Authentic Cajun Turkey Gumbo

In our house this is the only thing we do with leftover turkey! Serve over rice and with hot corn bread. This is our all-time favorite gumbo recipe from La Bonne Cuisine Cookbook from New Orleans. After cooking this for more than 25 years, we now ad-lib, I throw all the leftover turkey in, cover with water and go from there. But, for those of you who have never made a gumbo, it helps to follow the recipe a few times. This recipe is very tried and true, you will create an out of this world gumbo! *Just be careful to NOT burn the roux. You must stir constantly. Plan on having someone else answer the phone, you can’t do both. I am from New Orleans and have had my share of gumbo, believe you-me! This one is the best!
- Ready In:
- 5hrs
- Serves:
- Units:
9
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ingredients
- 1 turkey carcass
- 2 turkey legs (or thighs)
- 1⁄2 cup bacon grease
- 1⁄2 cup cooking oil
- 1 cup flour
- 8 celery ribs
- 3 large onions, chopped
- 1 bell pepper, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1⁄2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 lb okra, sliced (frozen is fine)
- 1 cup smoked sausage, sliced
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups turkey stock
- 1⁄2 cup Worcestershire sauce
- Tabasco sauce
- 12 ounces tomatoes, diced
- 1 1⁄2 tablespoons salt
- 4 slices bacon, slices cut into 1 pieces
- 1 -2 bay leaf
- cayenne
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
directions
- Crack the turkey carcass into several pieces.
- Place the turkey carcass and legs into a large soup kettle with 3 qts of water and 1 tsp salt.
- Boil for one hour.
- Remove the carcass and legs and cool.
- Remove the meat from the bones and discard the bones.
- Reserve the stock and the meat.
- In a heavy Dutch pven over medium heat, heat the grease and the oil.
- Add the flour, stirring constantly, and cook until it turns a deep, mahogany brown.
- Add the celery, onion, bell pepper, garlic, and parsley.
- Cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Add the okra and sausage and continue cooking for 5 minutes.
- Add 2 qts of water, 2 qts turkey stock Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, tomatoes, salt, bacon, bay leaves, and cayenne.
- Simmer, covered, for 2.5-3 hours, stirring occasionally.
- Add the turkey meat and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Just before serving, add the brown sugar and lemon juice.
MY PRIVATE NOTES
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RECIPE MADE WITH LOVE BY
@Penny Stettinius
Contributor
@Penny Stettinius
Contributor
"In our house this is the only thing we do with leftover turkey! Serve over rice and with hot corn bread. This is our all-time favorite gumbo recipe from La Bonne Cuisine Cookbook from New Orleans. After cooking this for more than 25 years, we now ad-lib, I throw all the leftover turkey in, cover with water and go from there. But, for those of you who have never made a gumbo, it helps to follow the recipe a few times. This recipe is very tried and true, you will create an out of this world gumbo! *Just be careful to NOT burn the roux. You must stir constantly. Plan on having someone else answer the phone, you can’t do both. I am from New Orleans and have had my share of gumbo, believe you-me! This one is the best!"
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So much FLAVOR! This was an amazing dish to add to your labor of love in the kitchen during the holidays. This is definitely making it into my tradition of delish dishes! It makes A LOT just to warn you if all your guests have gone. I used quite a bit more sausage, and think next year i may use double the required instead of triple to quadruple and add some shrimp too, and maybe carrots. The only thing is the liquid amount are extremely confusing, some parts say 4 q some parts say 4 cups. I ended up using 2 q of water and a quart of stock, because that's what i had. And the liquid amount was perfect for my family. I digress, thanks for the amazing recipe!Reply
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I own this cookbook and wanted to make a slight correction to the first review...2 cups of stock are added as well as 2 quarts of water for a total of 4 quarts of liquid...Very good recipe-- I am from New Orleans and my family has made it every year for the last 30+ years. Its a post Thanksgiving tradition!1Replies 1
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We LOVED this! So much so that it's become a permanent part of my Thanksgiving plans. Made the stock as I was cleaning up after dinner, then stripped the turkey meat, strained the stock, and refrigerated overnight. This made the actual gumbo prep the next day go pretty fast. In the recipe, when it calls for two quarts water, I used the stock (one quart was leftover and became the base of creamy turkey soup!). Notes to me: used about three cups of good sausage because I had it, could have added more; use two full bags of frozen okra (24 oz) to avoid leftover; make 4 cups Uncle Ben's rice plus water in rice cooker. Thanks for sharing the recipe! This is a great find!1Reply
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