Gumbo

[huge 3,793]

2 hours ago, luke duke said:

I’ve got an 80qt pot too.

now youre just showing off

[dcbc 14,465]

45 minutes ago, huge said:

now youre just showing off

Compensating.  

[luke duke 6,412]

Compensating.  

The 80qt gets used for menudo

[dcbc 14,465]

3 hours ago, luke duke said:

The 80qt gets used for menudo

I used to have a few of those in a beer brewing rig, which has been moved on down the road to the next guy. 

[DalTxHornFan 3,097]

3 hours ago, luke duke said:

The 80qt gets used for menudo

We are gonna need a menudo thread for this pot!

 

[South Austin 52,457]

15 hours ago, luke duke said:

[utee94 15,808]

On 11/27/2023 at 8:29 PM, DalTxHornFan said:

We are gonna need a menudo thread for this pot!

 

 

[dcbc 14,465]

27 minutes ago, utee94 said:

 

Photo already is obsolete. 

[BearSchlong 8,083]

Emotional gumbo Christmas edition. My wife’s mom has the bad brain cancer and the Boudreaux’s are all coming over today. We can’t predict the future but this could possibly be her final Christmas. I’m kicking myself for even entertaining such a morbid Horribly sad thought but then again it’s better to be safe than sorry.

So, pot #1 is Greenberg turkey and Rabideaux sausage gumbo, the other is shrimp and fresh cocktail claw crab.

[Brisketexan 105,081]

That's the good stuff, amigo.  Merry Christmas to you and yours.  Enjoy the gumbo and the company.

[Texzilla58 4,732]

Sorry about the medical issues. Once your parents get to a certain age you gotta enjoy them while you can.

Live every day like it’s your last.

Gumbo looks great!

[Irwin F Fletcher 3,550]

I'm going to call this my first time making gumbo. Made some back on Jan 1st 2022, though I discovered about half way into the process I had Covid, as I couldn't taste or smell anything.

This batch was very good. Used some leftover crabmeat from a Christmas gift from my sister. Made up some shrimp stock, browned about a pound of bacon for the fat and BLTs for lunch.

I'm not sure if my fat to flour ratio was right. I poured out the bacon grease then added some canola oil to get 2/3 cup to 1 cup flour. Added about 2 tbsp of butter then slowly whisked in the flour.

Never reached a thick "dough-like" consistency......stirred for about an hour and 15 minutes. Decent color for the roux and finished product was very tasty.

I am curious on how much to stir. Constantly fast vs constantly slow vs just enough to not burn. I have a gas range and stirred at a very slow rate with a temp around 3.5 with 5 being what I usually cook at medium temp.

Leftovers should get even better. Hook' Em!

[Hank Scorpio 17,729]

Looks like you fucked it up. 

[DoobieWah 1,435]

Tell me about this "leftover crab" you speak of. 

I've never heard of such a thing and that first photo doesn't help at all.

[South Austin 52,457]

11 hours ago, Irwin F Fletcher said:

I am curious on how much to stir. Constantly fast vs constantly slow vs just enough to not burn. I have a gas range and stirred at a very slow rate with a temp around 3.5 with 5 being what I usually cook at medium temp.

Looks great. But 1.5 hours seems awfully long to me for a roux. I cook mine at medium heat, but constantly watch it and don’t let it sit without stirring for more than 30-45 seconds. I can get a dark brown roux in about 30 minutes (or two beers).

And good job with the Worcestershire and soy sauce. As I’ve mentioned in this thread, I picked that up a long time ago from my Cajun friend and have never made a gumbo or fricassee without them since.

[dcbc 14,465]

On 12/24/2023 at 9:06 AM, South Austin said:

Looks great. But 1.5 hours seems awfully long to me for a roux. I cook mine at medium heat, but constantly watch it and don’t let it sit without stirring for more than 30-45 seconds. I can get a dark brown roux in about 30 minutes (or two beers).

And good job with the Worcestershire and soy sauce. As I’ve mentioned in this thread, I picked that up a long time ago from my Cajun friend and have never made a gumbo or fricassee without them since.

On a medium heat and pretty constant stirring, I'm getting the "dark chocolate" at about 1.5 hours.  The oven roux I did probably took 2.5 hours (stirring every 20 minutes).  But as I mentioned, that probably resulted in the best tasting gumbo I've made.  If I can repeat that, I may be done standing and stirring, which is a bit sad in a way.

[LCHorn 2,615]

On 12/23/2023 at 9:43 PM, Irwin F Fletcher said:

I'm not sure if my fat to flour ratio was right. I poured out the bacon grease then added some canola oil to get 2/3 cup to 1 cup flour. Added about 2 tbsp of butter then slowly whisked in the flour.

