I gather all my ingredients first and do some prep. Chop a whole onion. Chop 2-3 stalks of celery small, and chop up some green pepper. Put those together in a bowl.
get 4 -5 cloves of garlic and mince and set aside for later.
brown your meats first ,any sausage you like , and skinless boneless chicken thighs.
brown them and chop chicken thighs in quarters and season with pepper and Toney’s Creole
take meats out and put in bowl to the side.
make your roux
I start with bacon grease and butter and melt down, add in some flour.
Slowly working it into the fat.
You may need to add a little more flour or fat to get it where you want .. then just start browning it slowly. Stirring constantly.
Your roux will gradually darken and you can smell a nutty smell as it cooks.
For a regularly gravy I would stop at the nutty smell
but for gumbo I keep going till my roux is a deep brown it takes a little while but it’s pretty easy.
I salt and pepper my roux.
once your roux is done you add in your trinity of celery green pepper and onion with a smidge off butter.
then you take your stock and start slowly adding in and stirring to work it in, ( usually you would use chicken broth, I am actually using some home canned turkey bone broth that I made but you can even use water and it will work fine) I had two quarts, I didn’t use all of it at first, I used about a quart and a half while making the gumbo, I used some to flavor my white rice I was cooking and I used the rest after the gumbo had thickened and I wanted to thin it out for leftovers.
Add in your garlic and about 1 or 2 bay leafs.
My hubby has a problem with texture of onions and celery.. I dont , I love it but for his sake at this point I use my stick blender (emulsifier) and I get the trinity all blended nice so he won’t complain lol now you dont have to do this.. but if you happen to have a complainer of your own then this does the trick.
Then I add back in my meats I browned up. Add a pinch of thyme, some paprika, a little red pepper flakes, Toney’s Creole Seasoning, salt, black pepper.
Bring to a boil and let it simmer while you make your rice. I didn’t have any shrimp or I would have added it in at the end. I love shrimp.
Many add some cooked okra. I don’t.
In heavy bottom ones pit with tight fitting lid, bring 3 cups of water, add a little salt, a sliver of butter and add 2 cups of rinsed white rice and a splash of my broth. Bring to boil and stir bottom once to make sure nothings sticking.
Put lid on turn stove on down to the lowest setting and set timer for 20 minutes. Do not take the lid off and after 20 minute timer keep the lid on and keep on the burner but turn the stove off and set timer for 10 more minutes. when timer goes off just toss rice gently with a fork.
SERVE
serve Gumbo over rice or mashed potatoes, or even with cornbread and enjoy.
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