File' Gumbo Recipe

This could be either file' gumbo or okra and seafood gumbo or meat depending on ones personal choice. Also the choice of file' or okra, as I was told and understand it, was not only for flavor but for consistency as well. Okra you may or may not know is a veggie if not cooked properly can be the slimiest .... ever!  File' is ground sassafras leaves.  The Choctaw Indians would lay out the leaves to dry, grind them into a powder then bring the powder to sell the "white settlers" @ the French Market. These industrious settlers added the powder  to their stew pots. Down in time a variation became known as file' gumbo.    In this recipe I used neither; if you use Okra add it w/the rest of the veggies.  I was taught if one used file' as a thickening agent to add it @ the very end when the pot was off the stove.  Cooking it would turn it too thick, stringy & bitter.

With a lot of recipes one makes a roux, in fact (it was said so often when giving out recipes) there was a cook book titled or "called" (as said in New Orleans vernacular)  First You Make a Roux. A roux is basically made buy melting a fat (butter) & adding flour to the meted fat (butter) in equal parts for 1 minute for a white sauce. (béchamel) Depending upon the recipe we cook it longer in varying shades from tan to dark chocolate. That could be anywhere from 8-20 minutes or we use less flour for a thinner sauce according to what meat/protein you're cooking. When cooking a roux make certain you have a heavy pan w/even distribution of heat. Make certain you're stirring constantly while your browning the shades. (ain't nothin' worse than a burnt roux!)

Well in this recipe you make a roux. (I like the healthy deep shade of tan for all my gumbos) This particular recipe I made for my fellow parishioners in Connecticut as I said before was considering their palates of likes & dislikes so it was an everything gumbo, seafood & meat.

The ingredients were as follows:

                                                                 

"Holy Trinity"

1 tsp thyme
2 bay leaves

1/4 cup oil & 6 tbls flour (roux)
2 cups onion (chopped)
1 cup Bell Pepper (green chopped)
3 stalks celery (chopped)
5 large cloves garlic (minced)
7-8 cups chicken broth
1 lb sausage (cut into same size as chicken)
3 large skinless chicken breast halves (cut into small pieces 1")
1 1/2-2 tsps Cajun seasonin to taste (Zatarains or Tony Chacheres)
1/2 lb crayfish (crawfish) already cooked (imported foreign substance above the Mason Dixon line)

Before making the roux brown the meat pieces in the oil in a heavy pot (Dutch Oven) then set aside before adding the flour. Make the roux combining the flour w/the oil over medium heat stirring constantly until roux is a tan shade about 12 minutes or so, add & stir the veggies (not the garlic yet) to the roux for about 3-4 minutes, add garlic cook for 1 minute.
Add the broth, thyme, bay leaves & Cajun seasoning bring to a boil, reduce heat add meats. If you were using file' this is were you'd add it when serving.  Thereby making it file' gumbo