Never reached a thick "dough-like" consistency......stirred for about an hour and 15 minutes. Decent color for the roux and finished product was very tasty.

I prefer a 1:2 oil to flour ratio and it’s not dough like, more like thick oatmeal in consistency.

[elfenix 34,227]

dough like?  i believe that's the first time that particular permutation of words has been used in this thread

[dcbc 14,465]

Because I'm a moron and somehow posted this in the wrong gumbo thread last night and for posterity's sake:

 

Cross-posted from the shit I cooked lately thread (Easter edition).
 
I saw an Instagram video where someone did this and decided it could not possibly be anything but delicious.  Gumbo Pot Pie.  I made a stock on Monday.  Last night, I made the pie crust and did an oven roux ahead of time.  Then, while transferring the roux from the cast iron pan to a mason jar, I knocked over the jar and spilled roux all over the counter, which sucked for two reasons---I lost my roux and what an awful mess.
 
Got up this morning and started another oven roux (I'm convinced these have more positive contributions to the final product than the old stand-and-stir.  Did all my prep, and had the gumbo ready by 4 pm.  Ate some for dinner and put together the rice and gumbo mixture for the pie.  This is the biggest variable and I oped for more meat that liquid and tried to keep the rice in a good balance.  But it is more rice heavy than I'd have it in a bowl. 
 
Anyway, I'll post the final picture when it's reheated, sliced and served tomorrow.
 

 
 
 
 

[

[deadshank 24,652]

28 minutes ago, dcbc said:

Because I'm a moron and somehow posted this in the wrong gumbo thread last night and for posterity's sake:

 

Cross-posted from the shit I cooked lately thread (Easter edition).
 
I saw an Instagram video where someone did this and decided it could not possibly be anything but delicious.  Gumbo Pot Pie.  I made a stock on Monday.  Last night, I made the pie crust and did an oven roux ahead of time.  Then, while transferring the roux from the cast iron pan to a mason jar, I knocked over the jar and spilled roux all over the counter, which sucked for two reasons---I lost my roux and what an awful mess.
 
Got up this morning and started another oven roux (I'm convinced these have more positive contributions to the final product than the old stand-and-stir.  Did all my prep, and had the gumbo ready by 4 pm.  Ate some for dinner and put together the rice and gumbo mixture for the pie.  This is the biggest variable and I oped for more meat that liquid and tried to keep the rice in a good balance.  But it is more rice heavy than I'd have it in a bowl. 
 
Anyway, I'll post the final picture when it's reheated, sliced and served tomorrow.
 

 
 
 
 

[

Saw that on IG, as well.  
 

You’re a great American.   

[dcbc 14,465]

Held together well. Delicious!

[Brisketexan 105,081]

^^^

Fellas....we may have ourselves a winner here.

[Braff Zacklin 13,556]

 

25 minutes ago, dcbc said:

Held together well. Delicious!

[dcbc 14,465]

So after a little reflection, here's my review.  It's delicious, and I'd make it again.  But gumbo the traditional way is better.  To get this to hold together, you have to add more rice than I prefer and reserve some of the liquid, which holds most of the flavor of gumbo.  When I do it again, I'll definitely take some of the reserved liquid and drizzle it over the top.

[ROFL BOX 6,647]

Monster, 8 days ago: "The Foriegn Exchange Club @ school is having a pot luck & I said you were bringing Gumbo. 

It's on Thursday."

 

(This was a Monday)

 

Made an 8 quart pot on Thursday & delivered it hot to school by 1620.

•2× the slimers (fresh,  bot frozen) most people use.

•1 lb. Easy peel Gulfshrimps, sliced in ½ (longways)

• 1 lb. Bug meat

• 1 Regular tub picked crab meat (the food one from HEEB)

• 1 Of the small pkgs of Ersters... each piece cut in ½ (very easy to do when semi-froze).

Some other schlub made the rice & brought that. 

 

[Deej 76,755]

[dcbc 14,465]

6 hours ago, Deej said:

Been there.  My now-wife and I made a pot of gumbo to take to a party.  For some reason, she had her dad's car that weekend.  As we drove it over there, it sloshed all over the carpet.  We never got the smell out, and it did not improve over time.

[South Austin 52,457]

2 minutes ago, dcbc said:

Been there.  My now-wife and I made a pot of gumbo to take to a party.  For some reason, she had her dad's car that weekend.  As we drove it over there, it sloshed all over the carpet.  We never got the smell out, and it did not improve over time.

So your father-in-law's car smelled like gumbo?  I fail to see a problem here.

