In search of how to cook my first gumbo

For the roux a good start is one cup flour and one cup oil. I usually do it on about medium heat. Stir until you get a dark chocolate color and don't burn it. It's actually pretty easy not to burn it, if you get nervous just turn the heat down and take your time.

I usually heavily season the roux with creole seasoning before throwing the vegetables in. On average about 2 medium yellow onions, 2 green bell peppers, 3 stalks celery for the trinity. Throw it all in and let it cook down. Add in about 2 cups of chopped okra and let it really cook down.

Add in about a gallon worth of hot chicken stock, and about 2 pounds each of cooked chicken thighs and sausage.

I usually add a lot of fresh thyme at this part and I'll occasionally throw in a pint of beer just for the hell of it. Bring to a boil and let simmer. Occasionally taste while it's simmering and adjust seasoning as necessary (or leave it alone as necessary for that matter)

Yeah, I really don't know how to quantify with the thyme

It's probably a teaspoon or so of fresh thyme if I had to guess

If I want it spicier I'
ll add extra cayenne

Can put some file in as well

I like tasso in mine as well.

Just me, but not sure I'd recommend the recipe 3 threads down... (gumbo Chauvin style).

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debatable

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Pentecostal Capital of La...

No beer with dat gumbo.

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Just me, but not sure I'd recommend the recipe 3 threads down... (gumbo Chauvin style).

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I read your comments in that thread. It stank of faux Cajun.

I submitted that thread and I wouldn't recommend it for a first timer. You shouldn't have to explain in your first gumbo that you used the style of another part of the state. Go with what's popular in your area.

All you really need, equipment wise, is a good pot and wooden spoon. I have a cast iron pot i use all the time, that is good and heavy.

Here's how i do a simple chicken and sausage gumbo, if i want it quick.

1 cup oil
1.25 cups flour
1 large white onion
1 large bellpepper
3 stalks celery
2-3 cloves garlic
10-12 cups chicken stock (i like kitchen basics)
3-4 links good sausage
1 rotisserie chicken deboned (if you desire more meat, cook up some boneless chicken thighs and cut up.)
3-4 bay leaves
Emeril's Essence or Prudhomme's chicken magic
1/2 to 1 tsp cayenne
little salt and black pepper

MEAT
- Add a little oil to the pot and cook up your sausage. I usually throw the chicken in there too, then remove, and add a little water to scrape the bits off the bottom and reserve.

ROUX
- Heat 1 cup of oil on medium/high heat right up to smoke point, once you see a whiff of smoke rise up from the oil, throw in your flower. I like a thicker roux, so i usually use anywhere from 1 and 1/4 to 1.5 cups of flour to my 1 cup of oil. Throw in your flower and stir continuously until you get the color you want (usually about 10 minutes. Be careful, the roux is now napalm and will burn the shite out of you)

- Once roux is at desired color, throw in your vegetables. The veggie's will stop the roux from cooking. Continue cooking and stirring constantly.
- Add in stock. Some say to heat the stock, i never do and have never had problems with clumping or anything. Mix the stock with the roux well. I like using a whisk to stir it up.
-Add all meats and reserved liquid from sausage.
- Add seasoning to desired flavor
- Bring to a boil, lower heat and cook for at least an hour.
- Serve over jasmine rice.

I'll go on record--jarred roux is perfectly fine. It's simply flour browned in fat, not some magical essence of culinary perfection unlocked only though hand-stirring. I find it funny that some folks will use a supermarket rotisserie chicken to make gumbo but frown on jarred roux.

Cliff's notes version:
--1 cup of roux (jarred or otherwise) for a 4-6 qt gumbo
--two onions, three stalks celery, a large green pepper, all medium to fine diced
--add onions to hot roux; cook until the onions actually brown
--add celery/bell pepper; stir often until the veg are wilted a bit & onions are well-colored
--add sausage (best tasting smoked sausage or andouille you can find), cut into bite sized pieces. keep stirring. when sausage is sizzling a bit, add some cayenne, four or five bay leaves, thyme, a fat pinch of sage, and a 1/4 tsp paprika (helps w/color); a few DROPS of zatarain's liquid crab boil are optional: ETA garlic...4-5 cloves, minced.
--add bone-in, skin on chicken; enough water or stock to cover the chicken, plus salt & black pepper, a few glugs of worcestershire, and bring to a boil...stir a few times to mix it all up, then reduce to a steady low boil. Veg will foam, fat will cook out of the chicken. Keep simmering until the chicken is tender & the foaming subsides.
--remove chicken from pot, debone/skin, pull/cut into bite sized pieces. put deboned chicken back into pot.
--keep at a gentle simmer; skim grease collecting atop the pot.
--correct the seasoning (salt, pepper, more garlic, etc); add juice of 1/2 lemon, several tbsp chopped parsley, one bunch chopped green onions. Simmer a few minutes more.
--if you like file, sprinkle a little over each individual serving of rice when you serve the gumbo. Or pass the file at the table.

