Unauthentic Gumbo - Recipe Hatred Revisited

I have had two people ask me for my recipe for gumbo, my mother and a friend from church. And, frankly, it is just bit of an effort not to slap them repeatedly when they do so.

I mean, this is me we're talking about here! To hell with recipes!

I made Chicken Picatta for my roommate once. Mind you, she isn't Italian, but she's pickier than a, well... let's just say she's a woman. Point is, I added onions. Why? Because onions should be added to everything, damnit. "That's not Chicken Picatta," says she, "Chicken Picatta doesn't have onions. You should follow the recipe."

Lookit, it has onions if I SAY IT HAS ONIONS FOUL HEATHEN!

Picatta means sharp - its basically any meat pounded flat, breaded, fried, and served with a citrus based sauce. You could throw in habaneros and it would still be picatta.

But back to gumbo.

My father never made gumbo for us. There is no family gumbo recipe that I am aware of. (Why else would my mother ask for mine?) In my younger years, before I attained the coveted rank of Maître grand d'arrogance, I asked my father how to make jambalaya (my personal favorite dish of all time). He refused to tell me. Could be he forgot. Or it could be he shared my hatred of recipes.

So, in that sense at least, this isn't authentic in any way. The Old Man also steadfastly maintained that gumbo was a Creole creation, and was something we shouldn't keep in our repertoire. Of course, he would still buy it in a can, so it could be he was lazy.

Gumbo is the original african word for okra. Don't know what language or dialect, and don't rightly care either way. I was taught that he wasn't gumbo unless it had okra. Lacking okra, it would have to be gumbo file, topped with file powder (ground sassafras leaves). Okra you can generally find in Arlington, but it'll cost you 5$ a pound, and it's never in quantity. Unless you buy canned or frozen, and, well, blech.

File powder is harder to find than a woman that say yes instead of maybe. You'll drive all over town, go from supermarket to supermarket, yuppie/hippie/earthy crunchy stores like Whole Foods, fancy supermarkets like Harris Teeter (lots of ladies at that one though, mon ami. Lots of ladies. Yum), to the 'gourmet' markets (like Balducci's). And you may, should the Almighty be so graceful, may, I say, find file powder.

And, not to get off on a rant here, but why is it the 'ethnic' section of the supermarket is really the hispanic and chinese section? And just how obscure can it be these days to want a can of chilis or a tortilla? I live in a major metropolitan area and I haven't seen -- except at Harris Teeter -- a white person in WEEKS. We Cajuns are few and far between, bubba, and it don't get much more ethnic than that, does it? I want my file and gator meat!

But back to gumbo.

At Balducci's, back when it was still Sutton Place Gourmet, the good Lord was kind enough to allow the store to stock a couple of meager and outrageously expensive containers of file powder. So, I started to work on the concept.

I generally make gumbo once or twice a month, diet and expense account willing. Ingredients vary, based generally on my mood and if I can find real Andouille (hint - not at Harris Teeter). It's pretty simple. The proportions are up to you. Recipes are only really nessecary in baking, because there it's all about biology (yeast) or chemistry (baking powder/soda). With gumbo, which is really just soup (I'm being honest!), it ain't all that complicate, ya hear?

So, here follows my basic recipe for gumbo.

Roux
Trinity
Water/Broth/Stock
Meat
Okra
File

Well, there you go. Enjoy.



Oh, that wasn't good enough?

Ok, here's what I did for New Year's Eve.

I went to Giant and bought one of them roasted chickens, whole. I used the breast meat for sandwhiches (with some nice crusty french bread and mustard). The rest I took off the bones and set aside in the fridge.

I then put the bones and skin into a stock pot full of water. I brought the water to a boil, then dropped it down to a simmer. I added some garlic, don't remember how much, and a tiny amount of dried basil. I left this on the stove for pretty much an entire day. Strain at the end to remove unpleasant reminders of dead animal. Fresh chicken stock.

But back to gumbo.

3 tbls Butter
3 tbls Flour
1 cup onion (chopped)
1 cup celery (chopped)
1 cup bell pepper (chopped)
4 cloves garlic, chopped, minced, smashed, I don't remember
Left over roasted chicken meat
1 Package Kielbasa, sliced
1 tbls cayenne pepper (powdered)
Salt & Pepper to taste

Melt butter. Add Flour. Cook roux on medium to medium high heat, stirring until it's a good dark brown. Mmmmm, yummy.

Add trinity. Lower to medium to medium low. Cook down until till the onions are kinda clear. Or until you're bored, up to you. Its a seasoning base, remember. We want it to sweat and make everything taste beautiful.

Add cayenne and salt and pepper.

You can brown the sausage in a seperate skillet if you don't like high quantities of UNCLEAN PORK FAT in your soup. I do. Throw the sausage in the pot.

If you follow my wonderful example, add more time to this stage to cook the sausage. Mmmmm, yummy.

Add garlic.
Add pulled chicken meat. Stir.

Add chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Roux won't thicken until it hits a boil. It won't thicken much at all if you made a dark roux, but it sure will taste good!

Let it simmer for about 30 minutes to whenever you like so all the flavors can mingle.

But in a bowl with rice. Or pasta if you're a heathen. Sprinkle with file powder.