re: Gumbo Recipe - step by step

There are many methods for gumbo. I picked a couple of recipes that I thought looked good and started practicing with a combination of the two. I've cooked a large pot of gumbo around 7-8 times now and the last three or so have been fairly consistent as I've ironed out the ratios of the ingredients. I brown sausage and add diced tasso about half way through. After pulling the sausage and tasso I brown the chicken (breast and thighs). I pull the chicken and add oil and flower for the roux. An hour and a half later, give or take, I add a bag or two of pic sweet (one of my cheats that I'm not ashamed of). Once the veggies have cooked I add store bought stock (my other cheat that I would like to get away from). I add the browned sausage and tasso and let that cook for awhile...I've done as short as an hour and as long as a few hours over low heat. I don't add the chicken back until I'm within an hour of eating...and I definitely don't cook it hard after adding the chicken. I've been pretty pleased with my results. I don't post often but picked up a lot of tips, especially regarding roux, from the food board...many thanks to all the great cooks that frequent here!

Next up is seafood gumbo which I have never tried.