Making My First Gumbo for a Crowd

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buy a jar of Kary's

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And 43 Bud Lights

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4. Thoughts on the stock recipe I'm using?

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That is a complex stock. Just buy a hen, throw it in a pot of water whole with a chopped onion, some garlic, a little seasoning, and bay leave. (If you don't want a whole bird, chicken quarters.)
Boil for about an hour. take the bird out and pull off the meat. This is now your chicken for the gumbo.
The water is now stock.

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buy a jar of Kary's


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And 43 Bud Lights


Now I feel like I'm being effed with

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Nah man inside joke on the bud lights

The Kary's roux is legit.

Get a small jar and throw in most of it. It really depends on how dark/tick you like your gumbo.

ETA: I wish I could help more, but I never measure when I make gumbo. If anyone comes along with exact measurements for you. Listen to them.

Yes you can simply increase everything by 50%. You can also make more then you will need if you have a way to freeze it. Gumbo freezes well and is always better the next day.

There is no need to use peanut oil unless you have it already. Any vegetable Canola oil works, as does lard, shortening, duck fat. Butter is a real challenge to use in roux preparation because it will burn.

I would go a little light (maybe 10%) on the seasoning until you taste it and then add the rest if needed for your seasoning preference.

You might consider doing your roux in the oven. This is by far the easiest way to make a foolproof roux. Do it in a cast iron skillet or pot. Set the oven at 350 and stir every 15-30 minutes until the roux is the level of brown you like. At 350, there is little danger of burning your roux.

I like the process of making roux and have never used roux from a jar but some lazy folks do that. It is a nice way of getting lazy gumbo, kind of like opening a can of Campbell's gumbo soup and saying, "I made this from scratch"

Add the onion first if you like or dump it (onion, celery, peppers) all at the same time. I find it makes almost no difference at all.

I like thighs (dark meat) and am usually guilty of making my gumbo with thighs alone. If I have the time, I fry the thighs because I like that taste. A lot of folks use a rotisserie chicken for their meat, remove the chicken, set aside and boil the bones with celery, onion maybe a carrot(a bay leaf) and chicken broth from a can to make the stock and that works well, too.

Remember that normal spicy to you might light up your guests, so consider their taste preference before adding you cayenne. Also remember that the sausage adds a lot of spice, especially if you use hot sausage. You can always add heat at the end, but it is very hard to take it out.

Have some chopped green onions available to scatter on the top of the bowl when serving.

Have a good time. Making gumbo is not difficult at all.

If you go the Kary's route, I use 1 cup of roux for about 9 cups of stock. It tastes delicious. ~1 1/3 cups of roux would be fine for 10-11 cups of stock, if you bumped up the recipe.

I would at least go with the 1.5x amount of gumbo if this is the main meal. It's way better to have too much than not enough. The original recipe sounds like a lot of food, but it seems to go quickly. I loosely follow Emeril's recipe, using 1 lb of sausage and 2-2.5 lbs of chicken, and we get about 6 normal sized bowls before the meat is pretty much gone.

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Fry the skinless chicken and make your roux with that oil. Crucial for the end result.

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Ah, I would have figured frying with the skin on then removing the skin before the meat gets added back. No?

Otis, do you ever use dried onions in your gumbo?

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like the process of making roux and have never used roux from a jar but some lazy folks do that. It is a nice way of getting lazy gumbo

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I hear you but what I find the most funny are the people that pat themselves on the back for making their own roux and then use a rotisserie chicken from the store or canned or box chicken broth/stock.

Talk about lazy and clueless.

If you are looking to shave time I think using canned roux is your first option that will have the least impact on the final result.