[dcbc 14,465]

17 minutes ago, dcbc said:

Been there.  My now-wife and I made a pot of gumbo to take to a party.  For some reason, she had her dad's car that weekend.  As we drove it over there, it sloshed all over the carpet.  We never got the smell out, and it did not improve over time.

See above.  That smell did not age well.

[WhatTheBuck 28,775]

Made gumbo for the first time last week. Not bad for a first attempt. I used Paul Prudhomme’s recipe as a guide to get the ratios of roux to stock, etc. right. I used a red bell pepper because the green peppers at Kroger were scrawny and unappealing. I bought a rotisserie chicken and picked the meat off then made stock with the bones. I kind of rushed the stock and I think if I take more time making the stock next time then I’ll have a better product. It was pretty good but I was hoping it would be better. But it did get better over the next few days.

I wanted to play it safe with the roux and not get it too dark and risk burning it. I also didn’t want to risk pausing to take pictures while it was developing. Here’s the roux after adding the trinity:

And here’s the finished product:

Next time I’ll do better but it was good to get the first one under my belt. Might have to start by smoking a whole chicken on my new WSM next time. 

[Brisketexan 105,081]

Made gumbo for the first time last week. Not bad for a first attempt. I used Paul Prudhomme’s recipe as a guide to get the ratios of roux to stock, etc. right. I used a red bell pepper because the green peppers at Kroger were scrawny and unappealing. I bought a rotisserie chicken and picked the meat off then made stock with the bones. I kind of rushed the stock and I think if I take more time making the stock next time then I’ll have a better product. It was pretty good but I was hoping it would be better. But it did get better over the next few days.
I wanted to play it safe with the roux and not get it too dark and risk burning it. I also didn’t want to risk pausing to take pictures while it was developing. Here’s the roux after adding the trinity:

And here’s the finished product:

Next time I’ll do better but it was good to get the first one under my belt. Might have to start by smoking a whole chicken on my new WSM next time. 

Smoke some dark meat chicken quarters. 5-6 large ones makes a nice pot. And they smoke quick. Then, pick the meat off and make stock with the trimmings. It’s great.

[tx 3 putt 76,874]

On 3/31/2024 at 2:01 PM, dcbc said:

Held together well. Delicious!

 

[ROFL BOX 6,647]

Everyone's preferences vary.

 

For me, if I'm doing Gumbo it's always seafood.

[tx 3 putt 76,874]

On 5/29/2024 at 4:29 PM, dcbc said:

Been there.  My now-wife and I made a pot of gumbo to take to a party.  For some reason, she had her dad's car that weekend.  As we drove it over there, it sloshed all over the carpet.  We never got the smell out, and it did not improve over time.

 

very good cover story for having sex in your FIL's car. 

 

[tx 3 putt 76,874]

34 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Might have to start by smoking a whole chicken on my new WSM next time. 

 

[Brisketexan 105,081]

Everyone's preferences vary.
 
For me, if I'm doing Gumbo it's always seafood.

I make three different gumbos:

Duck andouille (if I’ve gone hunting that year)
Seafood - was my primary gumbo growing up (make your own stock with shrimp shells, crab)
Smoked chicken andouille (using the chicken trimmings to make stock; this gumbo is my wife’s favorite)

Make whatever kinds you like.

[LCHorn 2,615]

On 5/29/2024 at 4:29 PM, dcbc said:

Been there.  My now-wife and I made a pot of gumbo to take to a party.  For some reason, she had her dad's car that weekend.  As we drove it over there, it sloshed all over the carpet.  We never got the smell out, and it did not improve over time.

Rookie move-when you transport it you first put the pot in a large garbage bag.  

[South Austin 52,457]

12 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

I make three different gumbos:

Duck andouille (if I’ve gone hunting that year)
Seafood - was my primary gumbo growing up (make your own stock with shrimp shells, crab)
Smoked chicken andouille (using the chicken trimmings to make stock; this gumbo is my wife’s favorite)

Make whatever kinds you like.

I've only done seafood gumbo once, and I made the stock with shrimp shells.  It was good, but I've always been more of a meat gumbo guy.

My kids love duck gumbo.  I make the roux with rendered duck fat, and use duck breast for the meat.

My staple is chicken and sausage.

My absolute favorite is turkey gumbo using leftover Thanksgiving turkey and making the stock out of the turkey carcass.  It fucks, and I've posted it before on this thread.

[Brisketexan 105,081]

10 minutes ago, South Austin said:

I've only done seafood gumbo once, and I made the stock with shrimp shells.  It was good, but I've always been more of a meat gumbo guy.

My kids love duck gumbo.  I make the roux with rendered duck fat, and use duck breast for the meat.

My staple is chicken and sausage.

