Gumbo, Baby!

The coolness creeping up on us masqueraded as Spring for me one day this past week. I was walking with my best friend along a route we'd covered many times over the years and our conversation was also scampering over old fields with new fodder.
Our trip included crossing a short bridge that always makes me feel closer to the sky. In the few seconds we were at the apex I looked up, as I always do, to see what particular flavor of blue sky I was being graced with when a sharp breeze came across the bay and for that quick interval of seconds I smelled Spring.
Spring is still months away despite my hope to skip past fall and winter to my favorite time as a Daughter of Demeter.
There are still green things to harvest and eat, canned things from summer and cured meats from the last cold time to bring together in my favorite cool weather meal, Gumbo.
Shrimp, crab, fishies and chicken have no place in gumbo for me as a Florida girl. I don't like chicken and think burying crab or shrimp in soup-y stew-y things is WRONG. More on that later.
For now, this is my way to accept Fall.

Basic Sausage Gumbo

1 large red onion, diced
1 pound country sausage, sliced in 1/8" pieces (use 1/2 this amount if you are watching bad fats and boost the flavor with Vigo Ham Soup Base to taste)
1 green pepper, diced
4-5 stalks celery, chopped
2 32-oz cans petite diced tomatoes
2 cloves diced garlic
1 32 ounce container chicken stock
1 16 oz bag frozen sliced okra OR 2 cups fresh sliced okra
2 tsp sea salt
tbl paprika
many grinds of pepper
pinch paprika
some crushed red pepper and a bit of Cavender's
pinch or so of rubbed sage
ROUX

Here's the hard part. You need a good pot (meaning not light-weight or thin bottomed), 8 tbls of good oil (extra virgin olive or grape seed oil, something good flavored and good for you) and 8 tbl flour.
Add the oil to the pot, heat over medium until shimmering and add the flour. Stir steadily to combine oil and flour until the mix is a soft gold, about 15 minutes. This stuff is liquid napalm so be careful not to get any on you. I like to use a flat whisk that has a heat-proof coating on it.IF YOUR BURN THE ROUX, DUMP IT OUT AND START OVER. Burned roux stinks and smells burned so you'll know if you've crossed that line. Roux requires constant stirring, no walking away to pour fresh wine or answer the door unless you have prehensile toes and can call them to stirring duty. You can easily ruin your dinner with burned roux.
After getting your roux pretty, thick and bubbly, pour in the vegetables (except okra) and stir very quickly to coat in the roux. The vegetables and the roux will act like you have just provided hem with a mortal insult by glomming together to make you think they're going to burn. Just keep stirring quickly with a wooden or other favorite spoon and it'll be OK:)
Continue stirring for about a minute to start the onions releasing their fragrance and then stir in one can of the tomatoes and about 3/4 of the chicken broth. Add seasoning and the sausage. Keep the heat at medium/medium high. At this point you decide if you want more tomato or not. I usually do, but at least one can of mine is whirred into a crushed state with an immersion blender. You can just buy tomatoes that are crushed already, but my pantry never makes that elusive can availabe when I need it.
This will also be the point at which you start thinking about adding the rest of the stock or not. A gumbo can be the consistency of a stew or a soup or in-between depending on your decisions along the way and whether or not you like rice with your gumbo. You can still change your mind as you move along the spectrum of cooking this dish.
Put the sliced okra in now, check seasonings, cover and reduce heat to medium low. Let it bubble along for about twenty minutes (range tops vary so if your's runs hot, get the heat lower so you don't burn your masterpiece). Check the flavor to see if you need salt/pepper/paprika/etc and add whatever your tastebuds dictate. Now is the time to decide whether you need that last bit of stock or more tomatoes if you didn't add them earlier. Make your decision, bring to a quick boil if you add anything, reduce to a low simmer afterwards. Cover the pot and let it simmer along for at least thirty minutes, an hour if you have it.

Gumbo is one of those dishes that becomes yours, just like really good chilis. The flavors and vegetable amounts that you and your family like are what matters.

Shades of Age and food for life

I saw someone today whom I have loved for many years and he has become a shadow of himself. He was once a robust man full of ideas whose very presence brightened a room and wooed all within that room to his way of thinking.
As far as I can tell my beloved friend is not ill, just confused about the best path to a long and healthy life.
He is not the first person I've known or heard of who believed that nearly starving oneself will lead to longevity. As for me, the only really old people I've ever seen who were in their full senses and in control of their faculties had some meat on their bones. Not fat, just not ascetic.

I love food and love to cook and love knowing that I can orchestrate meals that are good for us.

I hope to convince my friend that good eating is good for him - and I may start with some of these recipes.


Sausage Gumbo

I know, that just sounds awful, but the lycopene in the tomatoes, cayenne and chili in the seasoning, and the general goodness of onions, peppers and celery are all good for a body.

1 bag cut okra or one pound fresh, cut into 1/2 slices
1 pound sausage links, country sausage preferably
1 red onion, diced
2 diced bell peppers
3 diced celery stalks
1 can chicken broth
2 32 oz cans petite diced tomatoes
9 tbl Wondra flour
7 Tbl Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Seasoning: Chili powder, thyme, garlic salt, paprika, sage and a bit of cayenne - sea salt and ground pepper OR just get some good Creole seasoning, like Tony Cachere's and add to it.

Pour the oil in a big pot over medium high, add flour when the oil shimmers and begin whisking the flour into the oil. Make a nice roux, I've never had it take more than eight minutes of steady whisking when I use Wondra and olive oil.
Pour your diced trinity into the roux and stir to cover and cook for a minute, add the sausage, tomatoes and broth and stir again. Add enough water to cover everything and add an inch.
Now the waiting starts - simmer and stir, add Okra, then simmer and stir some more, then taste and season.
The gumbo should be done and delicious after an hour and is usually better the next day as the flavors love up on each other:)
Serve over Jasmine rice and feel good about eating good food that has lots in it that's good for you!

I just took a pot of this to my son and daughter-in-law this afternoon to keep them nourished as they celebrate their first week as parents. The scent of my gumbo gently re-heating on their stove wafted my way when I kissed my little grand-infant farewell.
I left knowing they would eat well and that my tiny Pixie infant would get the benefit of it later when her Mama nursed her.