quick gumbo

Traditionally, 

gumbo is made by cooking a roux (a mix of flour and grease of some sort)

for a very long time.

Not being a fan of okra,

up until a year and a half ago,

I'd never made gumbo.

And I'd only eaten it once.

But Kacy's favorite meal was her momma's gumbo.

And I wanted to make it for her for her birthday.

So I contacted her mom, and begged her to tell me how to make it.

Kac' said it tasted really close to her mom's, so I guess I did good.

And it turned out that everyone enjoyed the gumbo.

Some more than others, but hey, I take what I get.

So - gumbo was added to the meal rotation.

But that darn roux.

First of all - it used flour, and secondly - it took so stinking long.

So I set out to make a gumbo that was good enough for Kacy,

but quick enough for me.

So, here's what I do now: (and it's got both Kacy's and my seal of approval!)

Pour a splash of olive oil in a large pot over medium heat

(lower if you're a slow slicer & dicer)

dice the following and toss 'em in the pot - stirring occasionally

an onion

a bell pepper

a few stalks of celery

and a few garlic cloves (these you can mince or crush however you normally do)

When your veggies are about half done

(if you've read many soup 'recipes' of mine - they all pretty much start like this ;-)

add chicken broth or stock to the pot - a couple of quarts worth - and switch the burner to high.

Add a can of petite diced tomatoes (that's a personal preference - your tomatoes can be diced however you like them)

some season all

Tony Cachere's Creole Seasoning (this is a must - without it, you'll just have 'soup')

and a little bit of cayenne pepper. 

(more of these spices can be added at the table, so the soup isn't too spicy for non-spicy eaters)

Once the broth with veggies is boiling,

add a package of frozen sliced okra.

Then a bunch of cooked chicken.

(You could use a whole chicken's worth, but I usually just use dark meat and save the breasts for chicken salad)

And then, dice a package of andouille or polish sausage (my preference, but andouille is what the original recipe called for)

and add it to the pot

(this is very important, and kids may cry if you forget to buy the sausage.)

Just let it simmer a bit more, 'til all the veggies are done.

If the okra didn't sufficiently thicken up the broth, 

add a TBS or 2 of corn starch to some cold water and add it to the pot and let it cook a few more minutes.

(glocomannan would be a great thickener, too)

That's it!

Serve over cooked brown rice.

(You could easily add the rice to the pot, too.

Tyler and I only eat a little rice, and the kids can eat more, so we just add it to the bowls...)

(Jeremiah saw me working on this post and got all excited. 

Um. We aren't having gumbo for dinner. Sorry, Bud.

It's just - I didn't want to type it all up on my phone (again) for my li'l red-head ;-)

Love you, Kacy)