My Mama’s Gumbo.

This is my mom.
My mama.
My mommy.

My mother depicted in a painting circa 1968.

She’s here for the holiday, and I love her. Love her, Love her, Love her.

But. . . . .

Somebody (who rhymes with mister, is related to me, and called me horrible things when I was younger) and looks like this. . . .

 took a really ugly picture of her and posted it as my mother’s Facebook profile picture.


First of all, where is she? And then if you can find her, it looks like she’s shooting daggers at the camera person. Maybe she is.. . . . .


For lack of a better word, the picture sucks.
It’s boo to the “tay”. BOO-TAY.

I’m not trying to be cruel, but I share this because I love my mother. And clearly, I am the better picture taking daughter. I will always shoot her in the best light, and I’ll never let her go out like that in public.  I think she is the most beautiful woman in the world. And this picture does not do her justice.

So, in a valiant effort to remove the tarnish off my mother’s Facebook reputation to her 14 friends (we’ll work on that later), I have decided to take as many pictures of her as I can, so that the FB world can view her as she really is. Beautiful, fun, energetic, brilliant, and non-dagger shooting.
So now my sweets,  please get comfy in your chair as I post our final selection of pictures. And if you wouldn’t mind,  please help us decide which one she should use. She can gather up the rest, and change it up every now and again to show her true fabulousness.

Imagine this picture less pixelated. And her teeth smaller. Maybe we should move on.



Look! I’m fun, cute, and loving!

 

Mmm. I don’t know. She look’s a little sleepy. And there is that beach bag in the corner. Moving on. . .



Sweet. Watching the Independence Day Parade. Happy. Content. Festive.

Resourceful. Handy. Serious. Focused. I’d want her on my team.

What I want to be when I grow up.



How I see her in my dreams. Perfect. With the sun hovering over her shoulder, and the pink in her cheeks slightly flushed.



Hold Up! Who is this vision of loveliness? Somebody call the zoo. They let out a fox!



I’m a thinker. Or maybe there are birds flying in the sky. Or a plane flying by?

So now, my sweets, won’t you do us the honor of helping to pick out my mother’s profile pic. My vote is for number 7. 

PS Mommy – I’m not not saying I’m the better daughter. . . .but I think I deserve some brownie points for this one.

– – – – – – – –  X – – – – – – – – – – – –

My Mama’s Okra Gumbo

First of all, she might tell you, “Her Facebook picture is not that bad.” And you might chuckle.

Second of all, she may tell you, “This is NOT my gumbo.” And I’ll chuckle because, OF COURSE IT IS, it’s just a  little   different,because I’ve changed a few things.  Very minor, but I’m an adult, I’ve got to spread my Gumbo Wings. My mother does not make a traditional roux, and I do.  So you can skip that step if you like, but it’s cathartic to me, so I include it. Everything else is basically the same EXCEPT, sometimes, when I have more time and I’m especially lazy, I boil the chicken rather than cooking it in a skillet. So sue me. She’ll forgive me. I’m her kid. It’s her job.

BTW- I also sometimes add celery.  Sometimes, I don’t. My mother doesn’t like celery. She’ll  never add it. But either way, it comes out great, and she eats it, so I’m not really sure what her problem is.

Ingredients:

Canola oil
30 oz. of frozen okra, cut into 1/4 inch slices
Seasoning Salt (I use Tony Chacheres Creole Seasoning)
Garlic Powder
1 small chicken (or pieces), about 3 pounds
13 cups of water, approximately
1 very large yellow onion, diced about 1 – 1 1/2 cups diced
1 rib of celery, diced (optional)
1 bell pepper, diced
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 Tablespoons of Salt, plus more to taste
1 tsp cayenne
12-14 oz of andouille or smoked sausage (I like Holmes Pecan Smoked), sliced crosswise into 1/4 inch 1 thick slices
1/2 pounds raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
Cooked rice, for serving

For the Roux (optional) :
1/4 cup Canola Oil
1/4 cup flour

Directions:

1. In a large non-stick or cast iron skillet (with a lid), place 2 TB of oil, and heat to medium high heat. Pour in 1/2 of the frozen okra. Sprinkle with seasoning salt and garlic powder. Cover. Allow the okra to thaw out, for 3-5 minutes. Remove lid, and stir with a wooden spoon. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally for about 15 minutes, until the OKRA IS NO LONGER SLIMY. This is the key to your Gumbo, so don’t slack. The okra will begin to turn brown around the edges, and become slightly crisp. My kids love to eat it right out of the pan this way.  Remove okra, and set aside. Repeat process again with the other half of the frozen okra.



Starts out looking like this. . . .



Ends up looking like this!

 2. Step 2 can be done in 2 different ways. Each resulting in delicious results. I’ll give you both scenarios
A.) Cook the chicken in a skillet – Add 2 TB oil to your skillet on medium high. Brown the chicken for 10 minutes. Lower the heat to medium, flip the chicken over, cover with the lid, and cook for another 15 minutes, until no longer pink. Remove from skillet.

B.) Stew the chicken (boil) – In a large heavy pot, place the chicken, water, onions, celery, bay leaves, salt, and cayenne pepper. Bring to boil over high heat. Boil for 2 minutes then, reduce the heat to medium and cook partially covered for about 1 hour until the chicken is completely cooked, and tender. Take the chicken out of the pot, and set aside.

3. Remove the skin from the chicken, while pulling the meat off the bones. Tear into large bite size pieces, and add the chicken back to the pot with broth. If you cooked your meat in the skillet, go to step 4. If stewed your meat (boiled) go to step 6.

4. Make OR Don’t Make the Roux (this step can also be skipped, if you don’t want to bother with a roux, move to step 5)  To a large heavy pot on medium high heat, add 1/4 canola oil and 1/4 cup flour. Cook on medium heat, stirring continuously until the mixture becomes a dark chocolate color. This will take about 15 minutes. If the mixture is too difficult to stir, add a little more oil until the mixture is more fluid. Continue to stir constantly.

5.) Once the roux is made, add the 13 cups of water to the pot on medium high heat. Stir until completely incorporated. Add, onions, celery (if using), bell pepper, bay leaves, salt, and cayenne.
6.)Bring the mixture to boil, and then lower to a simmer. Add cooked okra and chicken. Simmer in pot, partially covered for 15 minutes.

7.) Meanwhile, take out your skillet again 🙂 Place your sausage in the pan and cook on medium high heat until crispy on both sides, and some of the fat is rendered into the pan.

Remove meat from skillet, place on paper towel to remove excess oil, and throw sausage in the pot with the okra and chicken.  Test for seasoning. This is the point where you may want to add more salt. Do it slowly, but don’t be shy. It may need quite a lot more depending on your taste, how much you seasoned your okra, what type of meat you used, and whether or not you boiled your chicken.

8.) Add the shrimp to the simmering pot, and cook for an additional 20 minutes. Retest for seasoning. Remove from heat, and let sit for 5 minutes before skimming the fat that has risen to the surface.
Serve over rice.