Gumbo Good

On Saturday, Aaron and I looked at the calendar and realized that we may not have another completely free weekend until Christmas.  I have been wanting to make a pot of gumbo, so we decided this might be our only chance.  The weather in Atlanta was nice, but not exactly gumbo inspiring, but we figured we should make the most of the weekend. 
I forgot just how long it takes to make what ends up being enough gumbo to feed a small country.  Saturday evening Aaron helped by chopping all the vegetables.  A few onion induced tears and many batches through the Cuisinart yielded about 6 cups of chopped onion, celery, and bell pepper.  I worked on boiling the chicken to make the stock and then de-boning all of the chicken.  The recipe I use calls for 8 ducks, but since I don't have whole ducks hanging around, I went with about 10 pounds of chicken. 
Sunday we came home from church and I started on the roux.  This is the part that I had forgotten how long it takes to make. I stood and stirred for a few hours, then Aaron offered to take over.  After about 4 1/2 hours we had a roux the color of chocolate.  If patience is love, then gumbo is one big love fest. 
From there it goes pretty quick because you add the veggies and let those cook with the roux for a bit, then the chicken and a couple of gallons of stock go in and it just simmers for a couple of hours.  The sausage and andouille go in last along with the extra seasoning.  About 8:30 last night we enjoyed the fruits of all our labors.  It was well worth it because it tasted delicious!
I told Aaron that we should start a pot of gumbo when I go into labor and we will be sure that we don't end up at the hospital too early!

Comments

Nikki said…
That is a labor of love!!!
Natalie said…
I just had some for lunch and boy was it tasty! The hard word paid off!

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