This is just a general guideline/process outline. Everyone has their own preferences, and you'll soon develop your own. Happy cooking.....

Whenever you say thighs.....I also prefer dark meat. Should I just buy chicken thighs by themselves or do I buy a whole chicken?

I don't have a written recipe. I just do it. The measurements in Paul Prudhomme's original chicken and andouille gumbo recipe are a good guide for first time gumbo makers. The recipe is excellent. It's a fried chicken gumbo. If you don't want to make it with fried chicken, you can use the same measurements for a plain chicken/turkey smoked chicken/turkey. I use more andouille/sausage that it calls for because I love it. I top it with chopped green onions after I've degreased the top of the gumbo of the grease from the meats. The recipe is easily doubled or tripled etc... there's nothing exact about making gumbo.

You can also make roux in the oven using the same amounts of oil and flour cooking at 350 degrees. Takes longer, but you don't have to stir often and you can get a good dark roux.

You should invest in a cast iron skillet/fryer to make the roux, a flat end wooden spoon to stir the roux once it's incorporated (I use a whisk to start) and soup pot of whatever size you need to make the amount of gumbo you desire.

Once you make gumbo, you can adjust seasoning and the amount of roux to get it the taste and texture you prefer. Gumbo always tastes better the next day.

I'm not a fan of the flavor of jarred roux. I think it's whatever oil is used. I'm not against it, but I don't care for it.

Paul Pruhomme's Chicken and Andouille Gumbo

Makes 6 main-dish or 10 appetizer servings

One 2- to 3-pound chicken, cut up
Salt
Garlic powder
Ground red pepper (preferably cayenne)
1 cup finely chopped onions
1 cup finely chopped green bell peppers
3/4 cup finely chopped celery
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
(preferably cayenne)
Vegetable oil for deep frying
About 7 cups chicken stock
1/2 pound andouille smoked sausage
(preferred) or any other good
pure smoked pork sausage such as
Polish sausage (kielbasa), cut
into 1/4-inch cubes
1 teaspoon minced garlic
Hot cooked rice

Remove excess fat from the chicken pieces. Rub a generous amount of
salt, garlic powder and red pepper on both sides of each pieces, making
sure each is evenly covered. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a medium-size bowl combine the onions, bell peppers and celery; set aside.
Combine the flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, and 1/2 teaspoon red pepper in a paper or plastic bag. Add the chicken pieces and shake until chicken is well coated. Reserve 1/2 cup of the flour.
In a large heavy skillet heat 1 1/2 inches of oil until very hot (375 to 400 degrees F). Fry the chicken until crust is brown on both sides and meat is cooked, about 5 to 8 minutes per side; drain on paper towels. Carefully
pour the hot oil into a glass measuring cup, leaving as many of the browned particles in the pan as possible. Scrape the bottom with a metal whisk to loosen any stuck particles, then return 1/2 cup of the hot oil to the pan.
Place pan over high heat. Using a long-handled metal whisk, gradually stir
in the reserved 1/2 cup flour. Cook, whisking constantly, until roux is dark
red-brown to black, about 3 1/2 to 4 minutes, being careful not to let it
scorch or splash on your skin. Remove from heat and immediately add the
reserved vegetable mixture, stirring constantly until the roux stops getting
darker. Return pan to low heat and cook until vegetables are soft, about
5 minutes, stirring constantly and scraping the pan bottom well.
Meanwhile, place the stock in a 5 1/2-quart saucepan or large Dutch oven. Bring to a boil. Add roux mixture by spoonfuls to the boiling stock, stirring until dissolved between each addition. Return to a boil, stirring and scraping pan bottom often. Reduce heat to a simmer and stir in the andouille and minced garlic. Simmer uncovered for about 45 minutes, stirring often
toward the end of the cooking time.
While the gumbo is simmering, bone the cooked chicken and cut the
meat into 1/2-inch dice. When the gumbo is cooked, stir in the chicken
and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
To serve as a main course, mound 1/3 cup cooked rice in the center of a
soup bowl; ladle about 1 1/4 cups gumbo around the rice. For an appetizer,
place 1 heaping teaspoon cooked rice in a cup and ladle about 3/4 cup
gumbo on top.