Hey All!
A week or so ago I had a craving and made a note on my desk that simply read "gumbo". Later that evening my GF said "I feel like we should make gumbo". Yup, that happened and so I had to make it happen. A day or so later the local grocery flyers came out: $0.99/lb for chicken thighs (and legs and whole fryers). So last Sunday I smoked up a big batch of thighs (for the gumbo and a couple to just eat) and legs (just to eat). I pulled the gumbo thighs off the smoker and had to rip off a chunk for a taste and - oh crap - Houston we have a problem... I used too sweet a rub... The flavor was just fine, they were tasty, but it was not a flavor profile that was going to meld well in my gumbo
Fast forward a couple days, I bought a whole 5lb fryer and brined it o/n. Rinsed and dried, hit with some olive oil then a Cajun style low salt rub I had made up to smoke some turkey legs a while ago. And I shoved a 1/2 lemon in the cavity just because I felt like it ;) On the smoker at 250°F for about 4.5hrs. ITs 165°F in the breast and low 170s in the thigh. Ripped off a wing - and yum! This was a flavor that can go in the gumbo (actually I kinda wanted to skip the gumbo and just chow down on the bird ). Let it cool a couple minutes then foiled it and set in the oven on "warm" until I needed it.
To start the gumbo base, I heated up a couple TBSPs of bacon grease in my dutch oven and browned ~1lb of Andouille and 1lb of smoked kielbasa along with ~3oz tasso I had pulled out of the freezer. I then added 1C of veggie oil and got it hot, my GF then started stitting, and I started adding 1C of flour to make the roux. Probably took 10-15min to get it to the nice chocolate brown color I wanted. Turned down heat and added ~2C diced onion and ~1C each celery and green pepper along with another ~3oz tasso. Cooked that about 5min then added ~1TBSP Creole seasoning and cooked another 5min until veggies were soft then added 1 heaping TBSP minced garlic and cooked a couple min more.
Added 2QT chicken stock and another 1 TBSP seasoning and brought to a simmer, then tossed in all the sausage and brought to a boil for ~15min, skimming fat every now and then. I also added ~1TBSP fresh lemon thyme. Meanwhile I pulled the chicken and after the fat skimming tossed that in the pot too along with another 1C onion and 0.5C each celery and green pepper. Turned down to a simmer and added ~0.5C water, covered lightly and let go for ~45min stirring occasionally. Did a little taste now and then and adjusted with a little more seasoning and salt. Meanwhile made some brown rice to serve over and topped with a little fresh green onion. Overall turned out great. Maybe not the best I've ever had but pretty darn good
- And not bad for my first attempt Thanks for looking!
A week or so ago I had a craving and made a note on my desk that simply read "gumbo". Later that evening my GF said "I feel like we should make gumbo". Yup, that happened and so I had to make it happen. A day or so later the local grocery flyers came out: $0.99/lb for chicken thighs (and legs and whole fryers). So last Sunday I smoked up a big batch of thighs (for the gumbo and a couple to just eat) and legs (just to eat). I pulled the gumbo thighs off the smoker and had to rip off a chunk for a taste and - oh crap - Houston we have a problem... I used too sweet a rub... The flavor was just fine, they were tasty, but it was not a flavor profile that was going to meld well in my gumbo
Fast forward a couple days, I bought a whole 5lb fryer and brined it o/n. Rinsed and dried, hit with some olive oil then a Cajun style low salt rub I had made up to smoke some turkey legs a while ago. And I shoved a 1/2 lemon in the cavity just because I felt like it ;) On the smoker at 250°F for about 4.5hrs. ITs 165°F in the breast and low 170s in the thigh. Ripped off a wing - and yum! This was a flavor that can go in the gumbo (actually I kinda wanted to skip the gumbo and just chow down on the bird ). Let it cool a couple minutes then foiled it and set in the oven on "warm" until I needed it.
To start the gumbo base, I heated up a couple TBSPs of bacon grease in my dutch oven and browned ~1lb of Andouille and 1lb of smoked kielbasa along with ~3oz tasso I had pulled out of the freezer. I then added 1C of veggie oil and got it hot, my GF then started stitting, and I started adding 1C of flour to make the roux. Probably took 10-15min to get it to the nice chocolate brown color I wanted. Turned down heat and added ~2C diced onion and ~1C each celery and green pepper along with another ~3oz tasso. Cooked that about 5min then added ~1TBSP Creole seasoning and cooked another 5min until veggies were soft then added 1 heaping TBSP minced garlic and cooked a couple min more.
Added 2QT chicken stock and another 1 TBSP seasoning and brought to a simmer, then tossed in all the sausage and brought to a boil for ~15min, skimming fat every now and then. I also added ~1TBSP fresh lemon thyme. Meanwhile I pulled the chicken and after the fat skimming tossed that in the pot too along with another 1C onion and 0.5C each celery and green pepper. Turned down to a simmer and added ~0.5C water, covered lightly and let go for ~45min stirring occasionally. Did a little taste now and then and adjusted with a little more seasoning and salt. Meanwhile made some brown rice to serve over and topped with a little fresh green onion. Overall turned out great. Maybe not the best I've ever had but pretty darn good
- And not bad for my first attempt Thanks for looking!
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