A few years ago, I tasted gumbo that Brent’s mom cooked, and, to put it dramatically, it changed my life. Do you recall the story in Genesis where Esau gave up his birthright for a bowl of soup? I could finally understand the unthought-out, impulsive decision if he ate this turkey gumbo because I’d thought of it frequently for the past year.
It’s quite a process to make, but oh so worth it. With plans of Ryan coming into town for a few days during the week of Thanksgiving, I had many cooking plans and took advantage of the sale at our local market, Rouses, that promoted ‘buy a ham and get a turkey free’. I am not much of a ham fan but cannot pass up a good deal and figured I could put meat in the freezer and also planned to freeze the hambone for future recipes, such as possibly enhancing a pot of red beans. Anyway. My plans got pushed back as we spent our vacation days with the flu, which was less than ideal. However, we learned a lot about each other during that time, and because of all my cooking plans, I had ingredients to make chicken soup (twice!) and cooked the turkey and stock. I had already defrosted the turkey, so I had to continue with the plans no matter how irritating, knowing the delicious reward was worth it.
Because I was still recovering and had no energy, the first few steps to this superb gumbo, like cooking the turkey and then turkey stock, are not documented. I was a bit over life then and finally trying to get to the gumbo.

I did not need another cookbook or cooking magazine, but that was a lie to myself. While purchasing some groceries, Ina Garten was staring at me, and it was a Thanksgiving issue. Ok. I need it. After all, Ina taught me to cook my beloved chicken stock, so I knew I could trust her with a turkey.

Accidental Turkey Recipe – Food Network recipe for the best turkey. I did not tie the legs with twine after a former coworker, and I bonded over cooking videos at work one day where I watched a video on how to roast the perfect chicken. This guy whom I’d never heard of before (Matty Matheson), was filled with profanity and tattoos, and whose life was transformed after prison through a chef job (whew!) threw a chicken in the oven on its back with NOTHING tied, and it came out perfect because the heat evenly distributed to every area. Mind. Blown. Anyway, it changed my life, and I will never tie up an animal’s limbs in the name of flavor.

I did not document roasting the turkey, which turned out to be a great call after not realizing the thermometer was set to Celsius and not Fahrenheit, thus causing my turkey to “never reach the correct temperature on the inside”. The turkey was well-done. However, because I’d put it in Reynold’s oven bag and roasted it at a low temperature, only the top pieces of the legs became leather leaving the other parts falling off at the bone tender. It was a happy accident, and my family tried to convince me it’s what gave the gumbo such a superb flavor and that I needed to burn my turkey every single time now. This turkey was explicitly used for gumbo, so I do not recommend over-roasting a turkey regularly; otherwise, you’re just burning dinner.

The next step was the turkey stock. After deboning the turkey, I used the turkey carcass to make my stock. I cooked it down for three and a half hours. The important ingredient here was using SMOKED turkey necks and I could have just eaten the stock by itself. It had the BEST flavor, and I cannot wait to make this gumbo again. I have no room in the freezer, but even Ryan was willing to buy another fifteen-pound turkey for the next go round. My only regret was buying one turkey as after all that work I wished I had made more.

It’s THAT good.

Rouses Leftover Turkey Gumbo – Recipe here on Rouses Website

Rouses Turkey Stock – Recipe here on Rouses Website

Gumbo INGREDIENTS (Taken from the website)

½ pound green onion smoked sausage, cut into 1-inch rounds

¾ cup vegetable oil

¾ cup flour

2 cups chopped yellow onion

½ cup chopped bell pepper

½ cup chopped celery

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning

2-3 quarts turkey stock (see recipe)

2 tablespoons dried thyme

2 tablespoons dried oregano

3 dried bay leaves

¼ pound leftover turkey, roughly chopped

Steamed rice, for serving

DIRECTIONS

In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, brown the sausage; transfer to a plate when done and set aside.

In the same pot, prepare a dark brown roux with the oil, flour and sausage drippings that remain in the pot, slowly shaking the flour over the oil with one hand while whisking with the other hand. Continue to whisk until the roux darkens to a glossy, dark red-brown, around 15 to 20 minutes.

Add onion, bell pepper and celery, and season with salt and Cajun seasoning, stirring to coat. Add the cooked sausage back to the pot and cook, stirring constantly, until sausage is reheated, about 5 minutes.

Gradually add the stock one ladleful at a time, stirring constantly to combine. Add the thyme, oregano and bay leaves and simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat, stirring and skimming every 20 minutes, until the flavors have melded, for at least 1 hour.

Stir in the turkey meat just before serving and cook until warmed, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and discard.

Serve over steamed rice.