re: Share Your Gumbo Tips?

Several here will recommend making your roux in the oven (350 degrees with equal oil and flour, or slightly more flour than oil), stirring every 20-30 minutes after the first 30, and bring it to the level of brown shoe brown that you like.

This method works great and allows you to get the roux where you want it without burning the roux.

Burned roux must be thrown away. There is no salvaging it.

I like to approach my roux slowly. Paul Prudhomme made roux with as hot a fire as he could generate and fast stirring of that molten lava concoction. Paul supposedly completed his roux in 1 or 2 minutes! I have never come close to his level of expertise and never will. I do my roux slowly with much stirring, except when I do the oven method, which is more and more these days, especially when it received the official Gris Gris recommendation.

Sauté the trinity in roux or separate pot and add the roux later. Either seems to work fine. If cooking trinity in roux, do not do it at screaming hot temperature. I like to lower the heat and sauté the vegetables slowly. Add the liquid (chicken broth, seafood broth, whatever to the roux n small portions and stir in each addition until it is incorporated.

I like to brown my sausage in the pot before sautéing the vegetables and remove it before the sauté. I like to fry my chicken. When making chicken broth, Broiled bones are nice along with using onion, garlic, carrots and seasoning in the broth for flavor. Shrimp shells, onion, garlic and seasoning make great seafood broth.

I like to skim any excess oil off of the top of my gumbo when it is finished (with a spoon and a paper towel) as I never get proper oil content.

You will hear both support and violent opposition to the use of tomatoes and okra in gumbo. Normally, offensive name calling will also occur.

I like rice with my gumbo. Others will recommend potato salad, boiled eggs, whatever. If their Grandmother did it, you need to be kind and not put down their suggestion just because it sounds crazy.

Oh - gumbo is not soup. Never make that suggestion.

I might add more when I remember the things I forgot.