Cooking for Zo

This one is going to take some time over the stove but is well worth the work. Zo and I were talking about some Andouille gumbo we had in New Orleans during our Thanksgiving visit to my family and I decided to give gumbo a go. I have helped my dad make it before but he never puts any kind of meat in it. He always says, "Gumbo is seafood and if it does not have okra it is not gumbo, my mom, my grandmother and my great grandmothers gumbos always had okra." He really liked my version but said, "This is more like a pan roast because it does not have okra." That said everyone enjoyed this gumbo (and my dad enjoyed this pan roast.)

Ingredients:
2 slices of bacon
1 cup butter
1 tbsp garlic olive oil
1 tsp white truffle oil
1 cup flour
1 bunch green onion (chopped)
1 medium red onion(chopped)
1 small sweet yellow onion (chopped)
1 jalapeno (deseeded, deviened and diced)
5-6 cloves garlic (minced)
1 green bell pepper (chopped)
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
1 pound garlic herb rotisserie turkey (skin and meat chopped)
1 package Cajun Andouille sausage (cut into 1/8 inch slices)
1 package seafood blend (Trader Joe's shrimp, calamari rings and bay scallops)
2 6 oz cans of cooked crab meat
1 quart chicken stock (I used Rachael Ray's chicken stock to save time)
2 cups veggie bullion
3 bay leaves
1 cup Italian Parsley (coarsely chopped)
2 pinches garlic salt
1-2 tsp essence to desired taste
1-2 tsp crack pepper to desired taste

In a large sauce pan over medium-high heat cook bacon and Andouille in 1 tbsp garlic olive oil and 1 tsp truffle oil until bacon is crisp and Andouille is browning. Then remove the bacon (eat) and Andouille (set aside.)

Reduce heat to medium-low. Move sauce pan to unheated burner and allow to cool for 2-3 minutes. At this time add the butter and as it is melting gently whisk the butter together with the oil. Move sauce pan back to medium-low heated burner and slowly whisk in flour till smooth. Cover and let cook 15-18 minutes (it should look peanut butter colored.)

Immediately with a wooden spoon, fold in onions (yellow and red,) jalapeno, bell pepper, garlic and bay leaves into the roux. Cover and let cook 8 minutes (or veggies are softening.) Stir in stock and bullion with whisk. Slowly bring the mixture to boil stirring occasionally. Once boiling reduce heat and let simmer 15 minutes.

Add seasonings, roasted tomatoes, turkey and Andouille and let simmer 10 minutes. Add all seafood and let cook 5-7 minutes then add parsley and green onions and cook and additional 5-7 minutes.


This meal is delicious and can be frozen in Tupperware for future "what are we going to have for dinner" use.