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November 26, 2006
Leftover Turkey and Smoked Sausage Gumbo
Tonight I made my favorite Thanksgiving-leftovers recipe. I learned it from my brother, who made it with chicken, but there's no reason why you can't substitute turkey. Since we always have white-meat turkey left over, it's usually pretty easy to scrounge up 2 cups for this. You can omit the okra if you don't like it, but I've found it doesn't really taste like anything, it just thickens things a bit more. I only add it because Brian says it's not gumbo if it doesn't have okra (despite my attempts to explain file gumbo).
Oh, and it probably goes without saying that all good cooks will strip the turkey carcass and make stock for this soup. I am not a good cook, so I used canned low-sodium chicken broth.
Tonight's attempt came out okay, not great. It was slightly gritty, so I don't think we cooked it long enough. Also, it wasn't quite dark enough, at least in my opinion.
Turkey and Smoked Sausage Gumbo
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup flour
1 medium onion, diced
1-2 stalks of celery, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
1/2 - 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
1/2 lb. smoked sausage, diced or cut in half moons
1/2 box frozen okra, or 1 cup sliced fresh okra (optional)
6 cups turkey stock, or chicken broth
2 cups chopped cooked turkey
Combine flour and oil in a heavy soup pot. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly and scraping bottom, until roux is a chocolate brown color, or until you're afraid it will burn - 20 to 30 minutes.
Add onion, celery, pepper, salt, and cayenne to roux and stir thoroughly. It will bubble furiously at first. Stir frequently for 5 minutes.
Add sausage and okra. Stir and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Stir in stock/broth.
Bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered for 45 minutes to an hour, stirring occasionally.
Check seasoning and add more salt or cayenne if desired.
Add turkey meat. Simmer for 20 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
Serve gumbo in soup bowls with hot steamed rice. We had brown rice with ours, along with a healthy dash of Tabasco.
Posted by Laura at November 26, 2006 07:54 PM
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Comments
GumboMan uses his turkey carcass to make the stock, and any bits of turkey left go in with the chicken. Have to be careful of the dark meat, it can get stringy if it cooks to long. Also, adding a pound of shrimp for the last 5 minutes can be tasty!
Okra---booo
File---booo
Naturally thickened----yea!
Posted by: GumboMan at March 2, 2007 07:46 PM