chicken, knock yourself out. The roux is enough to satisfy my scratch-cooking desires for a while.

At this point, you are freed up to make the rice (or change a diaper) and you can probably eat the gumbo in the next 20 minutes. Or you can leave it on the stove on low as long as you like (stir every so often to avoid any sticking/burning on the bottom) until you're ready to eat. The sauce will continue to thicken a little. If it gets too thick, just add more chicken stock. Here was our final product.

Mmmmm. Serve over rice and don't forget the french bread. It's just not the same if you don't have fresh delicious bread to dip in your sauce. And there you have it. A little Louisiana wherever you are.