Never made a gumbo myself before since I always had ample access to it in Houston. Now that I'm far from anything resembling decent Cajun food, I'd like to make one this weekend.

Would love to hear yalls recipes, tips and tricks.

Look up americas test kitchen YouTube where they make a dry roux in the oven. Much easier than the traditional method, produces a fantastic result, and doesn't introduce a **** ton of oil into your gumbo. Just keep in mind it will be much much darker once you combine it with your stock. Mine was just short of the color of cinnamon when dry but very dark in the actual gumbo.

https://texags.com/forums/67/topics/2696814/1#discussion

Lots of recipes and tricks here. My pics are at the end of page 6

Fido's recipe is legit, probably the best thing he's posted on here.

GAC06 said:

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Look up americas test kitchen YouTube where they make a dry roux in the oven. Much easier than the traditional method

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I wholesale disagree with this. I find the exact opposite approach to be much more successful:

Use smoking hot oil. Use vigorous stirring. Pay careful attention. It only takes 6-9 minutes. It is far easier, in my opinion, to pay careful attention for a few minutes than to pay half-assed attention for hours.

6-9 minutes? I haven't seen any roux instructions that say less than 45 min or so

The Milkman said:

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6-9 minutes? I haven't seen any roux instructions that say less than 45 min or so

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I haven't either, but those guys know what they're doing in the kitchen.

6-9 mins is pretty fast but 15-20 is very doable. Start hot and once you get to peanut butter, back off the heat a bit. Then when you hit milk chocolate, back off the heat a bit more.

The key to learning to cook roux is to ruin a few first. You need to learn what is over the edge so you can run right up to the edge in the future.

And yes, fidos recipe is good. Lots of good gumbo recipes though. It is a simple dish once you nail the roux.

Gumbo

1 & 1/4 cup veg oil
1 & 1/4 cup flour
5 chicken legs
1lb sausage
2 finely chopped medium onions
2 finely chopped bell pepper
2-3 finely chopped celery stalks
1-2 Serrano peppers very finely chopped
15-20 fresh okra
2 cartons chicken stock
Salt
Pepper
Blackening seasoning


In a pot put 1/4 cup veg oil down and heat

Season chicken with salt, pepper and blackening seasoning. Pat dry and fry in oil until skin is crispy but not cooked all the way through. Remove to paper towels, drain and let cool.

Add rest of oil to pan with chicken drippings. Lower heat to low-med. Add 1 cup flour. Leave 1/4 cup for adding later if needed. Stir to combine. Scrap pan to incorporate bits of chicken fat. Should be consistency of creamy soup. Little on the thick side. Should coat the back of a spoon easily. Season with salt. No pepper or blackening seasoning. Just salt. Just a good three finger pinch. Stir this scraping the bottom of the pan every 5 min until it is the color of light milk chocolate.

Add trinity and serranos (not the okra) to this roux. It will bubble and spit and fry quickly, remember it's half oil. Very hot!!! It will immediately turn darker, like the shade of dark chocolate. Season this with salt too. Two good pinches. Cook until vegetables are reasonably tender.

Add chicken stock and meat. (I cut sausage lengthwise then into 1/4" half moon slices and I cut the chicken off he bone and into spoon sized pieces.) Now add pepper and some blackening seasoning. Maybe two big three finger pinches of each.

Cut okra into 1/4"-1/2" slices. Just make sure if they're 1/4", that they're ALL 1/4". If they're 1/2", make sure they're ALL 1/2". Add to another pot with a little oil. Cook on medium heat until the okra is basically falling apart stirring every few min. It takes that long to cook the slimyness out of them. Once it looks dry, add to the pot.

Turn up heat to above medium and bring this to a boil. Once boiling, boil for 15-20 min to finish cooking the chicken and heat the sausage through. Simmer this for an hour or so until the broth coats the back of a spoon. Thicken with additional flour if need be.

Cut heat and let it cool on the stove. Put it in there fridge and eat the next day. It's gotta have a day in the fridge to meld the flavors. Won't taste right if you don't.

The Milkman said:

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6-9 minutes? I haven't seen any roux instructions that say less than 45 min or so

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You're going to face the same problem we do, and that is sourcing good proteins.

MichaelJ said:

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The Milkman said:

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6-9 minutes? I haven't seen any roux instructions that say less than 45 min or so

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You're going to face the same problem we do, and that is sourcing good proteins.

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Yeah but at least we're both on coasts. Certainly won't have any crawfish available, but I can find andouille at whole foods, some crappy shrimp, and chicken.

Going to see if I can make a roux today and save it until tomorrow when I have people coming over. I don't want to deal with that in the heat of the moment.

If you don't like the sliminess of okra in gumbo, try sauteing it first until it no longer makes strings/slime. It only takes a few minutes, then add into your gumbo.

I also like fil if you can find it

Calling meat "proteins" is the biggest ass whip in the food world today. Keto, vegan, air frying have nothing on that stupidity

+1 on sauteing the okra first. Then I add half to the gumbo as it simmers and the rest at the end.

Hey dipsh/t he didn't specify what kind of gumbo he was going to make seafood? Chicken/sausage? Duck? Okra

I don't live in Texas, neither does he, so finding good tasting shrimp (ie Gulf shrimp) or a decent andouille sausage can be a challenge.

So sorry I lumped them all in to proteins.

Can confirm Fido's gumbo is a hit. Though I did the oven baked roux and that was a breeze. Will definitely trot this out again soon

Average at best.

