Chicken/Shrimp Gumbo

It's the okra that makes it gumbo.

Tired of turkey, my family requested that I make a big pot of shrimp gumbo.  It was a welcome change.  Here's the recipe. 

1 small whole chicken (I used an organic one from Whole Foods.)
3 or 4 cloves garlic
1/4 c olive oil
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1/3 c flour
2 c No Salt Added Tomatoes
1 frozen package of okra (okra is what makes it gumbo)
1 lb shrimp
1/4 t Tabasco
1 teaspoon paprika
Fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:
1.  Cook chicken with 5 cups water & garlic until tender; remove the chicken and cut into pieces.
2.  Cool the broth and skim off fat.
3.  Brown the red pepper and the onion in the olive oil.  Add flour and brown.
4.  Gradually stir in broth.
5.  Add tomatoes, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
6.  Add chicken and okra and simmer for a few minutes.
7.  Add shrimp and cook until shrimp are pink about 3 minutes
8.  Season with pepper, paprika and hot sauce.
9. Serve over rice.


When I make gumbo, I think about the Hank Williams song that my Dad loved.  Here's Hank singing Jambalaya.   This song mentions filet gumbo, which is actually ground leaves of the sassafras tree and is used as a thickening agent.  I used flour and didn't need the filet gumbo. 

Cook whole chicken in five cups of water with garlic until tender.

Remove chicken and skim fat off broth.

Brown flour mixed with browned red pepper and onion to make a roux.

Gradually add broth.

Add tomatoes and simmer for 30 minutes.

Add chicken and okra.

Add shrimp.

Serve over wild or brown rice.

 This is easy to whip up, and it's very tasty and freezes well.

Turkey Brown Rice Soup

The leftovers are actually what I like best about Thanksgiving dinner---especially the leftover turkey that makes a nice rich soup.  Here's my soup recipe for this year.  I always make the turkey soup a little different each year, and this year I used brown rice along with the usual veggies.

Turkey Rice Soup

Ingredients:
1 turkey carcass
8 c water
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
2 medium stalks celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes (I used Muir Glen Organic Fire Roasted with no salt added.)
turkey

Break up turkey carcass to fit into large Dutch oven.  Add water, pepper and bay leaf.  Heat to boiling; reduce heat.  Cover and simmer for an hour and a half.

Remove bones from broth; cool and remove turkey from bones.  Cut turkey into bite-size
pieces.  Strain broth.  Add rice, celery, onions and carrots to broth.  Bring to boil and reduce to a simmer.  Cover and cook for 30 minutes until rice and vegetables are tender.  Stir in tomatoes and turkey and heat until hot.  Remove bay leaf and serve.

This freezes well and will come in handy on a cold winter evening for a quick supper.

Serves 8

Turkey broth.

Add veggies.

Add brown rice which gives the soup a nice nutty texture and flavor.

Add no salt added tomatoes.

Add turkey, heat and serve.

The soup served with a piece of toast with cream cheese spread.

We'll have several frozen servings for this winter.  The brown rice in this soup gives it a nice nutty taste and texture.