The bad thing about taking photos of your food is eventually you start realizing that you keep using the same bowls over and over. Maybe someone needs to give me more soup bowls for Christmas!
Anyway, this Turkey Gumbo I made was such a smash hit that everyone in the family ate several helpings of it and we were negotiating for leftovers. I think I ate the last bowl of it for breakfast one day.
This recipe is adapted from one by Emeril Lagasse. Emeril did it on Good Morning America in 2002 and I printed it off right away. The other day I tried to google it up on the Food Network site and found it gone. No matter. I pretty much veered off it right after the roux and "trinity" anyway.
3/4 cup oil
3/4 cup flour
2 large onions, chopped
1 large green pepper, chopped
3 or 4 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 pound smoked sausage (I use Carolina Pride), andouille or kielbasa, cut in half the long way and then chopped into bite-sized pieces the short way
Turkey broth from boiling the carcass
Okra
Leftover turkey
Some shrimp (maybe 12 ounces?)
Salt, to taste
Cayenne, to taste
2 Bay leaves
File powder
Cooked rice (I prefer Basmati)
Combine the oil and flour in the bottom of a 5 quart dutch oven. Cook on medium, stirring constantly, until it turns the color of a chocolate bar. Emeril says it should take as long as it takes to drink 2 beers. It's about 25 minutes.
Add the onions, bell pepper and celery. Add a pinch of salt and a dash of cayenne. Cook, stirring until the vegetables are coated with the roux and the onion starts to get translucent.
Add the sausage. Cook until the sausage starts to rend its' fat.
Add the okra and enough turkey broth to make the soup the consistency you want. You may wish to make it thinner than the final product, as you have to add the turkey and shrimp later. You can always add more broth at the end, though.
Drop in the bay leaves and adjust the seasoning. You may not need much salt, since the sausage pretty much takes care of that.
Bring it to a low boil. Turn down to a simmer and cover. Allow it to cook for a while. Maybe an hour. But if you are hungry now, just go 15 minutes.
About 10 minutes before you eat it, add the turkey and the shrimp. Adjust the broth amount and seasonings. Now is when I put in most of the final amount of cayenne.
Serve over rice and sprinkle each serving with File powder.
Now, you don't have to have okra in your gumbo. And you really could have some tomatoes in there. I like tomatoes in mine. I just didn't put them in this time because the broth was already fairly thin and I didn't want to thin it out more.
