Gumbo

It's winter and I know that because we're cooking gumbo. Jeffrey and I spend lots of Sunday afternoons in the kitchen making gumbo. We cook a big batch and freeze it. There's nothing easier than pulling it out of the freezer and cooking a pot of rice to go with it.

Chicken, Andouille and Shrimp Gumbo

· 1 pound of chicken thighs (Chicken thighs have more flavor but you can also use chicken breasts, a whole hen, or turkey.)
· 2 pounds andouille or smoked sausage, cut into 1/2" pieces (We've used smoked turkey sausage, venison sausage, in addition or instead of andouille, combinations of all three - it all works.)
· 1 cup oil
· 1 cup flour
· 2 bell peppers, chopped
· 2 white onions, chopped
· 4 ribs celery, chopped
· 3 tablespoons of minced garlic
· 2-3 quarts chicken stock
· 2 bay leaves
· 2 tablespoons Creole seasoning
· Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
· 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
· 1 bunch of green onions, tops only, chopped
· 2/3 cup fresh chopped parsley
· Filé powder to taste

Season the chicken with salt and pepper and brown over medium high heat. Brown the sausage, pour off fat, and reserve meats.

In a large, heavy pot, heat the oil and cook the flour in the oil over medium to medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until the roux is almost the color you prefer – anything from peanut butter to chocolate milk to coffee will do.

Add the vegetables and stir quickly. This cooks the vegetables and also stops the roux from cooking further. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, for about 4 minutes.

Add the stock, seasonings, chicken and sausage. Bring to a boil and cook for about one hour, skimming fat off the top as needed.

Add the shrimp, chopped green onions, and parsley. Heat until shrimp is pink.

Serve over rice.

Recipe can be doubled or tripled; it freezes well.

Sunday Supper: Soup and Cornbread

Winter Soup

1 1/2 pounds ground beef or ground turkey
2 medium onions, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped
28 ounce can tomatoes
2 15-oz cans tomato sauce
1 large potato chopped in small dice
2 16-oz packages frozen mixed vegetables
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1 tablespoon salt (That seems like a lot of salt but it seems to need it. You can cut back on the amount, of course, and add other seasonings.)
1/2 cup red wine
1 teaspoon pepper
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock (or water)

Brown meat in large pot. Add onion, bell pepper and celery – cook until soft. Add other ingredients and simmer 3 or 4 hours. Freezes well.

If the recipe sounds familiar, it's a reprint from last season. It's easy and tasty and makes a big pot full of soup. Three of us ate it for dinner last night and we put up five containers in the freezer for other Sunday night suppers.

Winter Soup

The original recipe is called Red Wine Vegetable Soup, although the first ingredient listed is ground beef. There is red wine but not so much that you can’t call it something else.

The recipe comes from a cookbook called The Sharecropper cookbook. It’s full of easy, tried and true recipes. The illustrations come from stitchery pictures embroidered by the late artist, Ethel Wright Mohamed. One of her original works hangs in the Smithsonian. She hails from my hometown of Belzoni, Mississippi.

This soup is a good one to put on the stove and walk away. Those are my favorites.

1 1/2 pounds ground beef or ground turkey
2 medium onions, chopped
1/2 bell pepper, chopped (I put the whole bell pepper. Otherwise, the half would have lounged in the refrigerator until it rotted.)
3 ribs celery, chopped
28 ounce can tomatoes
2 15-oz cans tomato sauce
1 large potato chopped in small dice (The original recipe called for 2 potatoes. Next time I may try a sweet potato instead. Living on the edge, that’s me.)
2 16-oz packages frozen mixed vegetables
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1 tablespoon salt (That seems like a lot of salt but it seems to need it. You can cut back on the amount, of course, and add other seasonings.)
1/2 cup red wine
1 teaspoon pepper
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock (or water)

Brown meat in large pot. Add onion, bell pepper and celery – cook until soft. Add other ingredients and simmer 3 or 4 hours. Freezes well.

Makes a ton o’ soup. You could easily halve the recipe.