The holidays are a wonderful time to remember our elders. I reminisce often about my grandmothers and their influence on my culinary endeavors. But it is my cousin Mark who really nailed it when he wrote an essay about our grandmother Mom Buffett for my first cookbook, “Crazy Sista Cooking”. In it he tells of lessons of the Trinity, the secret ingredient of a perfect roux, and the origins of ‘After-Thanksgiving Turkey and Oyster Gumbo’. He says “to this day, I make sure to save the carcass of our Thanksgiving smoked turkey to use for stock the next day to honor this special tradition.”
I have included Mark’s recipe for ‘Day After Thanksgiving Gumbo’ here. But if you want to know the secret ingredient to the roux, you just might have to buy the cookbook! 😉
What are your favorite family Thanksgiving Traditions? Please share in the comments!
Wishing you all a peaceful and wonderful Thanksgiving week.
All my Gumbo Love, LuLu
COUSIN MARK’S DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING TURKEY GUMBO
Makes 25 cups
1 turkey carcass and any leftover turkey meat
Vegetable trimmings
3 quarts of water
1 pound of andouille sausage or any good quality smoked sausage
2 large onions, coarsely chopped
2 green peppers, coarsely chopped
1 medium head celery, coarsely chopped including leaves
¾ cup vegetable oil or bacon grease
1 cup all purpose flour
8 cups turkey broth
1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes, drained and coarsely chopped
3 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
2 tablespoons dried thyme
4 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 tablespoon LuLu’s Creola Seasoning Mix or any Creole seasoning
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 pounds frozen okra
2 cups, finely chopped green onions
½ cup fresh parsley, washed well and finely chopped
¼ cup LuLu’s Perfect Pepper Sauce or any “medium hot” hot sauce (optional)
1. Place turkey carcass and leftover turkey into a large stock pot. Cover with 3 quarts of water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium to maintain a vigorous simmer.
2. As you prep your vegetables for the gumbo, add trimmings to simmering stock. Skim foam as needed while stock reduces.
3. In the meantime, cut sausage into thin round slices about 1/8 inch thick. In a cast iron or heavy skillet, cook sausage over medium heat until browned. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate covered with paper towels. Set sausage aside to drain. Pat well with paper towels to soak up extra grease.
4. Chop onions and place in a bowl. Set aside.
5. Chop green peppers and celery; place in another bowl. Set aside.
6. To make the roux: heat the vegetable oil or bacon grease in a large heavy stockpot (10 quart) over medium high heat. When oil is hot, gradually add flour whisking continuously. Continue to stir roux adjusting heat as necessary to keep from burning. This may take 25 to 35 minutes or until your arm feels like it is about to fall off and the roux is a dark mahogany color. Be careful, if the roux burns, you will have to start all over again!
7. Carefully add chopped onions to roux and continue stirring with a large wooden spoon for 2 – 3 minutes. Onions will sizzle and steam when they hit the hot roux so caution is advised. All seasoned gumbo cooks have roux battle scars on one or both arms.
8. Add green peppers and celery, continuing to stir constantly for another 2 – 3 minutes. The mixture should resemble a pot of black beans.
9. Pour stock through a large strainer. Discard any skin, bones, and trimmings.
10. Add turkey meat and sausage to roux mixture and stir well.
11. Add strained stock and tomatoes.
12. Add salt, black pepper, thyme, bay leaves, oregano, basil, and Creole seasoning. Stir well. Bring gumbo to a boil and continue boiling for 5 minutes. Then reduce heat to maintain a slow simmer uncovered for approximately hour or an entire day.
13. Add okra and bring back to a boil for 5 minutes. Reduce heat again to maintain a slow simmer uncovered for a minimum of 30 minutes. The longer it simmers the better it gets. If gumbo gets too thick, add a little water. If it is too thin, continue to let it simmer uncovered. Because there is pork sausage in this gumbo, if any oil rises to the top, skim off as necessary.
14. Thirty minutes before serving, add green onions and parsley to gumbo. Cover and cook for 15 minutes.
15. For a spicy flavor, add hot sauce now. Turn off gumbo and cover. Let sit for 10 minutes. It will stay hot for a long time. Correct seasonings and serve over cooked white rice with French bread and butter.
