Wild Firebrand

This gumbo is controversial for many reasons, but its what you grew up with — and love so here is our Kitchen Sink No Rules Apply Gumbo.

It has tomatoes. Yes, I know it’ll inspire a cajun vs creole conversation and google search, but it’s what our family has always done. We also break the “either meat or seafood” rule and we put it all in there — chicken, sausage, crab, and shrimp — the whole kitchen sink. And, while we are already breaking rules, we also add hard-boiled eggs. For us, we are an okra rather than file family, but we don’t judge!

And yes, we usually use fresh okra — and some of these pictures will show you what we do, but this ‘group’ shot was from one time when all we had was frozen okra — so again, don’t judge. Love you.

Take a package of chicken thighs — use the Sunday Chicken recipe — and season them with a dry rub of paprika, garlic, salt, and pepper. Don’t measure – just put the pretty colors in the molcajete or mortar/pestle and grind them all together. Don’t be shy. Sprinkle both sides of those chicken thighs and put them on a rack over a pan in the oven for 425degrees for 20 minutes on each side for a total of 40 minutes. I like to start with the smooth side down so the spices get stuck in the wrinkles.

ALSO IMPORTANT — pour some chicken stock in the bottom of that pan and DO NOT throw it away after roasting the chicken….while that’s cooking. Make your roux.

This is what we call the Cajun Rainbow. It starts with equal parts flour and oil. Sometimes I use half a cup of each, sometimes a whole cup of each, sometimes 3/4 cups because I don’t have enough of either. So, whatever you do — just make sure you have 1:1 ratio. Or, if you have to, then use slightly more oil than flour.

Set the heat between a quarter and a third. Not half. AND STIR. Stir. Stir. Stir. Stir. Stir some more. circles, figure eights, write the alphabet or song lyrics if you get bored. But keep stirring. Turn the heat up if the color isn’t changing; turn it down if you see bubbles. IF YOU GET A BLACK FLECK OF BURNT FLOUR, its over. (Or you can attempt to pluck them out and save your roux, but….hesitation loses the ballgame so pay hyper-attention to your roux.) And stir.

ALSO — shoutout to using jar roux. or frozen roux. there’s no shame in taking shortcuts if you want gumbo but don’t have time. you didn’t harvest the chicken or grow your own okra, tomatoes, celery, onions, or bell peppers. you didn’t grow and dry all the spices either — don’t you worry about jar or frozen roux.

As you all have griped over the years, YES USE THE CAST IRON! It really doesn’t matter — you can use whatever you don’t mind cleaning, but immagonna use the cast iron, a wooden spoon, and about 45 minutes of constant stirring while listening to the KITCHEN playlist on spotify. You do you, boo. But this is what I do. And it’s my blog.

Once the roux is the color you want, add the HOLY TRINITY — onions, celery, and bell peppers. (Yes, i know your dad doesn’t like onions, but its HOLY!) Also, we use tri-colored bell peppers and not just green, but whatever you have works.

Now, your chicken should be done about the same time as your roux. And you get to marry them. Put the chicken — still on the rack — to the side and pull your roux off the stove. Adding the holy trinity cools it off and slows it down so you’re safe for now.

Use a spatula or plastic scrape thing by the sink to put ALL THAT BEAUTIFUL liquid in the pan under the chicken into the massive blue tamale pot from H-E-B. Get every scrape of flavor out of that pan into that pot. MMM..mmmmm….that’s where the flavor is. Bonus points if you have any saved from Sunday Chicken in the fridge. The more homemade flavor, the better.

Put that pot on a burner on low on the stove. Chop up that chicken — roughly! No one needs perfect squares here. It’s rebel chicken. Toss that in the pot and add your holy trinity roux to it and — yep, stir it up.

This is also when I add those pesky tomatoes with the celery and bell pepper added. I know, but like I said…this is Rebel Gumbo!

Now, without water, wipe out my cast iron with a paper towel and add more oil (just enough to cover the bottom — we’re gonna fry the andouille — or whatever sausage you want…slice that sucker and fry it up.

Fry both sides. Swat the kids who try and snatch it from the pan. And then pluck them out with tongs or a fork or whatever, but dump those in the pot with the broth and stuff. Don’t lose the liquid. We need it for the okra.

Slice em. Toss them in flour with salt/pepper/garlic. Dust em. And dump em in that cast iron with oil.

Once you’ve fried the okra — just lightly. Pop a few in your mouth and feed the kids a bite or two and add what’s left (half? three-quarters?) to the pot. Add the crab meat — yes, from the can, but not imitation — gross.

Add sliced hard-boiled eggs — yolk and all! (Roots run deep in East Texas/West Louisiana — Nacogdoches & Crowley, LA Duhons and Dunlaps)

Now, add enough broth to make sure everything in the pot is drowned. Then, cover it and leave it alone. Stir it every 2 hours or so, but let all them cousins marry in that pot. It needs to thicken. All day, overnight, whatever, it needs to thicken to gravy consistency. Don’t add gravy, just wait. And, stir.

Add peeled UNCOOKED shrimp about 30 minutes before you plan to eat. Eat it over rice — ideally not cooked by me — since i can never get rice right.

Some people eat it over potato salad. We don’t. But some people do. And, I’ve got a recipe for that.

ENJOY LIFE my loves. And know that with every bite and breath, your momma loves you.