When you’re born raised in Cajun Country, and come from a family who loves to cook, Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey Gumbo becomes a staple holiday tradition. This year, I decided to share my Turkey and Sausage Gumbo recipe with y’all to bring a little Cajun love to your table.
My family takes a lot of pride in cooking Cajun food from scratch, so making a gumbo can be a day long event. Of course you can shorten the cooking time by buying a few of the components – like the stock and roux – in advance (just don’t tell my Dad.) For today though, I’m going to share the full Gumbo ritual, from stock, to roux to potato salad…
Gordon’s Dark Turkey Stock
Ingredients:
- Bones of 1 large turkey, cracked
- 1 onion, roughly chopped
- 1 stalk celery, roughly chopped
- 1/2 green pepper, roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tbs tomato paste
- 2 liters (about 8 cups) water
Directions:
- Preheat your oven to 375
- Put all the ingredients (except the water) into a baking dish and mix together so they are covered with tomato paste
- Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes
- Dump all of the bones and veg into a large stockpot with the water and simmer for 1 hour.
- Strain the liquid through a sieve and store the stock. (I like to refrigerate it so I can skim off some of the fat before adding it to the gumbo.)
Faucheaux Family Leftover Turkey & Sausage Gumbo
Ingredients:
- 3/4 C Butter
- 3/4 C Plain Flour
- 2 onions, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 1/2 green pepper, diced
- 1 clove garlic, diced
- Leftover meat from your Thanksgiving turkey
- 1 lb cajun smoked sausage, halved and sliced
- 6-7 cups dark turkey stock (or store bought chicken stock if you’re in a hurry)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/3 tsp cayenne pepper
- large bunch of parsley, chopped and divided
- 1.5 cups (dry) long grain rice, prepared
Directions:
- First, you make a roux…
Put the butter into a large stock pot on a medium heat. Once it is mostly melted, add the flour and stir with a whisk or wooden spoon. - Turn down the heat and continue to stir regularly, scraping and flour off the sides and bottom of the pan.
- Continue to stir over a low heat until your roux is the color of a paper shopping bag.
- Turn your fire back up to a medium heat and add the Cajun trinity of veggies – onions, celery and green pepper – and cook until they soften, stirring regularly for about 8 minutes.
- Next add your garlic and meat – turkey & sausage. Stir until all combined and scrape an excess roux off the bottom of the pan. If the mix gets a little dry, you can add a splash of stock.
- Add the rest of the stock, salt, cayenne, and half the parsley. Simmer for at least an hour (or as long as you can.)
- Skim any excess fat off the top of the gumbo. Add the last of the parsley and serve with over long grain rice with a side of potato salad.
Beverly’s Cajun Potato Salad
Ingredients:
- 5 large gold potatoes, peeled and diced in 1 inch cubes
- 3/4 cup mayo
- 2 tbs grain mustard
- 3 eggs, hard boiled
- 3 dill pickles, finely chopped (or 4 tbs pickle relish)
- 1 tbs pickle juice or vinegar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
- 3 green onions, chopped
- 2 tbs fresh parsley, chopped
Directions:
- Boil the potatoes until soft, then drain and set aside
- Separate the egg yolks from the whites. Chop the whites and set aside.
- Mash the yolks with the mustard.
- Add the mayo, pickles, pickle juice, salt, and cayenne to the yolk mixture to make a dressing.
- Mix the dressing into the drained potatoes. Add the chopped egg yolks, parsley and green onions.
- Mix to combine and serve.