CONSTANT PARTIAL ATTENTION

A long while back I posted some pictures of various bits of my gumbo making. Since then I’ve had a few folks ask for the recipe - and because I just whipped up a fresh batch for Mardi Gras I thought I’d put together a proper how-to.

So here goes! 

First, the Bona Fides

It goes without saying that there are lots and lots of recipes for gumbo. Okra / no okra, filé / no filé, sausage / no sausage, etc.  I can’t speak to anyone else’s tradition (other than to say that they are all wrong).  I can only share our own.  

This particular gumbo has its roots in the Louisiana Sunday suppers served to my pops in his youth by the Sisters of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church.  

I will submit that, whatever your preconceived notions, if this gumbo was good enough for my dad, those Nuns and the baby Jesus it is good enough for you.

I have eaten this recipe my whole life and never known my father to deviate from it, but for the occasional dash of filé, which, let’s be real honest, you probably don’t have handy and I can assure you that you will not miss.

The Ingredients

6 to 8 pieces of chicken (I am partial to thighs).

2 and ½ cups of flour.

2 cups of vegetable oil or the equivalent (butter, bacon grease, etc).

64 oz / 2 containers of chicken broth.

1 teaspoon or so of salt.

1 absurdly large onion (for the gumbo).

1 medium sized onion (for the stock).

1 package of celery - five or six stalks

7 or 8 bunches of green onions - as many as you can hold in your hands.

1 green bell pepper of which you will promise to not use more than ½.

1 to 2 pounds of large shrimp, shelled.  Fresh or frozen, your choice.

Additional salt and pepper to taste.

Ready? Let’s Get Started!

Mural Painting by Fernand Léger via Guggenheim Museum

Size: 180.2x80.2 cm Medium: Oil on canvas

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York © 2016 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

“As human beings, our job in life is to help people realize how rare and valuable each one of us really is, that each of us has something that no one else has–or ever will have–something inside that is unique to all time. It’s our job to encourage each other to discover that uniqueness and to provide ways of developing its expression.”