LCE said:

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Average at best.

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Post your recipe

I spent 20 years cooking a roux in a cast iron skillet. These days, I just microwave it. Takes 10 minutes tops and turns out perfect every single time.

MichaelJ said:

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The Milkman said:

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6-9 minutes? I haven't seen any roux instructions that say less than 45 min or so

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You're going to face the same problem we do, and that is sourcing good proteins.

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As someone from Louisiana, andouille and gulf shrimp are good, but overrated. Heck, the guy from New Iberia that taught me to make gumbo used snapping turtle and hillshire farms. Still the best gumbo I've ever eaten.

Andoullie is good, but i generally prefer to substitute a good pecan smoked beef or venison sausage instead. Ading that smoked flavor really adds depth to the gumbo, and puts a really good twist on it.

I had some leftover smoked pork butt I added once that was damn good as well.

Not a fan of celery, so i never add it. Use a good stock instead of water, and either bacon or duck fat (or both) to make the roux. Dont get all wound up on the color of the roux as well - its all about the aroma, color is secondary (at least once you get to chocolate anyway - have never had one lighter that was ready).

2nd or 3rd or whatever sauteeing the okra before putting it in - its the last thing I add.

Experiment, its gumbo. Odds are you will enjoy it.

GAC06 said:

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Look up americas test kitchen YouTube where they make a dry roux in the oven. Much easier than the traditional method, produces a fantastic result, and doesn't introduce a **** ton of oil into your gumbo. Just keep in mind it will be much much darker once you combine it with your stock. Mine was just short of the color of cinnamon when dry but very dark in the actual gumbo.

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I used it. Pretty good!

You are right about the color getting much darker when combined.

Maybe a dumb question. Whenever I make gumbo, I always get a decent amount of fat that separates and comes to the top. Is that normal or am I screwing up somewhere. The roux always has a good consistency when cooking, so I don't imagine it's that. Possibly fats from the meats cooking out? I don't mind it, but more of a curiosity question

GAC06 said:

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Look up americas test kitchen YouTube where they make a dry roux in the oven. Much easier than the traditional method, produces a fantastic result, and doesn't introduce a **** ton of oil into your gumbo. Just keep in mind it will be much much darker once you combine it with your stock. Mine was just short of the color of cinnamon when dry but very dark in the actual gumbo.

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I watched the video and need to give that a shot. The bad thing is I like making gumbo traditionally because it means I can't be asked to help with anything. Sorry, if I walk away from the stove and my beer the roux will burn and I have to start over. As long as I did the prep work in full and have it all ready to go next to me I've never burned it. The only times I ended up burning it are when I forgot to do something and I try to get it done while stirring, never seems to work out.

McGibblets said:

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Maybe a dumb question. Whenever I make gumbo, I always get a decent amount of fat that separates and comes to the top. Is that normal or am I screwing up somewhere. The roux always has a good consistency when cooking, so I don't imagine it's that. Possibly fats from the meats cooking out? I don't mind it, but more of a curiosity question

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Normal

Made Gumbo this weekend. Funny thing happened....my wife helped!

Wanna guess the first time Roux has ever got burnt in my house?

This is what I got out of a Cajun girl? The Texas guy has to make the roux?!? What's the world coming too?

One thing I've learned after growing up with a South Louisiana mom and grandparents that spoke only French until they were in middle school is that people make gumbo way more complicated than it needs to be.

Roux + veggie trinity + stock + meat = gumbo

Add whatever lagniappe you'd like.

Some folks can make boiling water complicated.

McGibblets said:

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Maybe a dumb question. Whenever I make gumbo, I always get a decent amount of fat that separates and comes to the top. Is that normal or am I screwing up somewhere. The roux always has a good consistency when cooking, so I don't imagine it's that. Possibly fats from the meats cooking out? I don't mind it, but more of a curiosity question

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That's a big reason I prefer the oven roux method. You don't put a ton of oil in your gumbo. And it's really easy.

https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/eat-drink/article_7f7a214d-8116-5079-aebb-20b39d1208c4.html

use this recipe. It's fool proof

If you want something fun to do in NOLA, book a hands-on class at the New Orleans School of Cooking.

We've passed under the sign dozens of times and finally booked a class. We cooked chicken and sausage gumbo, bbq shrimp over cheese grits, and bananas foster crepes.

On this trip our food stops included Revolution, Coop's Place, Cafe Sbisa, and Verti Marte.

The meal we cooked at the class was the best.

McGibblets said:

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Maybe a dumb question. Whenever I make gumbo, I always get a decent amount of fat that separates and comes to the top. Is that normal or am I screwing up somewhere. The roux always has a good consistency when cooking, so I don't imagine it's that. Possibly fats from the meats cooking out? I don't mind it, but more of a curiosity question

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It's from the chicken and sausage. It's normal . You skim it off with a spoon.

MAROON said:

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McGibblets said:

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Maybe a dumb question. Whenever I make gumbo, I always get a decent amount of fat that separates and comes to the top. Is that normal or am I screwing up somewhere. The roux always has a good consistency when cooking, so I don't imagine it's that. Possibly fats from the meats cooking out? I don't mind it, but more of a curiosity question

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It's from the chicken and sausage. It's normal . You skim it off with a spoon.

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I believe you misspelled "Soak it up with bread and eat it"

Rattler12 said:

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Some folks can make boiling water complicated.

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You don't boil water the way my grandma boils water!