Gumbo Poutine

It’s going to take me years, likely, the rest of my life to master the nuance of New Orleans cooking.  Luckily, it’s a delicious road to travel.

I’ve been making gumbo here and there for the past year.  Getting a roux just right takes trust and patience, a can of beer and a good chat with a friend.  More on that later. 

Gumbo, with it’s incredibly flavorful, gravy-live broth seemed a cheeky topping for French fries and cheese curds.  Gumbo gone Canadian in one of the best mash-up dishes to ever come out of my kitchen.  See also:  Red Beans and Rice Nachos.

We’re working towards the weekend which, if you ask me, could be well spent building the flavors for a gumbo and then serving it over crispy fries for friends.  

I’m telling you-  this dish is beyond!  

Here’s where we start- with a big ol’ cast-iron pan.  

• chicken thighs:  Boneless and skinless OR boneless and skin-on.  If you’re using skin on (which I think is a very fine idea) you can cook and render the fat from the skin.  
• andouille sausage
• chopped onions + celery + green bell pepper.  Otherwise known as the trinity and here’s why.
• oil and flour because we’re making a roux.  A dark one… get excited!
• spices and bay leaves
• chicken stock, too!  

Start by browning the chicken.  If you’re using skin-on chicken, brown the skin side down until the fat is rendered.  Flip the chicken to cook on all sides.  Add the sausage too and cook until just browned.  

Remove the mostly cooked meats from the pan, leaving the delicious and important oils behind. 

Now… we’ll add more oil. Trust the process.

A roux starts with equal parts oil and flour.  I used one cup of oil to one up of flour for this big batch of gumbo.

Making a small batch of gumbo seems like a fool’s errand.  

A good roux is the base, the life-blood, the everything of gumbo.  We’re slowly toasting the flour in fat to create a layer of flavor that will also thicken our gumbo to a perfectly luscious, almost-gravy consistency. 

Emeril Lagasse has some encouraging thoughts about making a roux.  It’s a very trusting activity. 

I haven’t been making a roux my whole life, but in my time here in New Orleans I’ve made enough to know the difference between my successes and failures in the pan.  

You’ll need heart, maybe a can of beer (for drinking), a spiral or flat whisk (I talk about whisks here), or if you’re the real-deal a roux spoon.

Roux is cooked over medium to medium-high heat until the flour toasts to a chocolate brown.  The best way I’ve been taught is to open a can of beer and have a sip, stand casually by your pot of roux- certainly in stirring distance- so the roux knows it has your attention.  Stir very frequently to near constantly while sipping your beer and chatting with a friend.  When the beer is nearly gone, your roux should be browning well.  Try it, don’t drink too fast, offer your friend a beer too- don’t be rude. 

I made this recipe when my Dad was visiting last year.  He said, “oh beer goes in the roux!?”.  No dad, I have to drink this in order to cook the roux.  This is how you learn Louisiana cooking- time is measured in beer and chats. 

After the roux is pleasingly browned, add the trinity.  

The trinity can be raw or you can have cooked it down a bit.  

Add the spices and bay.  Add the sausage.

Add the chicken if you’d like it to cook down to shreds.  If you’d like your chicken in more full pieces, don’t add it until later. 

Chicken stock aaaand a good long simmer.  Uncovered.  We want the gumbo to reduce and thicken.  I let the gumbo simmer for about two hours, stirring often to ever-so-often to make sure no big bits were sticking to the bottom of the pan. 

While the gumbo simmers and perfumes the house, why not bake some fries?

We’re going to all this effort to make a beautiful gumbo and the truth is we’re using store-bought frozen french fries as our base.  The reason?  Because they’re pretty dang delicious and they have the supportive crunch we need as a base for our gravy gumbo.  

Making fries from scratch… I’m afraid they’d be limp unless we successfully double fried them… and we only have so much energy and so many pans, and we’re not going to deep fry while gumbo is simmering away when frozen fries are actually just what we need. 

Grab the thin fries and cook to golden and crisp.  

Poutine is traditionally served with cheese curds and if you’ve never tried them well NOW IS THE TIME! Delicious! 

Topped with warm, thick Gumbo.  Amen. 

Fresh greens by way of green onion and parsley. 

And angels sing.  I’m confident in that. 

And if you play your cards right you’ll have gumbo left over for the next day’s dinner!  

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