Making chicken & sausage gumbo with our homegrown okra

Being a "Yankee" by birth (NE PA is my home of record), okra is not a veggie I grew up with.  In fact, I never tasted it before I went to Navy bootcamp.  And I did NOT like it!  YUCK.  Slimy!

Since I moved to Georgia back in 2005, I've had a change of heart.  I love fried okra.  We grow okra. We buy froze, canned and pickled okra.  And now I've learned to cook gumbo, and I'm really hooked. 

Josh has been picking from the garden each morning. I've been holding onto the okra, until I had enough to make some gumbo.  This morning he brought in a few more pods, and I believe I have enough.

Today was a cooler day, so making some warm food for our lunch seemed like a good idea.  I got out my trusty New Joy of Cooking recipe book and gathered my ingredients.

My recipe, page 253

I like this recipe because it's straight forward.  Nothing fancy.  Just tasty, basic ingredients.

Dry ingredients

The peppers, tomatoes and cayenne were grown in our garden. 

Tomato paste, home grown okra and Old Bay seasoning

Next, I chopped our okra.  I needed 2 cups of chopped okra, but only had 1 1/2.  So I had to add a can of canned okra with tomato.  I like tomato in my gumbo.  So, I also added some tomato paste for added flavor.

Cooked free range chicken

Smoked sausage.  Chicken, pork and beef

Next, I cooked about a pound of free range chicken.  This was cut into about 1/4 inch chunks.













This sausage adds a nice, smokey flavor without being really greasy.  This was also cooked and cut into 1/4 inch chunks.












To get the gumbo itself started, you must first make the roux. This is fairly easy.  I use 1/3 cup olive oil and 1/3 cup flour.

 Make it nice and bubbly.  This adds the smooth thickening and much of the subtle flavorings.

Finished gumbo, ready to eat.

Serve your gumbo over cooked white rice.

I've also been trying an experiment with what's called a Ginger Bug.  Here's a link for the directions.  Ginger Bug starter for homemade ginger ale

Here's what my bug looks like.

I've also been trying a new sourdough recipe my friend Gena Stout shared with me.  This starter includes instant potatoes in the starter.  I've found I really like this recipe.  And the bread tasted really good.  I made a batch for my step daughter Tammy and her partner Rickie when they were here a few weeks ago.  It must have tasted pretty good, because they were cutting off hot hunks and slathering it with butter.  That's how I like it too!

I feed the starter every 4 days or so by adding a tablespoon of flour and a tablespoon of sugar.  I stir it well, and only add liquid if it's too thick.  When I'm ready to bake, I divide it in half.  I save the reserved starter and put it back in the fridge.

I put the starter I'm using into a large mixing bowl, add 4 cups of flour, 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of whey (or water).  I mix this well and let it sit over night.  The next day, I use the bubble goodness to make my bread using the same recipe I've used in my other sourdough bread posts.  That link is here.  Making cheese and sourdough bread