Hi! This is my first post here. As Football season winds down, and the SuperBowl is on its way, I thought I would share my favorite Gumbo Recipe with you. This is a Gumbo that my husband takes to all the Giant's games (Hey, I'm from New Jersey..cut me some slack!LOL)..and I feel kind of bad because..if my husband and I come to Austin for the spring game...actually, when we come down next year, I will feel bad that I can't bring the gumbo with me since I live so far, but maybe one of you can make it: Here Goes" Hookmom's Tailgate Gumbo Ingredients 1 whole chicken 2 ham steaks, or any leftover ham 2 andoiulle sausages or 2 smoked kielbasas 2 pounds shrimp 2 green peppers, chopped up 1 bunch green onion, chopped up 2 stalks celery, chopped up Garlic cloves, chopped up..use your judgement on this..personal choice, I like a alot..you may not. OK? Flour Oil Water Hot paprika White pepper Black pepper ceyenne pepper oregano tony chachiere's seasoning (or old bay crab boil) thyme bay leaves liquid smoke *Note: all the spices are to taste. You must use your judgement..just please do not by stingey with the spice (Wink) and..only use a few dashes of the liquid smoke. If you can't find it...don't worry about it. 1. Fill a large pot with water. Put in crab boil or Tony Cashiere's seasoning. Boil water 2. When water boils, throw in whole chicken. 3. Place equal parts of flour and oil (canola or vegetable) in cast iron skillet. Turn your phone off. If you are a beer drinker, grab a couple of beers. I myself grab three Diet Cokes. Tell everyone in the house to leave you alone for a good half hour because you are gonna make a roux. This is important. You have to babysit your roux. The roux makes the gumbo. OK. you got your flour--ahh use about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of the flour and oil. Stir under medium heat. Use a wisk. A wish is good for the distribution of the flour into the oil. Keep wisking. Have a couple of sips of your beverage. Keep patient..This will take a while. Just keep wisking for about umm30 - 40 minutes. You can stop when the roux looks like chocolate or very dark peanut butter. Turn off flame and let sit. In the meantime, after the chicken is cooked, take the chicken out of the water. RESERVE THE WATER...the broth will be nice. Let chicken cool in colander. Now. Chop all your veggies all nice. Cut the ham and the sausage. I don't like to cut the meat up too small, you want man-sized (I am not being sexist ladies..no offense) pieces of meat. OK the chicken should be cooled somewhat. Take the skin off and shred the chicken meat off. Now into another big pot pot, place your roux. Throw in the chopped veggies, all the meat and stir really well, covering all the meat and veggies with the roux. (Psst..here is a secret. wash your hands and mix it with your hands...it works better). Now. Take some of that nice chicken broth and throw it in the pot with the roux, meat and veggies. Add the rest of the spices. Whee!! Add some tabasco or crystal or whatever hot sauce youse guys like! If you want, you can throw a couple of spoonsful of tomato paste, or a can of rotel hot tomatos. It is up to you. Cook for a couple of hours on a v-e-r-y low flame. You don't want to burn. About an hour before serving. boil the shrimp. Peel 'em and when peeled, throw 'em into the gumbo. Make some rice and serve the gumbo over rice. Add more hot sauce to taste. I hope you like it. It sounds and reads REALLY TEDIOUS..Believe me IT ISN"T. After you have made this a few times, it is second nature. The prep work is the most time consuming. Well, good luck, I hope you try this for a tailgate, or an afternoon of watching NFL football. If I lived in Austin, I would make one for you Longhorn fans for every single home game, but I'm in New Jersey, so I can't. I can only cheer our wonderful boys from up here! Works for me! Hook 'em! CWU
Since I grew up around this stuff, texmom's recipe looks right on. roux takes about 15 minutes. On a side note, if you want to make a roux for etoufe or bisque (light roux) use clarified butter instead of oil
