Turkey Gumbo

Turkey Gumbo

To be honest with you, this post has been sitting in my draft file for a long, long while. I originally wrote it right after Thanksgiving and as I do, I got sidetracked...and then it was Christmas. I did make this twice over the holidays: once after Thanksgiving and once after Christmas.

For the past few years I have been making turkey gumbo instead of turkey noodle soup. We were really burnt out on the turkey noodle and I felt the gumbo was a good alternative. Besides, my family really liked it. The past two years, I have been making this gumbo after Christmas as well. Damon's grandmother sends up about 10 pounds of Gulf Shrimp to my Father-in-Law, Ron. While he likes shrimp a whole lot, he's no about to eat 10 pounds of it. So, perfect for the gumbo! Now, I do want to note that I am in no way, shape or form, from Louisiana. I also do not have an heritage from the south - I just really like Cajun and southern food. I've spent a fair amount of time there and I figured out how to cook the food pretty well. So, just put that judgement aside!

This recipe comes from a few that I put together. About 4 or 5 years ago, my mother-in-law, Sam, and I were shopping in this kind of weird, souvenir store in Florida and I found this book called Louisiana Entertains. It's a crazy-ass recipe book, with some great recipes and some questionable ones. It also tells you how to properly entertain, southern style. I loved it. I bought it. I cook from it and have combined several gumbo recipes to make the one that I use now. So, I hope you enjoy it!

Turkey Gumbo

1 bunch of green onions minced
1 small yellow onion minced
3 garlic cloves minced
1 green pepper diced
1 jalepeno diced
4 tomatoes diced
1 cup or 1 small bunch flat leaf parsley minced
1 tspn fresh minced oregano
1 tspn fresh minced thyme
1 bay leaf
2 ribs celery diced
2 carrots diced(optional)
4-5 strips of bacon
2 andouille links sliced
1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tblsp flour or Corn Starch
2 tblsp corn oil
1 quart Turkey Stock (or chicken stock) plus 1 cup of water

In a 5 quart cast iron pot or dutch oven, over medium heat, fry the bacon strips. Once finished, remove bacon strips and set aside. Next, add the 2 tablespoons corn oil and let it heat up about 1 minute. Add to the heated oil the onion and sauté for about 1 minute. Add the garlic, green pepper, jalepeno, and tomato, and sauté for another minute. Add the 2 tblsp flour(if you are gluten free like me - use corn starch). The mixture will start to look thick and clumpy - add the cup of water a bit at a time until it smooths out. Now add all of the rest of the ingredients to the pot and give it a good stir, turn the heat down to medium and cover and simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally.

Serve it with rice, or eat it like soup! Before the gluten situation, I used to love to eat it with a bit of French bread with Provolone Cheese melted right on it!