re: Favorite gumbo shortcuts

I add a few drops of Red Boat, which I pretty much add to everything... I guess it’s the same effect.

The only shortcut I do is Savoie's dark jarred roux. Everything else goes the way my grandmother taught me.

My two go-to shortcuts are simple. When I fry chicken I'll strain the grease and get what bits of flour are left in the black iron pot used to cook it in. Then I'll use fresh flour and make me at least 1 1/2 quarts of roux from the oil used to fry the chicken.

I also grow okra every summer and I'll stew down okra by the gallons and put that in quart bags for later use in gumbos and soups. That way, when I make my gumbo I'll simply put quart bags of stewed okra in it instead of going through that step.

I'll also make lots of different stocks with chicken, pork, beef, shrimp, crab etc. and also save any oyster liquor when I open sacks of oysters to use in cooking things instead of adding just plain water.

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My only short cut is making stock from several turkeys at thanksgiving. Boil it down and freeze it for use later. I've made gumbo with several different stocks, and turkey is my favorite base.

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Yep, me too. I usually fry at least 3 turkeys for T-Day and will cook the carcasses overnight on a low fire and make a couple gallons of stock from that.

It makes an excellent base for soups, stews and gumbos.

I find that when ever I try to take short cuts with gumbo, it does not allow for adequate amount of beer consumption which in turn results in burning the garlic bread.

It’s awesome. This recipe for the non-lazies:

Just chicken thighs and bake them on parchments paper. Drain, cool then debone.

I used that exact same recipe last night