Steph's Mardi Gras Gumbo

Every Cajun has a favorite gumbo recipe.  Some think that the inclusion of tomatoes will make the Virgin Mary cry.  Others shun okra and say downright cranky things about it, specifying that purists only thicken their brew with the sassafras powder called gumbo file.  Some like it thick; some like it thin; most like it hot. All meats and seafood are game for gumbo.  Smoked andouille sausage and Cajun tasso, a smoked lean ham, make gumbo soar to haute cuisine heights by giving the other players in the gumbo added support.  Courir de Mardi Gras is a rural celebration where an all-male costumed posse rides house-to-house on horseback in Mamou, Louisiana, collecting (stealing) ingredients for gumbo. No chicken in the yard nor vegetable in the garden is safe from these roaming scavengers.  At evening, in the town square, all are invited to share in the gumbo made from the pirated bounty.

This holiday season we were given a Greenwood smoked turkey.  We traveled to another city to celebrate Christmas, so the turkey, holiday wrapping and all, was stashed in the freezer.  My husband, in one of his recent cleaning and culling fevers, plunked the frozen carcass down on the kitchen island and said, "let's use this bird in something or it's joining your refrigerator mold collection in the trash!"  Being the flag-waving Cajun that I am thought to myself, "woohoo! gumbo."  So, this Mardi Gras, Steve didn't dress in a bright satin costume and mount a horse, but we did celebrate with a very smoky, jalapeno-laced turkey gumbo made possible by his frenzied freezer scavenger hunt.

Seasoning Mix:
2 t sweet paprika
1 ½ t Tony Chachere’s seasoning
¾ t dry mustard
¾ black pepper
½ ground cumin
4 bay leaves

Making the Gumbo:

2 T vegetable oil
2- 3 lbs. roasted chicken, smoked turkey, or whatever smoked poultry you have on hand
2 cups chopped onions 8 green onions, chopped
2 cups chopped green pepper
12-15 cups chicken broth
1 t minced garlic
2 links smoked sausage, beef or turkey
2 cans Trappey’s okra gumbo
1 cup prepared roux (found in a glass jar in spice section of grocery store)
cooked rice
Gumbo file
Season at end with peppers in vinegar or jalapenos

Heat 2 T vegetable oil in stock pot. Saute all raw vegetables. Add another T vegetable oil and roux. Stir together. When heated, add broth, seasoning mix, canned okra, sausage and chicken. Simmer for 2-3 hours on low heat or until visibly thickened. Cool in refrigerator overnight. Adjust seasoning, if needed. Reheat and serve with rice, gumbo file, and peppers in vinegar.