New Orleans Style Turkey Gumbo Recipes

AUTHENTIC NEW ORLEANS STYLE GUMBO

Steps:

• Make the Roux*: In a large, heavy bottom stock pot combine flour and oil. Cook on medium-low heat, stirring constantly for 30-45 minutes. This part takes patience--when it's finished it should be as dark as chocolate and have a soft, "cookie dough" like consistency. Be careful not to let it burn! Feel free to add a little more flour or oil as needed to reach this consistency.
• Brown the sausage. In a separate skillet on medium-high heat place the sausage slices in one layer in the pan. Brown them well on one side (2-3 minutes) and then use a fork to flip each over onto the other side to brown. Remove to a plate.
• Cook the vegetables in broth. Add 1/2 cup of the chicken broth to the hot skillet that had the sausage to deglaze the pan. Pour the broth and drippings into your large soup pot.
• Add remaining 5 1/2 cups of chicken broth. Add veggies, parsley, and roux to the pot and stir well.
• Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil for 5-7 minutes, or until the vegetables are slightly tender. (Skim off any foam that may rise to the top of the pot.) Stir in cajun seasoning, to taste.
• Add meat. Add chicken, sausage, and shrimp.
• Taste and serve. At this point taste it and add more seasonings to your liking--salt, pepper, chicken bullion paste, garlic, more Joe's stuff or more chicken broth--until you reach the perfect flavor. Serve warm over rice. (Tastes even better the next day!)

NEW ORLEANS-STYLE TURKEY GUMBO

Steps:

• Stir all the spices together in a small bowl. Set aside.
• In a Dutch oven or large cast iron pot, heat oil over medium heat.
• Whisk the flour into the oil until incorporated and smooth. The roux will resemble a thin cake batter. Stir continuously to prevent from burning, 20 to 25 minutes, until roux takes on a deep brown color. You may need to lower the heat to medium low toward the end.
• Reduce the heat to medium low. Add the onions, stirring them into the roux with a wooden spoon until the roux is a glossy dark brown.
• Add celery, bell pepper, garlic, and gumbo spice blend. Stir for a minute before adding stock, beer, rosemary, and sage sprigs. Bring to a light boil, then reduce the heat back to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes.
• Add the andouille, turkey, tomatoes, okra, and liquid smoke. Simmer for another 30 minutes.
• Remove the rosemary and sage sprigs. Add Worcestershire, filé, and salt and pepper to taste.
• Serve gumbo with rice or leftover mashed potatoes and garnish with chopped sage. This is even better the next day.

GOOD NEW ORLEANS CREOLE GUMBO

Steps:

• Make a roux by whisking the flour and 3/4 cup bacon drippings together in a large, heavy saucepan over medium-low heat to form a smooth mixture. Cook the roux, whisking constantly, until it turns a rich mahogany brown color. This can take 20 to 30 minutes; watch heat carefully and whisk constantly or roux will burn. Remove from heat; continue whisking until mixture stops cooking.
• Place the celery, onion, green bell pepper, and garlic into the work bowl of a food processor, and pulse until the vegetables are very finely chopped. Stir the vegetables into the roux, and mix in the sausage. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-low heat, and cook until vegetables are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat, and set aside.
• Bring the water and beef bouillon cubes to a boil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot. Stir until the bouillon cubes dissolve, and whisk the roux mixture into the boiling water. Reduce heat to a simmer, and mix in the sugar, salt, hot pepper sauce, Cajun seasoning, bay leaves, thyme, stewed tomatoes, and tomato sauce. Simmer the soup over low heat for 1 hour; mix in 2 teaspoons of file gumbo powder at the 45-minute mark.
• Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons of bacon drippings in a skillet, and cook the okra with vinegar over medium heat for 15 minutes; remove okra with slotted spoon, and stir into the simmering gumbo. Mix in crabmeat, shrimp, and Worcestershire sauce, and simmer until flavors have blended, 45 more minutes. Just before serving, stir in 2 more teaspoons of file gumbo powder.

AUTHENTIC CAJUN TURKEY GUMBO

Steps:

• Crack the turkey carcass into several pieces.
• Place the turkey carcass and legs into a large soup kettle with 3 qts of water and 1 tsp salt.
• Boil for one hour.
• Remove the carcass and legs and cool.
• Remove the meat from the bones and discard the bones.
• Reserve the stock and the meat.
• In a heavy Dutch pven over medium heat, heat the grease and the oil.
• Add the flour, stirring constantly, and cook until it turns a deep, mahogany brown.
• Add the celery, onion, bell pepper, garlic, and parsley.
• Cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring constantly.
• Add the okra and sausage and continue cooking for 5 minutes.
• Add 2 qts of water, 2 qts turkey stock Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, tomatoes, salt, bacon, bay leaves, and cayenne.
• Simmer, covered, for 2.5-3 hours, stirring occasionally.
• Add the turkey meat and simmer for 30 minutes.
• Just before serving, add the brown sugar and lemon juice.

NEW ORLEANS GUMBO

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, bring broth to a boil. Stir in the rice, celery, onion and garlic. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes., Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, combine the tomatoes, chicken, kielbasa, thyme, pepper, bay leaves and cayenne. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes., Combine flour and water until smooth; gradually stir into chicken mixture. Stir in shrimp and green pepper. Cook, uncovered, over medium heat for 4-6 minutes or until shrimp turn pink and gumbo is thickened. Discard bay leaves., Remove rice from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes; stir in parsley. Serve with gumbo.