Gumbo Z'herbes

This is a post I made some years ago.

This is the one I use. I haven't rewritten it in an organized fashion with my notes, though, so it looks long, but it's very easy to make. I change it up a bit every time. It's not a recipe that needs to be exact.

Here's my loosely based recipe. I tinker with it annually. This recipe comes from Terry Thompson’s Cajun and Creole Cooking cookbook, circa 1986. I usually make it for Holy Thursday and use 5-7 different greens. Those can vary. It freezes very well.

Many times, I add shrimp to what I'm about to serve to folks and sometimes oysters as well.


10 oz fresh or frozen turnip, mustard and collard greens and spinach
1/2 medium head cabbage, shredded
2 bay leaves, minced (I didn't mince mine)
@ 1 t each of dried basil, oregano and thyme (I use extra thyme as I like the flavor with the greens)
1/4 t allspice
1/8 t ground cloves
1/4 t grated nutmeg
4 quarts poultry stock
Seasoning mix of 1/2 t each salt, pepper, paprika, granulated onion and garlic , red and black pepper.
1 lb smoked ham, cut in bite sized pieces
1 lb lean pork, cut in bite sized pieces
2/3 c vegetable oil
2 large onions, chopped
4 celery stalks, chopped
1 large bell pepper, chopped
4 large garlic cloves, minced
2 T sugar
salt, pepper and cayenne to taste
@ 2 pints oysters and liquor
12 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 c minced parsley, preferably flat leaf
file powder
cooked rice

Wash fresh greens; tear into small pieces. Remove large stalks and ribs. Place cleaned or frozen greens, cabbage, bay leaves, basil, thyme, oregano, allspice, cloves and nutmeg into a large soup pot. Add stock and enough water to cover greens by 3 inches. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Cover and simmer while preparing remaining ingredients .

Prepare Seasoning Mix. Add pork and ham to Seasoning Mix. Shake to coat lightly. Set seasoned met aside while oil heats. Heat oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. When oil is very hot., add seasoned meat; stir until brown on all sides. Remove browned meat with a slotted spoon; add to simmering greens. Reduce heat to medium; add onions, celery, bell pepper and garlic to skillet. Cool until vegetables are wilted, about 5 minutes. Remove vegetables with a slotted spoon; add to simmering greens. Stir in sugar; simmer, uncovered, 1 hour. Season to taste with salt , black pepper and cayenne. Cover; simmer 2 hours. About 10 minutes before serving, gently stir in oysters with their liquor, green onions and parsley. Cook about 10 minutes or until oysters curl.

Serve with about 1/2 cup of rice in each soup bowl. Top with file. Serves about 8-10.

My notes in no certain order.

Be prepared to use more chicken stock than called for. I didn't use any water.

I used more chopped veggies than called for, I'm sure.

I simmered the greens a good bit before adding the other ingredients. I also set the sauteed meats aside and added the sauteed chopped veggies before the meats and simmered them a good while before adding the meat, about 30 minutes before finishing. I think simmering the meats that long after having browned them could make them too dry. Next time, I will brown some of the meats and add some without browning directly to the pot. Browning them took some of the flavor from the meats. I used more meat than the recipe called for. Instead of 1 lb of pork, I used about 1.5 lbs of andouille and I could have used 2 lbs, easily, since I didn't add oysters to mine. I also used some turkey tasso, chopped, which worked well. I will do that just before serving, individually. I may also add some shrimp.

I think you could eliminate the meats and make this with oysters and/or shrimp only, if desired. You may need to adjust the seasonings some and boiling shrimp shells in a little water for about 30 minutes for a quick stock would be a nice addition for a seafood only rendition of this soup.

When using the pork products, especially the andouille, watch the salt and cayenne. Some andouille meats can be salty and highly peppered. Since I was preparing this for some pepper sensitive folks, I didn't add the cayenne. The andouille was nice and spicy. I added tabasco, individually, to my bowl.

Watch the granulated garlic and onion when browning the meats. It can burn or brown too much. It also caused the browning to take longer than it should have. I would brown the meat a bit first; then add the seasoning mix and saute a bit longer.

I didn't drain the veggies. There wasn't much oil left and I didn't want to sacrifice the brown bits in the cast iron skillet. I skimmed the gumbo of grease before serving and there really wasn't much to skim.

Check the seasonings after skimming; then add the salt, pepper and red pepper, if necessary.

Here is one I came up with years ago after reading many other recipes. It's good stuff.

Gumbo Z'Herbes

1 bunch mustard greens
1 bunch collard greens
1 bunch turnip greens
1 bunch parsley
1 bag frozen spinach
1 bunch kale, chard, cabbage, watercress, beet tops, carrot tops, or other available greens

1 large onion finely chopped
2 stalks celery
½ bell pepper
1 bunch green onions
4 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 tsp. thyme, chopped
1 bay leaf

1 link smoked sausage
2 smoked turkey wings (tips discarded)
1 tsp. thyme leaves
salt and pepper
cayenne
hot sauce (Crystal)
file’

1. Clean fresh greens. Cover with water and boil with piece of turkey wing for 30 minutes in large stock pot. Remove greens with tongs into colander sitting on rimmed baking sheet. Chop greens fine (or use food processor) to get to size that can be eaten with a spoon.

2. Make or heat some roux in a heavy pot. Cook onions, celery, and bell pepper five or ten minutes. Add garlic, thyme, and green onions, cook another minute or so.

3. Ladle pot liquor into the roux mixture and whisk together. Add all to the stock pot, whisk together, and return greens to pot, along with spinach and rest of turkey wings. Season with bay leaf, cayenne, S&P, and Crystal or other hot sauce.

4. Simmer about an hour. Add sausage. Simmer another hour, or until greens are done to liking. Remove turkey meat from bone, and stir meat back into pot.

5. Serve over rice with file’ and hot sauce.