Turkey Andouille Gumbo
This year, I'm thankful for all the incredibly tough women in my life, past, present, and future. I come from a family of some pretty strong and badass women, and like obviously that’s an ideal incubator for a gayby. When I was six months old, my mom and my Aunt Karen would take me around the New Orleans area in my little car seat delivering home cooked meals to people living with HIV and AIDS. The meal delivery was part of a program called Food for Friends, which my grandmother’s sister, my Great Aunt Rose, helped to establish--against the prevailing ideology at the time that ostracized and ignored the concerns of HIV+ people and people living with AIDS.
At one point, Food for Friends put out a cookbook to raise funds. My Maw-Maw (my great-grandmother) had a killer gumbo recipe that made its way into the cookbook, and I'm glad it did. I read through it and over the years have tweaked it to be my own, adjusting it to be the perfect post-Thanksgiving gumbo. In addition to being a link to my family history, this recipe is my personal favorite part of Thanksgiving week, second only to naps. It’s a great way to use leftover turkey in the days following Thanksgiving and gives you an excuse to have people over again so soon, because a pot of gumbo is best enjoyed with your favorite people. If you’re making this at some other time of year / don’t already have turkey made, I’ve included a quick recipe for roasting a couple turkey drumsticks.
Oh, and in case you're wondering why the heck there’s potato salad in these photos in place of rice, blame the German-Cajun side of me. It’s a niche and controversial choice in South Louisiana, and many gumbo purists will tell you to just stick to rice, but I think a nice gamey dark-roux gumbo like this one is made so perfect with a mustardy, dilly potato salad plopped on top. I’ll sometimes do rice on the bottom and potatoes on the top, but if the whole potato salad thing freaks you out you can absolutely just use rice if you’d prefer. Recipe below!
The finished roux
Adding in the green onion and parsley
Green onion, parsley, and sausage simmering in the roux
Turkey Andouille Gumbo
Makes about 5 quarts.
1.5 cup all-purpose flour
1.5 cup canola oil or vegetable oil
3-4 small-medium white onions, chopped
1 large bell pepper, chopped
2 cups (about 5 large stalks) celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 bunch green onions (about 1/2 cup), chopped
1/2 bunch parsley (about 1 cup lightly packed), chopped
1 lb Andouille sausage, sliced
6 cups chicken stock
3 cups cooked turkey meat, shredded
Salt and pepper to taste
Gumbo filé and/or hot sauce to taste
Begin by making a roux.* Heat oil in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. When oil begins to bubble slightly, add flour in slowly and stir constantly to prevent sticking and burning (a flat-ended wooden spatula or metal whisk works best). Cook and stir constantly 45 minutes to an hour, or until roux is a shade darker than peanut butter, something close to milk chocolate. If making roux ahead of time, pour into a large sheet pan with a 1" lip lined with parchment paper*, cover with plastic wrap, and freeze up to 1 month.
Lower heat to medium-low and add onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic to pot and stir so that roux is covering vegetables evenly. Saute 10-15 minutes, or until vegetables become slightly translucent and begin to fall out of shape, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.
Add green onions, parsley, andouille, and chicken stock. Add salt and pepper to your liking.
Turn heat to medium to bring gumbo to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and let simmer 1.5 hours.
Add shredded cooked turkey meat and simmer another 30 minutes.
Serve over white rice or with a scoop of potato salad (recipe below) on top. Season individual servings with filé and/or hot sauce to your preference.
Potato Salad
3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp buttermilk
3/4 cup celery, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 Tbsp dijon mustard
2 Tbsp coarse ground mustard
2 Tbsp dill, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
3 large baked russet potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
Combine all non-potato ingredients in a medium to large mixing bowl and whisk evenly. Add potatoes and stir until fully incorporated. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes before serving.
Turkey Drumsticks
If you don't already have cooked turkey leftovers.
2 turkey legs
1 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp oil or melted butter
Preheat oven to 350*. Cover turkey legs in a thin layer of salt on both sides, then cover the tops with a thin layer of oil or melted butter. Place on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, until juices run clear or a meat thermometer reads 165 degree when inserted into the thickest portion of the drumtick.
NOTES
Anyone who knows gumbo knows that the roux is where it's at - but it's also one of the steps most easily messed up. To make sure you don't burn your roux, check out this helpful guide.
We recommend freezing the roux in a thin layer because it makes it easier to break up once frozen if you aren't using all of the roux at once. However, if you plan on using the whole batch you can go ahead and freeze it in a standard tupperware container.
Like so many dishes from South Louisiana, gumbo only gets better after a day or so. This recipe will stay good in the fridge in an air-tight container for up to one week.