My absolute favorite is turkey gumbo using leftover Thanksgiving turkey and making the stock out of the turkey carcass.  It fucks, and I've posted it before on this thread.

On the turkey gumbo, what makes it is absolutely the stock.  You get so much fantastic rich stock out of that carcass that it elevates the whole thing.  PS, if you can get a neighbor who isn't much of a cook to give you THEIR carcass as well, so you can make a super-rich stock with multiple turkey carcasses.....winning.

[BHMCruiser 1,813]

On 5/29/2024 at 4:48 PM, dcbc said:

See above.  That smell did not age well.

We lost a goldfish ... somewhere ... in my wife's car during a near accident on the New Jersey Turnpike years ago. I pulled the seats out, pulled the carpet out, you name it. Could never find it. We had to sell the car. 

 

Still refer to it as the "Fishtastrophe."

[dcbc 14,465]

14 minutes ago, BHMCruiser said:

We lost a goldfish ... somewhere ... in my wife's car during a near accident on the New Jersey Turnpike years ago. I pulled the seats out, pulled the carpet out, you name it. Could never find it. We had to sell the car. 

 

Still refer to it as the "Fishtastrophe."

When my kids were little, we made our share of Texas car cheese from sippy-cups full of milk they decided to discard under the seats during the summer without our immediate knowledge.

[tx 3 putt 76,874]

Good turkey gumbo is GREAT !!!!

[South Austin 52,457]

39 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

On the turkey gumbo, what makes it is absolutely the stock.  You get so much fantastic rich stock out of that carcass that it elevates the whole thing.  

Yeah, for some reason turkey stock is richer and on a whole other level than chicken stock.  Which is a bit odd, because to me turkey meat is generally drier than chicken meat.  

[Brisketexan 105,081]

Just now, South Austin said:

Yeah, for some reason turkey stock is richer and on a whole other level than chicken stock.  Which is a bit odd, because to me turkey meat is generally drier than chicken meat.  

Turkey breasts are usually an abomination before the lord.  You can have all the crappy white meat you want.  Turkey dark meat is mi-t-fine.  Also, people tend to roast really large turkeys, so the breast meat is even drier.  Ideal turkey size is 10-12 lbs or so.  Bonus: two of those carcasses easily crush down into my stock pot.

Goddammit, now I'm itching for some good stock.

[utee94 15,808]

The breast meat from an injected and deep-fried turkey is moist and juicy af.  

[Brisketexan 105,081]

24 minutes ago, utee94 said:

The breast meat from an injected and deep-fried turkey is moist and juicy af.  

That's why I said "usually."  You can deep fry the whole bird.  You can cut the breast into pieces and fry or cook with moist heat methods, and it's fine.  But there's a reason that 99% of roasted turkey breast meat needs gravy.

Also, I've never used a fried turkey carcass to make stock.  I bet that's pretty good.

[utee94 15,808]

17 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Also, I've never used a fried turkey carcass to make stock.  I bet that's pretty good.

Yeah I was wondering about that, I haven't done it either.  I also wonder, do BBQ carcasses make good stock or is it just too strong?

 

 

[Brisketexan 105,081]

Just now, utee94 said:

Yeah I was wondering about that, I haven't done it either.  I also wonder, do BBQ carcasses make good stock or is it just too strong?

 

 

See my note about smoking some dark meat quarters above.  I smoke 5-6 quarters.  I let them cool, pick all the meat off and put in a ziplock in the fridge.  Then, I take all the bones, skin, and trimmings, and make my stock with that.  It definitely adds some smokiness, but because chicken smokes pretty quickly, the trimmings don't get TOO smokey, so it just adds something more to the stock.

I did the same with a smoked turkey I made one year (BTW, the brined and then quickly smoked turkey is a WINNER -- moist, salty, smokey, just damned good), and the carcass made excellent gumbo stock.

[utee94 15,808]

1 minute ago, Brisketexan said:

See my note about smoking some dark meat quarters above.  I smoke 5-6 quarters.  I let them cool, pick all the meat off and put in a ziplock in the fridge.  Then, I take all the bones, skin, and trimmings, and make my stock with that.  It definitely adds some smokiness, but because chicken smokes pretty quickly, the trimmings don't get TOO smokey, so it just adds something more to the stock.

I did the same with a smoked turkey I made one year (BTW, the brined and then quickly smoked turkey is a WINNER -- moist, salty, smokey, just damned good), and the carcass made excellent gumbo stock.

Oh yeah, BBQ turkey makes for moist and delicious white meat, too.  That's all we do for T-day anymore, my dad fries one and I smoke one.  We haven't made a roasted bird in over a decade.

[South Austin 52,457]

1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

But there's a reason that 99% of roasted turkey breast meat needs gravy.