My mom, who lives with me, is Cajun. Growing up, the end stage of turkey was brown gumbo. Because my father objected to seasonings, the brown gumbo of my childhood was rather bland. It turns out this always annoyed my mom, who a couple of years ago (after a stroke) left him and declared that she was done eating “boring food.” (On a related note, she has developed an obsession with Indian food.) Anyhow, today is gumbo day. Because a roux is not essential to the flavor of red gumbo (Creole gumbo - the kind with okra and tomato), that’s the direction I went. It technically still should have a roux, but I don’t care. We’re calling it “Yumbo” and there is no roux. It contains onion, celery, bell pepper (green & red), garlic, bacon fat, turkey, bacon, smoked andouille, crawfish tails, chicken broth, canned puréed tomatoes, okra, bay leaves, thyme, parsley, black & red pepper (seasoning), mustard powder, salt, scallion, and filè (sassafras). It goes over white rice for everyone who isn’t me. I ate a bunch of it focusing on the meats. Okra is really low carb and low glycemic index, but I was still minimizing veg. I ate soup with a fork. (The pictured red bowl is for my 14YO son, the competitive swimmer and bottomless pit. It has rice.) Highly recommend.

Posted by Jenifer Anderson at 2023-11-28 00:55:33 UTC