First, go to the store and get a few big ole yellow onions, a
some of bell peppers, a goodly amount of celery, and some red wine. Chop them up,
and put them in a pot big enough for the gumbo you are making. Put
some cooking oil in there, add salt and pepper to your pleasure and
saute those suckers till everything is soft. While that is going on,
take your chicken, and cut him up into pieces like you would if you
were gonna fry him. Season him a little with salt and pepper, and
then in your big iron skillet, brown him up a little. Keep and eye
on the trinity (onions, peppers and celery) while you do this. As
the chicken browns up, put it in the gumbo pot. Yep, that's a lot of
chicken. Chunk it in.
Now, cut your smoked sausage into
pieces about an inch or so long, and chunk it into the gumbo pot.
Good sausage makes good gumbo, great sausage makes great gumbo. Pour
in the batch of chicken broth you made last night from left over
chicken backs you've been saving for a month. Remember, to take out
the fat that rose to the top and hardened overnight in the
refrigerator. Take your okra, and add it to the gumbo pot. Whole or
chopped, it doesn't matter. Even if you think you don't like okra,
put the okra in. It is going to cook away and be the thickening
agent. The gumbo is just funky chicken soup with out the okra. If
you like good gumbo, put the damn okra in. You just can't make good
gumbo without it, and since you like good gumbo (or you wouldn't be
reading this), you like okra, so shut up and put the damn okra in the
damn pot.
Now, make your roux. Since I came down
with the Sillyass disease, I can't eat anything with wheat gluten or
I'll get the screaming sh*ts for a couple of days, which means a
traditional flour based roux is right out. Nowadays, I use white
rice flour. So, put enough white rice flout in the frying pan you
fried the chicken in to make a nice roux. Keep it moving, and don't
let it burn. It will be difficult to get the rice roux to the right
color, but it will darken some. When it is about as dark as its
gonna get, add it to the gumbo pot, and stir. Now, take the wine
glass you've been drinking out of all morning, and fill it with red
wine. Don't drink this one, pour the red wine, yes..pour the red
wine in the gumbo, and stir. See the nice color? Who needs
stinking wheat flour for a dark gumbo? Let that cook till the
chicken is falling off the bone, then fish the chicken out and remove
the bones. Return the meat to the gumbo pot. Reduce the heat till
it's not too hot, and let it cook till the chicken falls apart.
Serve this over white rice (not minute
rice) with Tabasco.
That's how to cook gumbo.
