Turkey and Sausage Gumbo

Turkey and Sausage Gumbo

4 cups cooked turkey, pulled into bite-sized pieces

Salt

1 teaspoon finely ground black pepper

1 1/4 teaspoons finely ground white pepper

1 teaspoon powdered mustard

1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika

1 teaspoon granulated garlic

1 teaspoon file powder

1 cup flour

1 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup finely chopped onion

3/4 cup finely chopped celery

3/4 cup finely chopped green pepper

9 cups turkey or chicken stock

1 3/4 cups chopped smoked andouille sausage

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon finely minced fresh garlic

1 12-ounce bag frozen okra

2 cups cooked rice

I stirred the salt, peppers, mustard, cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, granulated garlic, and file powder together in a small bowl.  I was out of granulated garlic, so I used 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder instead.

The original recipe starts with raw chicken and walks you through the cooking process.  As I was using cooked turkey, I had to make some adjustments along the way.  Per the recipe, I added two tablespoons of the spice blend to the flour, stirring it until it was well blended.

The recipe calls for making a roux over high heat.  I made a roux once before but ended up burning it, so I was nervous about attempting it again.  After some research, I decided to make it low and slow.  I heated the cup of oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until it was shimmering and then added the seasoned flour.  Using a whisk, I stirred until the mixture turned very dark brown.  The process took about 40 minutes, but in the end, I had a beautiful, flavorful roux.  I added the chopped onion, celery, and green pepper to the roux, continuing to stir it rapidly.  The roux quickly turned almost black.  I took the pan off of the burner.

While the roux was cooking, I heated the stock in a large dutch oven.  Coordinating the timing to have the stock boiling as the roux finished was tricky.  Once the stock started boiling, I turned the burner down so it would stay hot without cooking the liquid away.  When the roux was close to finished, I turned the burner back up to bring the stock back to boiling.

I added 1/2 cup of the roux to the stock, constantly stirring with the whisk.  When it was well blended, I added another 1/2 cup of roux, continuing to stir.  I repeated the process until I had incorporated all of the roux.

I added the smoked andouille sausage to the pot and cooked it over high heat for 15 minutes, stirring often, making sure to scrape the bottom as I did.

I turned the heat down to medium-low and added the turkey, a bay leaf, the minced garlic, and the bag of frozen okra, cooking it for 40 minutes, occasionally stirring.  In the meantime, I cooked the rice in turkey stock.

I tasted the gumbo and decided that it needed a bit more zing, so stirred in the rest of the seasoning mixture.  We wanted to let the flavors marinate before eating the gumbo, so I portioned it into three bags.  We took one with us on our camping trip and froze the other two for later.  When we ate the gumbo, the flavor was spectacular. It had the perfect amount of heat, just this side of too much.  Chris said it was the best thing I have ever cooked for him.

With the rice it has 749 calories per serving, with 37 grams of carbs, 3 grams of fiber, 48 grams of fat, and 40 grams of protein.