So each year in September a group of my friends and I all get together and put random recipes in a hat and we each pull a recipe. Well I pulled authentic Gumbo.

So I am calling on all you southerners out there for your favorite and best recipes! :D :D

A banana sandwich --

2 slices of white bread
Miracle Whip
One banana sliced in half the long way

Courtesy of far western (the hills of) NC

1/3 cup + 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 green pepper, chopped
1 medium sized onion, chopped
2 cans (14.5 oz.) chicken broth
1 can (14.5 oz) beef broth
1 lb. boneless,skinless chicken thighs
1/2 lb. chorizo sausage, cut into 1/4-inch rounds
1/2 cup loosely packed parsley leaves, chopped
1 Tablespoon minced fresh thyme
1 Tablespoon minced fresh sage leaves
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1 lb. medium shrimp, shelled & deveined
1 cup long grain rice, cooked as directed on the package

Insturctions:
In a large soup pot, heat oil over med-low heat. Gradually stir in flour, and cook, stirring, until mixture is dark brown ~ about 15 minutes.

Mix the broth in slowly and blend until smooth.

At the same time you start the roux start to cook the vegetables: In a non-stick skillet, over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of oil and heat until hot.

Add celery, garlic, green pepper, and onion and cook until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.

To the roux-thickened broth add the stewed tomatoes, chicken, chorizo, herbs, salt, black pepper and the vegetables.

Add 4 cups of dark beer or water and heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered for 40 minutes. Skim off any fat that comes to the surface.

Add the shrimp and cook, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until the shrimp turn opaque.

A banana sandwich --

2 slices of white bread
Miracle Whip
one banana sliced in half the long way

Courtesy of far western (the hills of) NC

On the other side of the hills we used 2 bananas, one on each slice of bread, and glued the sandwich together with peanut butter. Down by the river they fried it.

Great sandwich, but doesn't go with gumbo a'TALL!

Bella,

For a good gumbo, get some baby okra ( no longer than 4 inches) and trim the stem ends and tips off. Slice it into bite sized pieces and rinse.

Put 3 cups of okra into one quart boiling water, simmer for 30 minutes.

Add a 20oz. Can of peeled sliced tomatoes, 3 cloves minced garlic, a cup of diced onions and one of diced bell pepper.

Simmer 48 hours and you have the stock for gumbo. Add squirrell, possum, gator, catfish, crawdad, or whatever other leftover meat you have.

Note that this recipe does not include any roue, which may make it less authentic but better with real cornbread. If the cornbread recipe has sugar in it, it's cake.

LoL Cats... sounds good, but not sure where I would get my hands on some gator. Craw fish and squirrel no prob, but I don't think my guests would enjoy that! :p

I will pick up the okra and incorporate it into Dads recipe.

Thanks WG, but not sure how to make Gumbo out of a peanut butter and banana sandwich, and I can't say I would EVER put mayo on a banana sandwich!

Thanks WG, but not sure how to make Gumbo out of a peanut butter and banana sandwich, and I can't say I would EVER put mayo on a banana sandwich!!
You were calling Southerners and I heard the word "food," so here I am.

NEVER put mayo on a banana sandwich! Use only Miracle Whip.

Someone else slathered on pb (eeeeww!) -- 'twasn't me.

1 pkg Jimmy Dean Hot Sausage
1 lb chicken breasts, cubed

Fry together in a large non-stick skillet. Do not drain.

1 green pepper
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
2 stalks celery

Chop fine, and sauté briefly with meat mixture.

In a LARGE pot, combine 4 cups water, 2 cups chicken stock, meat and vegetables. Bring to a boil. Add:

1 tsp oregano
1 tsp red pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp parsley
1 Tbsp black pepper.

Stir and lower heat. Add one can stewed tomatoes. Simmer 1 hour on low heat, stirring occasionally.

Just before serving, cook 2 cups of minute rice separately and chop 6 green onions into coins. Add rice and green onions to gumbo just before serving.

I use the food processor for all the veggies and the canned stewed tomatoes, but make the pieces as large or small as you like. My mom adds okra to this as well, but I think okra is ick so I don't.

Mmm sounds good guys. I've never had okra, but I often confuse it with orca. Lol.

I would picture it being much like a leek?

Mmm sounds good guys. I've never had okra, but I often confuse it with orca. lol.

I would picture it being much like a leek?

More like peas or beans

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The edible part is the pod beside the flower

Wow, that's not at all what I pictured it like. Is the texture the same? Do you cook the whole pod?

Wow, that's not at all what I pictured it like. Is the texture the same? Do you cook the whole pod?

Texture is unique. Peapods, squash, and green beans combined, plus it makes soup.

Here's cut
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Then you can make gumbo
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Or bread it and fry it
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Fried okra is better than popcorn

My mouth is watering... mmmmmmm...

If I can just get over the fact that the texture of cooked okra is like a squished slug stuck to your bare foot... I've heard it tastes really good. My whole family makes gumbo, but they put okra in it. I have no recipe. But now I have some ideas, thanks.

Ooh WG, the difference between mayo and miracle whip is that miracle whip has sugar in it. That would make it a better choice for a banana sandwich.

Banana-honey-peanut butter sandwiches on toast are the way we ate them in college. We got fat.

I can NOT wrap my head around putting miracle whip on a banana sandwich.

I have done the fried peanut butter and banana sandwich. I have a sandwich maker (like a sandwich press) and I make those for E sometimes.

Banana, peanut butter and Marshmallow cream sandwich.

If I can just get over the fact that the texture of cooked okra is like a squished slug stuck to your bare foot.

Sunny-side up eggs are much worse. Try it fried first. They even package it already breaded so all you have to do is fire up the Fry-daddy.

Yummie pickled okra!!

What's a fry daddy? I like sunny side eggs. My fav is easy over, lol just like me... oops where am I?

A deep fryer

I bought one of those George Foreman fryers. They do the extra spin. It's good for onion rings and calamari.

Okra is ick. It tastes like boiled slug dipped in sand.

No idea how much mom uses--I think she has frozen bags of it and just tosses in a couple handfuls.

I should add that I make that jambalaya from memory--and it changes a little bit every time. And the bigger the onion, the spicier it is. The spicy in this dish has NOTHING to do with the pepper and everything to do with the onion.

Okra is ick. It tastes like boiled slug dipped in sand.

No idea how much mom uses--I think she has frozen bags of it and just tosses in a couple handfuls.

I should add that I make that jambalaya from memory--and it changes a little bit every time. And the bigger the onion, the spicier it is. The spicy in this dish has NOTHING to do with the pepper and everything to do with the onion.

You're not real fond of summer squash, either, I'll bet.

More onion in jambalaya is always a good thing. The dish started as leftovers with onions.

I should add, too, that chicken, sausage, and shrimp are interchangeable for me in this recipe. If I don't have sausage, but DO have shrimp, well--in go the shrimp!

I have a couple of really great recipe books. The original recipe I posted came from a low fat Cajun cookbook (with shrimp instead of sausage, obviously). I also have a Southern Cooking cookbook that I just bought this summer and haven't played with yet.

One of the few things I miss about Texas was the ability to get good Cajun food.